When Burrillville officials unveiled plans to create a second industrial park in the rural town in the early 2000s to bring in jobs and tax dollars, they were met with praise from regional business leaders who commended the idea as innovative and “very progressive.”
Now more than 20 years later, most of the land that held so much promise still sits unused.
Shortly after the town purchased the 253 acres of undeveloped property off Route 102 in 2002, Burrillville welcomed a subsidiary of food manufacturer Daniele International LLC that eventually expanded to occupy two parcels in the park as Charcuterie Artisans. But the factory, warehouse and distribution center cover just 65 acres, leaving another 189 acres up for grabs across four parcels.
It’s not for lack of trying to fill the space. The town has marketed the parcels over the decades, says Raymond Goff, Burrillville’s director of planning and economic development coordinator.
“It’s vital to the future development of the town,” Goff said. “We have a moderate industrial and commercial tax base here, which we are trying to grow … and bring some jobs for people to live and work in Burrillville.”
The problem: Prospective developers and companies lose interest after finding out the amount of time and money it would take to prepare the property for development.
The acres are occupied by wetlands, trees and open land, creating plenty of red tape and financial barriers to hack through. Two of the four parcels will require extensive engineering and construction to install water and sewer systems.
Now town officials are hoping a helping hand from the state will get things moving.
Burrillville has signed on to Rhode Island Ready, a relatively new $40 million economic development initiative designed to help property owners prepare sites to host new industrial companies or expand existing sites, with the ultimate goal of bringing in more jobs and tax revenue.
The program started two years ago after statewide voters authorized a bond issue that provided the funding. At the time, tracts of land available in Rhode Island for industrial activities were in short supply.
Now 35 property owners have applied for financial assistance and technical support to get site ready throughout Rhode Island, from the 33-acre South Quay Marine Terminal on the East Providence waterfront to an undeveloped 17-acre parcel in Warwick.
So far, 18 applications have been approved for assistance, including the struggling industrial park in Burrillville. Each approved project receives up to $200,000 in technical assistance and can apply for larger grants later.
But whether the $40 million price tag for Rhode Island Ready is worth it remains to be seen.
Some observers say the Ocean State is still playing catch up with other states that roll out less bureaucratic red tape and offer improved infrastructure, and it might be better if the state focused on wider systematic changes.
Others such as Providence state Sen. Sam Bell, a progressive Democrat who has railed against “corporate welfare,” say they’ll be monitoring how things play out with Rhode Island Ready.
“There are elements of this that can be positive when done right, then there are elements of this that can open things up to real abuses,” Bell said. “And in this case, I don’t know where we’re going to land.”
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THE RIGHT RECIPE? Chelsea Siefert, chief operating officer of Quonset Development Corp. and program manager of Rhode Island Ready, outside at Infinity Meat Solutions LLC in North Kingstown. The company was one of many that moved into the Quonset Business
Park after the park’s site readiness program.
PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM[/caption]
STATEWIDE EXPANSION
Rhode Island Ready isn’t exactly an original idea.
It’s based on the success of the site readiness program established by the Quonset Development Corp., the quasi-public agency that operates the 3,200-acre Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown.
That experience led state officials to tab the QDC to oversee the statewide version of the initiative with the aim of pre-permitting and preparing vacant sites, presenting developers with opportunities to get started quickly.
It’s not for every property. To qualify, sites should have at least 10 acres of land and be able to accommodate a 100,000-square-foot building, have industrial or offshore wind zoning, and be within 1 mile of a state highway.
Quonset’s program took root around the start of the Great Recession in 2008, according to Chelsea Siefert, Rhode Island Ready program manager and chief operating officer at Quonset Development Corp.
“Knowing that the economic slowdown would recover and new opportunities would be heading our way shortly after, we went through the process of looking at each of our sites … and bringing those into a pre-permitted state,” she said.
With hurdles such as engineering and environmental assessments cleared, Quonset promised interested tenants the opportunity to break ground within 90 days of choosing a site in the business park.
The speculative work paid off.
According to Quonset data, the site readiness program has attracted more than 40 companies, creating 3,500 jobs and generating $682 million in private investments. Of the park’s approximately 1,600 acres of developable area, Siefert says, less than 100 acres remain available.
