PROVIDENCE — The design of the proposed Hope Point tower failed to persuade the city’s Downtown Design Review Committee Monday that the 46-story tower will comply with city development guidelines.
In a series of 4-0 votes, the committee members recommended the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission reject the developer’s request for a design that would require four waivers of city requirements.
Several of them relate to the way the building would interact with the public park planned adjacent to its site, on the Providence River, and the way it would relate to surrounding buildings.
The committee’s decision followed more than two hours of public comment, nearly all of it critical, and the receipt of a highly critical planning staff report.
The staff report recommended approval of only three of the four design waivers requested by the applicant.
On the issue of whether the design or development would have a negative impact on the surrounding environment, including buildings and pedestrian and traffic circulation, the staff report found: “The design condition resulting from granting the waivers will have an adverse impact on the built environment by dwarfing existent adjacent buildings and future development. It will likely have an adverse impact on the natural environment by blocking sunlight and casting shadows on the adjacent park, and on traffic circulation by generating large amounts of traffic in an area that already has the large South Street Landing garage and will soon have the 1,500-space Garrahy Garage.”
The developer, The Fane Organization, is led by president Jason Fane and his sister, Daria Fane, the vice president. Both attended Monday’s meeting.
In a statement following the vote, a spokesman for the development company principals said the project’s height has already been supported by the I-195 commission, and through the “robust public process” that ended in approval by the Providence City Council.
“Since the DDRC can only offer an advisory opinion and the I-195 Commission has the exclusive authority to grant design review, we intend to ask the I-195 Commission to approve the design,” said Dante Bellini, a spokesman for The Fane Organization.
The I-195 commission meets later this month.
In public comments, many people focused on the size of the building or how the parking base would affect the community’s enjoyment and view of the public park.
Seth Yurdin, the Providence City Councilman who represents the Jewelry District neighborhood, critiqued the size of the parking base, the impact on the public park, and the building’s compatibility with the historical downtown. “It’s a six-story parking garage. … And it’s a luxury high-rise. It’s an investment vehicle for many purchasers who will probably never set foot in Providence,” he said.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
It’s an investment vehicle for many purchasers who will probably never set foot in Providence – stupidest statement ever and not based on anything but opinion. The revenue generated will be good for schools, streets and the general public.