Smiley has proposal to help ‘Superman Building’ overhaul get past money pinch

RISING CONSTRUCTION COSTS and higher interest rates have affected the work to transform the Industrial Trust Co. Building in Providence into nearly 300 apartments. Mayor Brett P. Smiley has proposed a change to the tax incentives plan to give the building owner High Rock Westminster LLC help in closing the financial gap. PBN PHOTO/WILLIAM HAMILTON
RISING CONSTRUCTION COSTS and higher interest rates have affected the work to transform the Industrial Trust Co. Building in Providence into nearly 300 apartments. Mayor Brett P. Smiley has proposed a change to the tax incentives plan to give the building owner High Rock Westminster LLC help in closing the financial gap. PBN PHOTO/WILLIAM HAMILTON

More than a year after interior demolition and asbestos removal started at the Industrial Trust Co. Building in downtown Providence, the future of the high-profile project is now unclear as rising construction costs and higher interest rates have slowed progress. Initial estimates placed the cost of transforming the 26-story office building into apartments at $223

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4 COMMENTS

  1. The industrial Trust Tower, aka the Superman building, is among the most historically significant art deco, set back skyscrapers in the country, predating both the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building. To tear it down would be the same sort of colossal loss of historic and iconic architecture as when Penn Station in Manhattan was torn down to make way make way for the ugly Madison Square Garden. Let’s not make the same mistake that certain small minded New Yorkers made in the early 1960s

  2. We are way past the time that the city should initiate eminent domain and take this from High Rock and turn it over to a real developer. High Rock is a disaster and incapable of managing a cat liter box let alone a piece of property.