Officials at Quonset saw potential to replicate that success on a statewide scale, and then-Gov. Gina M. Raimondo granted it an initial allocation.
Quonset no longer operates its own site readiness program. It was folded into Rhode Island Ready.
So far, the program has dispersed about $2.7 million over two sites – a controversial distribution center on Moshassuck Street in Pawtucket, and the former medium-security prison at 20 Goddard St. in Cranston.
Most enrollees are still in the pre-permitting stage. Those projects include some familiar companies and initiatives, such as the R.I. Airport Corp., which is looking to build new cargo aviation facilities at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport and prepare land at the Quonset State Airport for industrial use.
Not all applications pass muster.
The five applicants that the QDC has denied so far either did not propose an industrial use or were not large-scale enough, Siefert says.
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BIG PLANS: The developers of the 33-acre South Quay on the East Providence waterfront are using the Rhode Island Ready initiative.
COURTESY RI WATERFRONT ENTERPRISES LLC[/caption]
NOT THAT SIMPLE
Expanding the program statewide has come with challenges.
For one, instead of the QDC making decisions about its own properties, officials now need to consider local zoning, preferences and the needs of each city and town. And not all communities have taken prospective developments in stride.
The 1 Moshassuck St. development in Pawtucket, known as the Blackstone Distribution Center and overseen by JK Equities Inc., drew the ire of some Pawtucket and Providence officials because the project threatened Morley Field in Pawtucket and would likely intensify truck traffic along Providence’s North Main Street.
But others, including R.I. Commerce Corp., celebrated the economic opportunity.
The developer has submitted plans for an approximately 160,000-square-foot “last mile” distribution center with 41 loading docks on the 3½-acre site that is projected to create 450 jobs.
JK Equities did not respond to a request for comment. In late 2022, the developer compromised with Pawtucket officials to spare portions of the athletic field and pledged $1.5 million to fund the purchase of a new park.
Siefert says work in various municipalities requires much lengthier pre-permitting times.
Then, there’s the issue of land availability. Just 3% of land in Rhode Island is zoned for industrial uses, Siefert says. The short supply stands out as an obstacle to Richard Godfrey, executive director of the Cummings Institute for Real Estate at Roger Williams University.
In Rhode Island, “we don’t have huge development parcels, which is what a lot of industrial sites are looking at,” Godfrey said. “We just don’t have those kinds of vast land areas.”
Even when large tracts of land are eyed for development, “chances are there are wetlands running through them,” Godfrey said. Other areas of open land may be too close to homes and schools, or lack access to water, sewer or transportation.
And competing with industrial needs are housing and environmental conservation.
“Because we’re so developed, we want to preserve the lands that we have,” Godrey said. “We’re competing with open space, and we’re competing with the need for new housing development, so we really want to be proactive in making sure we can carve out places convenient for industrial development and make it convenient to public development.”
Michael Ice, an associate teaching professor of finance at the University of Rhode Island, says he thinks the state could benefit from attacking core issues such as a lack of rail infrastructure and red tape at the state and community levels.
While Ice considers Quonset an economic success, he has less confidence in how much the Rhode Island Ready initiative can make a difference for the state overall.
“I would argue, why don’t you just make the permitting process more efficient and less competitive,” Ice said. “And why do you have to put $40 million into [the effort] to do it?”
[caption id="attachment_468966" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
INDUSTRIAL-SIZED ASSISTANCE
Eighteen sites covering more than 580 acres have been approved to receive up to
$200,000 in technical assistance each to get properties ready to host industrial companies
or expand existing uses. The owners of each site – which include companies, realty firms,
municipalities and state agencies – will be eligible to apply for more grants. / SOURCE: QUONSET DEVELOPMENT CORP.[/caption]
A DIFFERENCE MAKER?
But Siefert says, with 18 sites enrolled already, Rhode Island Ready is a statewide success.
“Leaders have all worked together with the common goal of creating a network of pre-permitted sites that drive economic development and create jobs in our cities and towns that benefit all Rhode Islanders,” she said.
And Siefert points to successes at Quonset Business Park as an example of what the future holds for Rhode Island Ready.
Edesia Inc., a nonprofit company that makes nutrient-dense food for children suffering from malnutrition globally, started in Providence in 2010 and needed a bigger factory six years later.
