PROVIDENCE — About a month into its launch, the state-sponsored Rhode Island Ready program has granted three out of its five applicants initial eligibility.
The three qualifying properties are:
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- An approximately 10-acre site at 1207 Hartford Ave. in Johnston
- An approximately 16-acre site at 0 Comstock Parkway in Cranston
- An approximately 15-acre site at 40 Keyes Way in West Warwick
The $40 million program run by Quonset Development Corp. has so far received five applications. One applicant at a 2.5-acre property at 204 Hartford Ave. in Providence, which currently contains a self-storage facility, was deemed ineligible. Another applicant in West Warwick, with a 20-plus acre parcel, remains under evaluation.
Property owners accepted into the program will have access to state-sponsored technical assistance such as engineering, surveying and permitting, as well as capital investments.
Rhode Island Ready was modeled after a site-readiness program at Quonset Business Park, which created more than 3,500 jobs and generated about $682 million in private investments over the last 10 years. The statewide program is intended to prepare property owners and municipalities to host businesses on their industrial properties.
Eligible sites must allow for an upgrade or improved infrastructure that supports industrial use; allow the expansion of existing industrial use or facilities; or be zoned for industrial or-off shore wind uses, within 1 mile of a highway, and at minimum size limits.
The program continues to accept applications on a rolling basis. Interested businesses can apply at riready.org.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
