PROVIDENCE – The City Plan Commission approved major changes to a mixed-use development in the city’s South Providence neighborhood Tuesday.
Last year, Boston-based developer Marathon Development LLC gained approval for its proposal to build an “L-shaped” six-story, mixed-use building with 178 housing units that would go for between 30%-80% of the area median income and a ground floor day care center and playground. The project, titled Copley Centre I and located on 220 Blackstone St., includes a separate two-story building that would be used as an educational facility.
Now, developers are proposing the educational facility be raised to six stories tall. This would allow for up to 120 employees and 30 classrooms, according to planning documents.
Harry Angevine, CEO of Marathon Development, told the commission that the residential building is under construction, and tenants are expected to move in during the second quarter of 2026.
Also, Angevine said that several educational providers approached Marathon Development, including Achievement First, which is looking to move into a new location in Providence. The provider was looking to develop a kindergarten through eighth grade program in the neighborhood. But under the current plans, Achievement First would move into the space with a kindergarten through fifth grade program and consider adding grades six through eight a few years later.
Some commissioners and residents expressed concerns about the traffic patterns in the area because it is located near Rhode Island Hospital, Women & Infants Hospital and Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
Angevine said there is a traffic study being conducted now by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. for the hospitals in the area, which Marathon Development is involved with.
Commissioners previously granted the developer a dimensional adjustment to allow for 50% of the required parking. Marathon Development plans to provide 118 spaces for the project, with 66 for the mixed-use building and 52 for the school, while 228 spaces would have been required without the dimensional adjustment. Also, plans include 63 bicycle parking spaces, while 126 would have been required.
The project would be built on the 4-acre site that was once home to the Edmund Flynn School and is adjacent to the Community College of Rhode Island’s Liston campus.
This is the third development proposal for the property.
The first proposal came when Massachusetts-based developer Aspen Group purchased the site with plans of constructing a medical office complex that never came to fruition.
Then in January 2022, planning commissioners granted preliminary plan approval for a similar project proposed by AR Building Co., which called for a six-story, 178-unit apartment building in an “L” shape, Providence Business News previously reported. While the plans were approved, the project, which included 217 parking spaces, received pushback from commissioners and local residents over the density of parking and lack of affordable housing units. It was not immediately clear what happened to the two proposals.
Also on the agenda Tuesday night was a proposal from Signature Properties LLC to build a five-story building that would have 32 three-bedroom residential units. The plans include 45 parking spaces, with 42 of the spaces located inside below the residential units. The project will be located on a vacant lot on Angell Street in the city’s East Side neighborhood. The developers are seeking preliminary plan approval from commissioners.
The developers are also seeking several dimensional waivers, including one allowing the height to be 57 feet, while the zoning allows a maximum building height of 45 feet.
The outcome of the presentation was not immediately clear at the time of publication.
(UPDATE recasts lead, adds comment from Marathon Development CEO Harry Angevine in paragraphs 4-7, plus minor edits throughout.)
Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com.
