PROVIDENCE – The Providence Community Health Centers this week requested a 10-year tax stabilization agreement for city property taxes on a mill building it acquired and renovated as part of its Prairie Avenue campus.
Although the health service organization is a nonprofit, it formed a for-profit corporation to purchase and renovate the former Beamon and Smith Building, a 47,000-square-foot structure, to qualify for federal and state historic preservation tax credits, according to an overview given to the City Council in October.
Its TSA, introduced to the council Thursday, will soften the tax impact of the improvements for the next decade. If the agreement is approved, the health centers will pay $150,000 annually to the city instead of the full taxation amount. The period of the TSA will run from the 2016 tax year through 2026.
In supporting documents, representatives of the health centers said the final redevelopment project, the former mill, had resulted in urban renewal, jobs and long-term stability in the South Providence community.
The health centers, at all of its 11 sites, sees more than 55,000 patients annually and employs 450 people. It does not receive direct support from the city of Providence.
The mill building is now partially leased to Lifespan, which uses 27,000 square feet for a children’s neurology testing center, a radiology school, community outreach and training. Another 20,000 square feet is used by the health centers for its services, including a dental clinic.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
