PROVIDENCE – A former downtown nightclub that was shut down following a double shooting in January 2014 and a neighboring parking lot were sold for $1.6 million last week by Johnson & Wales University to an alumnus who plans to turn the properties into a mixed-use apartment building, according to city property records.
That price tag was the same amount the school paid seven years ago for the former Karma nightclub property at 101 Richmond St. and the parking lot, with the idea that they could be developed into additional classrooms, administrative offices, a gym or a student services center.
The properties in the Jewelry District were sold to 101 Richmond LLC and 138 Friendship LLC, registered to Providence Realty Advisors LLC and its owner Dustin Dezube, who received an associate degree from Johnson & Wales in 2007.
Dezube, who is the owner of the Providence Student Living Capital LLC, which manages more than 100 apartment in the city, said he plans a $3 million renovation of the 101 Richmond St. property into 19 one- and two-bedroom apartment units, with a local bar operator that’s being lined up for a first floor retail space, with an outdoor deck for a patio. Dezube said the project isn’t ready to announce the name of the bar operator yet.
No plans are in place for the other first floor retail space, Dezube said.
The timeline to complete the project is about 18 to 20 months, Dezube said. He added Providence Architecture, a firm he co-owns with architect Kevin Diamond, is behind the design for the project.
“I’m very passionate about the city,” Dezube said. “I’ve admired that building since I first saw it. It’s a beautiful old, historic building, and it has so much potential. I really like the brick facade and I also think the Jewelry District is an exciting, happening place, with a lot of new development. It’s an area I want to be in.”
Prior to JWU buying the property in 2014, the 101 Richmond St. building and parking lot were small parts of a proposed $60 million student housing development planned by the Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. and Phoenix Property Co. But those plans fell apart, and the former owners Richmond and Friendship LLC approached JWU, which agreed to buy the property for $1.6 million.
A JWU spokesperson said the university’s needs have changed since it purchased the property.
“Since 2015, we have seen remarkable changes in higher education,” said JWU spokesperson Katherine Hypolite-MacMannis. “As Johnson & Wales positions the university for future success, our physical campus footprint must reflect the changing needs of the university to best serve our campus community.”
The university also expressed its support for the $3 million renovation by Dezube and his companies.
“We’re proud to see a JWU alum with strong industry and community ties at the helm of this transformative investment that will positively contribute to the vitality and vibrancy of downtown Providence,” Hypolite-MacMannis said.
Before the sale of 101 Richmond St. to JWU, the Karma dance club was the site of an indoor shooting that wounded two Massachusetts gang members in January 2014, leading the Providence Licensing Board to shut down the business, which was previously owned by former state lawmaker Peter Petrarca and restaurant owner Gianfranco Morrocco. Before it was Karma, other nightclubs that operated in the building included The Spot, Club Elements, Level II and The Keg Room.
Dezube said the area around the former dance club is different now.
“I think the whole area is changing,” he said. “I see the Jewelry District as a desirable place to be right now, with a technology center that came in, and all the apartments that came up there recently. It’s close to the pedestrian bridge, which is really nice.”
Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com.
