PROVIDENCE — A boutique hotel that is proposed for a small parcel of riverfront land in the Interstate 195 Redevelopment District fared poorly in a public hearing on Tuesday.
More than a dozen speakers rose to object to its size and scale, and its location on a site that has until now been used to host community-centered events, including a benefit oyster festival and the Sunday morning Providence Flea.
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The project, called the River View Hotel, is an effort by the Cambridge-based Kendall Hotel Group. It would place a 52-room hotel, an art gallery and restaurant, as well as parking on a 0.28-acre site between South Water Street and the Providence River.
The site within the I-195 district is called Parcel 1A.
After some two hours of testimony, the I-195 commission agreed to consider the various documents and comments, and wait for several weeks before taking action. Their agenda had anticipated a vote on whether to give the project Level 1, or conceptual approval.
In the I-195 commission process, this would have given the developer the go-ahead to firm up development plans and a design.
The project developer, Gerald Fandetti, said the hotel would provide a lively center that would anchor that area of the riverfront. It would be located just west of the landing for the pedestrian bridge, now under construction. “You don’t want a bridge to nowhere,” Fandetti said. “You want a bridge that’s connecting to … activities.”
For most speakers, although not all, the size of the building proposed was too much for the site. It would be 50 to 60 feet tall, according to the proposal.
Robert I. Stolzman, an attorney with Adler, Pollock & Sheehan in Providence, represents the ownership group of the Heritage Building, a Class A office building at 321 S. Main St.
The proposed hotel would sit directly in front of the building, effectively blocking its views of the waterfront, he said, and diminishing its value.
The project is too big in scale, and will require so many variances to move forward on the site that it’s really not feasible, he said.
“It’s 10 pounds of development in a five pound bag,” Stolzman said.
He told the commission that if it were to give tentative approval to the project, it would essentially be favoring the hotel developer over others who have expressed interest or submitted proposals for the same site. This, despite the fact that the hotel will require multiple waivers of the Providence zoning code, as well as approval from the state’s Coastal Resources Management Council, to move forward.
“You are choosing a preferred developer,” he said.
By the end of the meeting, two aspirants for the same location had stepped forward, and said they have had conversations, and expressed their interest through letters or proposals.
The interested parties included Yarrow Thorne, founder and artistic director of the Avenue Concept, a Providence-based public art program. He said he wanted, with the support of several partners, to establish a high-quality, sculpture garden on Parcel 1A, as well as Parcel 4, the public park on the west side of the river.
Another proposal has been submitted by Bob Burke, founder and president of the Independence Trail Educational Foundation, who said he wants to establish a tourism center and an education center on the site.
Both men spoke about their proposals during the public hearing. Burke said the land should remain open to the water, allowing Rhode Islanders to have access to the river at a site that he said had historical significance.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
