Pawtucket City Council considers proposed $20M settlement for Apex land

Updated at 8:51 p.m.

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THE PAWTUCKET CITY COUNCIL is slated to vote Tuesday on a proposed settlement agreement with The Apex Cos. to buy the iconic pyramid building and four surrounding properties for $20 million. / PBN PHOTO/PAMELA BHATIA

PAWTUCKET – Twenty million dollars and a short-term lease could end a yearslong ownership battle over a prominent piece of downtown property.

Newly published city documents detail a plan under which the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency will issue up to $20 million in bonds to buy and redevelop the iconic Apex pyramid site on Main Street and four surrounding pieces of land. PRA will lease the properties to the city, and the city, in turn, will rent a portion of the space back to the property’s prior owners and its tenants on “short-term basis pending relocation,” according to city documents.

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The proposed settlement was slated to be considered by the Pawtucket City Council on Tuesday. The panel began the evening by meeting in executive session and it was unclear late Tuesday whether a vote would be taken.

THE FIVE PARCELS owned by Apex Development Co. LLC. in downtown Pawtucket would be acquired by the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency and leased to the city under a proposed settlement agreement./ COURTESY APEX DEVELOPMENT CO. LLC

Redevelopment of the site has been a source of contention between the city and property owner The Apex Cos. for years. The dispute escalated in the last year with the city taking steps to acquire the property by eminent domain after it was pulled from the proposed Tidewater Landing soccer stadium development. Apex in turn filed an amended lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, alleging that the city prevented the company from their efforts to develop the area and that it violated state law.

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It is unclear how much of the $20 million, if any, would go directly to The Apex Cos., or to cover other costs associated with a redevelopment project, such as demolition and environmental remediation.

Emily Rizzo, a spokeswoman for Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien’s office, responded to inquiries for comment in an email Tuesday.
“The City of Pawtucket and Apex Development have been in extensive and productive mediation discussions these past few months,” Rizzo said. “We are hopeful that a settlement will be ratified by the Pawtucket City Council and Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency Tuesday night.”
A spokesman for Apex did not respond to inquiries for comment, including on whether the company would drop its litigation if the settlement is approved.

When the City Council approved the plan in November 2020 to let the PRA issue bonds to redevelop the property, its intention was, potentially, to seize the property by eminent domain rather than a traditional sale.

How long Apex and its tenants would be allowed to rent space from the city was also not available.

City tax assessor records show that the 6 acres of land and the 100,000-square-foot building at 100 Main St. was valued at $4.3 million in 2018.

(SUBS paragraph 3 to note panel meeting in executive session.)

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