SMITHFIELD – A 1 million-square-foot warehouse facility is being planned at a peat mining site at 295 George Washington Highway in Smithfield in a development that would create 500 permanent jobs, according to an attorney representing the owners and developer behind the project.
In addition to the main building, there’s a separate 100,000-square-foot warehouse facility being planned at the site, along with parking spaces for approximately 1,100 employees and roughly 700 trucks, according to conceptual plans.
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Developer Wharton Smithfield LLC submitted a pre-application and concept review plan to the Smithfield Planning Board, which recently held a hearing on the proposal. The 92-acre site has long been owned by the Despres family, which established the Smithfield Peat business there in 1964 and screened loam, compost and mulch in Rhode Island and southern New England.
Members of the Smithfield Planning Board offered input after receiving a presentation on the site plans from DiPrete Engineering Associates Inc. Some board members expressed their preference that it would be made into a mixed-use development with 280 residential units as previously planned.
“Obviously this type of facility will generate very significant benefits for the town, both in property taxes and, of course, the commerce that will be created by 500 employees,” said Providence-based attorney Michael Kelly, speaking for the developers and owners, which are formally known as Jake Development Co. and Rollingwood Acres Inc., respectively.
Kelly said currently there is no tenant lined up for the proposed warehouse building.
“Although, obviously, there are discussions going on with several potential tenants,” Kelly said.
The proposal is now moving on to further stages of review, with additional hearings expected later this year.
The property, which borders Route 7, Route 116 and Interstate 295, has been for sale for about three years, Kelly said, after the originally proposed mixed-use residential project failed to come together.
“Unfortunately, there was very little interest at the time,” Kelly said. “The market wasn’t all that great. And, of course, COVID hit, and the commercial retail and office market went down to just about nothing. [Last] spring we began receiving interest from multiple entities that were interested in it because of its ideal location for some type of warehouse distribution facility.”
The creation of a zoning overlay district in the area helped the project gain interest, since it makes warehouse and distribution facilities allowed by right, Kelly said.
“It made this project much more feasible and attractive,” he said. “Obviously, this property is an ideal location for that use.”
The project requires a wetlands permit, Kelly said. There are wetlands on the site, but with the exception of one “node” that needs to be altered, Kelly said, “For the most part, we’re avoiding those.”
Kelly said developers are holding discussions with the R.I. Department of Environmental Management about the project.
The main exits and entrances will be on Route 7, where the developers are requesting a new traffic signal, opposite from the exit of a shopping plaza, Kelly said. However, a warehouse facility will result in 40% less traffic than a mixed-use residential site, he said.
Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @LaRockPBN.
