PROVIDENCE – Under a large tent as the sun was setting on Innovation District Park, three Boston-based real estate development teams did their best to impress more than 50 members of the public and appointed officials who gathered at the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission meeting Monday night.
Each plan featured a variation of a mixed-use apartment building on Parcel 2, the 1.08-acre property within view across the Providence River from the outdoor meeting.
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Eden Properties, Parent + Diamond Real Estate Development and Urban Spaces LLC, and Urbanica Inc. each gave presentations lasting about 25 to 30 minutes each, sharing visual renderings and detailing their visions for the long narrow property between South Main, South Water, Dollar and James streets, a vacant lot where thousands of sunflowers have been grown in recent years as part of an art installation.
Ultimately, the Parcel 2 portion of the meeting was stopped by I-195 Redevelopment District Commission when the sun set at about 7 p.m. The discussion, along with public comment, will be continued until Oct. 20. At that meeting, the I-195 Redevelopment District’s design consultant and financial consultant will make their presentations about the property.
“We want to have a reasonable period of time when we can sort of see each other to have public comment on this,” said commission Chairman Robert Davis, who has been holding meetings outdoors as a COVID-19 precaution but is now looking for safe indoor alternatives.
Davis said there’s a lot at stake with Parcel 2.
“It’s a very important site,” he said. “It’s the connection to the East Side. It’s really got to be done right. I was pleased to see that the developers all had a sensitive approach to how to develop the site, not mass build as much as you could. We’ve got some things to work with.”
Davis could not offer a timeline for when the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission will make its decision on which plan to go with.
“That’ll be when we think we have enough information to make a good decision. Whether that’s an October meeting or a later meeting, I don’t know yet,” Davis said. “There’s a lot to digest here.”
He also said the board could have an “effective pare down,” asking two of the applicants to submit further presentations before a decision is made.
Davis said the three project teams put forth “really great concepts,” which he found “encouraging.”
Asked after the meeting, Urbanica President Kamran Zahedi said his company’s project would cost close to $60 million and would take over 150 people to construct (and 100 permanent jobs from the restaurants and retail on site), while Urban Spaces Vice President of Operations Jeff Hirsh said the project his company is proposing with Parent + Diamond Real Estate Development could cost around $35 million and employ 250 to 300 people at some point to work on the project. Eden Properties Principal Noah Maslan was not immediately able to provide an estimate on the cost of his company’s proposal or the number of construction jobs, but said he would be able to supply the figure soon.
Eden Properties was first to present, showing images of a six-story building, with 163 residential units on the upper floors totaling 156,000 square feet, and 8,600 square feet of ground-floor retail. The project calls for a plaza with seating and overhead lights at the center of the property facing South Water Street, and a plaza at the corner of South Water and James streets for events such as food-truck gatherings and farmers markets.
The Parent + Diamond team with Urban Spaces came next, describing a long, curved six-story property with 134,953 square feet of residential space, along with 25,000 square feet of retail space, with a total of 120 residential units and 20 retail units. The concept plans include 140 underground parking spaces. Ralph Parent, principal for Parent + Diamond, emphasized benchmarks the project is setting for diversity in hiring for construction, with a minimum of 20% of jobs for minorities and women, and the project will also set aside 10% of investment opportunities in the property for minorities through “a micro-investment crowdfund.”
The Urbanica proposal calls for a red, curved six-story building called “Collage,” with a double-loaded corridor design, offering a passageway in the center for pedestrians from South Water Street to South Main Street, with three stories of apartments overhead that connect two parts of the building. The Urbanica proposal plans for a food hall, a brewery, a gym and a cafe with outdoor patio seating. The Boston-based firm’s plan includes a total of 194 residential units, amounting to 120,666 square feet, along with four commercial units of ground floor retail totaling 16,000 square feet. The project also calls for 90 underground parking spaces.
Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com.
