PROVIDENCE – After being granted three six-month extensions on city permits for the project, a company called Pebb Capital is pulling the plug on plans to construct a 10-story apartment building in the Jewelry District.
A spokesperson for the company recently said that Pebb Capital is scrapping its plans to construct an apartment building at 151-155 Chestnut St., which originally received approval from the Downtown Design Review Committee in December 2019.
The project drew opposition from some neighborhood residents who argued that it didn’t fit into the fabric of the neighborhood, including a successful legal challenge related to zoning bylaws that led to the originally proposed building being downsized by two stories.
Suzanne Perez-Bernal, spokesperson for the Boca Raton, Fla.-based Pebb, said the company is instead putting its focus toward an effort to win the bid with the Rhode Island government to construct a new state health laboratory. Pebb was one of four finalists announced by the administration of Gov. Daniel J. McKee in April for a proposal to build a new public health laboratory. Pebb was the only company not to propose land in Providence’s I-195 Redevelopment District as the site for the public project, instead offering to build the facility nearby on Bassett Street and Clifford Street. A developer is expected to be named this summer.
“Pebb Capital has decided to focus its attention on its larger development site located at 31, 41-51 Bassett Street, which is currently a finalist for the pending Rhode Island Department of Health RFP [request for proposals],” Perez-Bernal said in an email. “Pebb Capital’s proposed site for the Department of Health’s laboratory facility at Clifford and Bassett streets is located within a block’s distance from the firm’s 155 Chestnut Street property.”
It’s not immediately clear what Pebb plans to do with the property, where there currently stands a small, narrow brick office building, along with a parking lot, which the company bought from Michael Corso, a Providence attorney who’s considered the architect of the state’s failed $75 million loan for baseball star Curt Schilling’s video game venture, 38 Studios LLC.
“In the immediate time frame, Pebb Capital looks to bring the request for proposal process to a conclusion and then evaluate the best use for its Chestnut Street asset, which would complement the Jewelry District’s evolving needs,” Perez-Bernal said. “The firm remains committed to the city and long-term planning that best fits the community.”
This follows a meeting of the Downtown Design Review Committee in December last year, when a representative for developers of the project said that a groundbreaking was just a “few more months away” after the project was previously prolonged due to reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The developer presented under the name Providence Chestnut I LLC, the limited liability company affiliated with Pebb that was established as the owner of the Chestnut Street property.
Sharon Steele, president of the Jewelry District Association, previously criticized the developer for the extensions, stating during the public meeting in December that other construction projects were not similarly being delayed due to COVID-19.
The committee, however, was sympathetic to the request and approved the extension, with Chairperson Kristi Gelnett saying, “of course we understand.” And an attorney representing Pebb expressed confidence that construction would start soon, but the project approval has since been allowed to lapse.
“This project is on course,” said attorney Robert Stolzman, representing the developer, speaking during the December meeting. “We’ll be ready to go in months.”
Marc Larocque is a PBN contributing writer.