At the business park in North Kingstown, the company found plenty of space, rail and highway access, and the ease of pre-permitting under the site readiness program.
“As soon as we were introduced, it was smooth sailing,” said Tom Stehl, Edesia deputy director. “[The property] had already been permitted and had a lot of work done, versus if we had been on a site somewhere else.”
Stehl estimates it shaved at least six months off the construction process. Now, the company is hoping for similar results as it expands its 83,000-square-foot Quonset factory through the Rhode Island Ready program, where it has also received application approval. The company plans to add another 240,000 square feet to its facilities, Stehl says.
The site readiness program won over Dan Fawcett, too.
The owner of ATM Development LLC, which operates as Wide World of Indoor Sports, built a 76,000-square-foot indoor complex on an 8.3-acre site in Quonset Business Park without the red tape he’s faced with other projects in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Wide World of Indoor Sports doesn’t have the industrial focus that Rhode Island Ready seeks, but Fawcett suspects industrial developers will see more potential in Ocean State locations due to the program.
“If you’re looking at other locations, other cities across the country and don’t have to deal with this aggravation and red tape … I think it could be a difference maker,” Fawcett said.
Not everyone is sold on Rhode Island Ready.
Bell has mixed views on whether it will be worth the $40 million investment.
He said that the state has a history of “giving a bunch of money to rich businesses, which we’re always told will trickle down and never does.”
States such as Massachusetts “by and large tend to make more of a real investment approach than we do,” he said, citing the MassWorks Infrastructure Program. The Massachusetts competitive grant program funds municipalities and other public entities in creating projects that support public infrastructure such as housing, private development and jobs.
Bell says he’s encouraged by some aspects of Rhode Island Ready’s initial rollout. For instance, initial site selections have avoided low-income and environmentally vulnerable areas, Bell says, which are often sacrificed for industrial advancement.
And while Bell sees evidence that the site readiness program worked well at Quonset, he says the quasi-state agency also has a history of supporting its corporations at the expense of public benefits and taxpayer dollars.
“The QDC really needs to make sure that for every project, they’re effectively not giving things away to businesses,” Bell said. “It’s a lot of money, and industrial sites can be really harmful to the surrounding areas. It’s a place where it’s important to look carefully.”
[caption id="attachment_469155" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
ON THE BALL: ATM Development LLC, which operates as Wide World of Indoor Sports, built a 76,000-square-foot indoor complex on an 8.3-acre site in Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown using a site readiness program that has morphed into Rhode Island Ready. / PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM[/caption]
TRUE TESTS
East Providence could be a testing ground of sorts for Rhode Island Ready.
Three sites in the city have been approved for assistance under the program, the biggest of which will be the long-dormant 33-acre South Quay Marine Terminal, which is slated to play a key role in staging for offshore wind turbine manufacturing.
Partners in the project – RI Waterfront Enterprises LLC, ProvPort Inc. and Waterson Terminal Services, which operates ProvPort – say they plan to match a $35 million state commitment to develop the waterfront property.
East Providence Mayor Roberto L. DaSilva is eagerly awaiting the $70 million investment.
Using the South Quay “will expand our tax base, it will offer the state of Rhode Island an offshore industry and another deep-channel port, and it’s going to create jobs for people in our city or nearby,” DaSilva said.
Rhode Island Ready is also set to assist with the redevelopment of a 21½-acre site at 275 Ferris Ave. The property owner, Igus Bearings Inc., had announced a $200 million expansion in 2022 that would create 150 jobs directly, and state officials are still negotiating technical assistance agreements.
And another development project on an 8-acre industrial site at 9 Dexter Road is already receiving technical assistance.
“We try to use all the tools in the toolshed to bring these projects to reality,” DaSilva said.
In Burrillville, the work to get its second industrial park running on all cylinders is where Rhode Island Ready could really shine, too, according to Siefert.
The project features a large amount of developable land and it’s already zoned for industrial uses.
“All it really needs to get activated is some utility work and permitting,” she said. “It meets all the characteristics of an industrial site that could produce large economic benefits for the state.”
Town ownership of the property, though not a requirement, serves as another plus. Town officials have signed a memorandum of understanding with QDC, which is coordinating with the town on a design plan.
“Municipal support is very important to the program,” she noted. “We want to make sure that we are investing in sites that the town wants and supports.”
