PROVIDENCE – The Hotel Hive Providence, the proposed $39 million reuse of two vacant downtown buildings – including the early 1900s Providence Journal offices – is seeking a long-term tax stabilization agreement.
A TSA of 20 years would allow the developer to gradually start paying the taxes on the completed hotel, starting in the fourth year after its opening.
The City Council’s finance committee briefly took up the issue last week, agreeing to schedule a public hearing on the request in the near future. In the next several weeks, city staff will examine the financial request.
The developer plans a boutique hotel of 91 hotel rooms and an apartment building of 48 studio units, as well as a coworking space, bar and outdoor cafe. The R.I. Commerce Corp. has already authorized a $6 million tax-increment financing agreement for the project, presented by Westminster Partners LLC.
The project is by Washington, D.C.-based Abdo Development. Through an affiliated limited liability company, the developer purchased the 1902-era Providence Journal building for $4 million in July 2018. It paid $650,000 for the adjoining Kresge Building, which was built about 20 years later.
Both are on a prominent Westminster Street corner. The address of the new hotel will be 203 Westminster.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
