R.I., Providence partner on redevelopment plan

Business and political leaders are lauding a partnership between the state and City of Providence to redevelop about 19 acres of prime real estate in the Jewelry District that will soon be left vacant by the relocation of Interstate 195.
“This is incredibly encouraging,” said architect Steve Durkee of Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels, whose Chestnut Street office sits just 100 feet from the site. “It’s going to be very exciting to see this land become a dynamic, mixed-use neighborhood, a neighborhood that will be part of the knowledge economy. I don’t think anything can be ruled out.”
Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline last week signed an agreement that allows the state and city to work as partners in the redevelopment of the site. During the public ceremony, held in Durkee, Brown offices, both the governor and mayor predicted the project will be a major boost to the state’s economy.
“By choosing to work with the City of Providence to redevelop the surplus state-owned land being freed up by the relocation of I-195, Rhode Island will take advantage of an unprecedented opportunity to create new jobs, grow the economy and change the look of our capital city,” Carcieri said.
“The majority of this land will be available between 2010 and 2012. Now is the time to identify how this property can fuel our economy,” said the governor.
Cicilline told PBN the agreement to market the property “is a real opportunity to grow good jobs.”
He said he wants to see the land, which abuts waterfront, developed “thoughtfully and responsibly” to “add to the character and vitality” of Providence. He expects a mixed-use approach with commercial, residential and retail establishments. He cited the land’s views of Narragansett Bay and said he looks forward to a “great public space,” referring to a proposed eight-acre park planned near the site.
“It will be a very exciting new neighborhood,” Cicilline said. “Our partnership will help us cut through the bureaucracy to make the economic benefit from new construction, new commercial space and new businesses happen as quickly as possible.”
The mayor said he expects the city and the state will work together amicably “to make sure the land is marketed and developed in a way that maximizes the value.”
He said the land is ideally situated for knowledge-based development because of its proximity to Rhode Island Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Women & Infants Hospital and Brown University, which has opened fundraising offices and other facilities in the nearby former Jewelry District.
The land is part of a 35-acre parcel that is now filled with highway infrastructure, but state officials predict all that will be gone by 2012. Part of the site will be taken up by parks and new roadways, but 19.2 acres will be available for development. The agreement creates a five-member committee to oversee the redevelopment process. It will include the Providence planning director, the director of the R.I. Department of Transportation, the director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, the director of the R.I. Department of Administration and a representative from the Federal Highway Administration.
Over the next two weeks, the panel will solicit bids for a consulting agency to study the best way to develop the parcel. A report is expected in about six months. But many already envision high-rise office buildings and a bumper crop of high-wage jobs.
“This will be something for the 21st-century economy,” RIEDC Executive Director Saul Kaplan said. “It could change the skyscape of our city. One thing our growth plan calls for is an increase in office and commercial space, and I think we’ll see an increase in large office structures as part of the mix.”
The RIEDC’s Economic Growth Plan for 2008 identified increasing the availability of office and commercial space as critical to future economic growth in the state.
The growth plan identifies the 19.2 acres as critical to creating “a new hub of high-wage job growth.”
Kaplan told PBN “this is perhaps the biggest economic development opportunity the state has seen in a number of years. “It’s 20 urban acres on the top of [Narragansett Bay]. You don’t find that anywhere on the Eastern seaboard.”
Kaplan acknowledged that a prolonged downturn in the economy could affect how the property is redeveloped, which is one of the issues the consultant will be asked to address.
“We’re going to study alternative approaches to marketing the parcels, individually or collectively. The DOT will ultimately put them in the marketplace.”
One question to be answered is how parcels that were originally taken by eminent domain when the highway was built will be handled.
Kaplan said the DOT has been studying that issue and will have to offer some, but not all, of the parcels back to the original owners.
Dan Baudouin, director of the Providence Foundation, an arm of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce that promotes downtown development, heralded the agreement as “a multi-generational opportunity” for Rhode Island’s economy.
“It’s great that the city and state are cooperating,” Baudouin said. “This could have an effect similar to that of the Capitol Center project. It could be something beneficial to the city and the entire state. It’s something that needs to be carefully and strategically planned, and that’s what I think this memo of understanding addresses.”
Said Durkee, who chairs the city’s Planning Commission, of the development opportunity: “There’s an urgency about it now.” &#8226