Three firms to pitch mixed-use apartment buildings for I-195 district’s Parcel 2

URBANICA IS ONE OF THREE firms competing to develop Parcel 2, a 1.08-acre property at the base of College Hill next to the Michael S. Van Leesten Pedestrian Bridge over the Providence. Three firms are presenting their proposals to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission at 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept 20, 2021. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION
URBANICA, whose proposed project is shown above, is one of three firms competing to develop Parcel 2, a 1.08-acre property at the base of College Hill next to the Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Bridge over the Providence River. The three firms are scheduled to present their proposals to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission at 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept 20, 2021. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION

PROVIDENCE – Three competing visions for the future of a 1.08-acre property at the base of College Hill next to the Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Bridge over the Providence  River are scheduled to be presented to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission on Monday, Sept. 20.

Real estate design and development groups Eden Properties, Parent + Diamond Real Estate Development together with Urban Spaces LLC, and Urbanica Inc. are each scheduled to make their proposals for Parcel 2, each project involving a different mix of residential and first floor retail. The I-195 Redevelopment District Commission had called for requests for proposals earlier this year with an early August deadline.

PARCEL TWO in the I-195 Redevelopment District is located between S. Water Street and S. Main Street near the east entrance to the Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Bridge. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION

The Eden Properties project, according to a presentation already submitted to the I-195 Redevelopment District, entails a six-story building, with 163 residential units on the upper floors totaling 156,000 square feet, and 8,600 square feet of ground floor retail. The project calls for 52 parking spaces, and 89 bike spaces. The concept plan submitted by the Boston-based Eden Properties calls for a plaza with seating and overhead lights at the center of the property facing South Water Street, and a plaza at the corner of South Water and James streets for events like food trucks and farmers markets. A rendering shows two sections of the six-story apartment building connected by skywalks, a ground floor restaurant with al fresco dining.

EDEN PROPERTIES IS ONE OF THREE firms competing to develop Parcel 2, a 1.08-acre property at the base of College Hill next to the Michael S. Van Leesten Pedestrian Bridge over the Providence. Three firms are presenting their proposals to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission at 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept 20, 2021. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION
EDEN PROPERTIES, whose proposed development is shown above, is one of three firms competing to develop Parcel 2, a 1.08-acre property at the base of College Hill next to the Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Bridge over the Providence. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION

The Parent + Diamond project involves 134,953 square feet of residential space, along with 25,000 square feet of retail space, with a total of 120 residential units and 20 retail units, according to the concept submitted by the Boston-based group. The project would include 140 underground parking spaces, Parent + Diamond said, with 20 of those dedicated to retail. The project calls for a minimum of 20% construction jobs for minorities and women. Renderings submitted by Parent + Diamond show a long, curved building, with a pedestrian gateway through the building from the direction of the Providence River toward the Fox Point area.

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PARENT + DIAMOND IS ONE OF THREE firms competing to develop Parcel 2, a 1.08-acre property at the base of College Hill next to the Michael S. Van Leesten Pedestrian Bridge over the Providence. Three firms are presenting their proposals to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission at 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept 20, 2021. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION
PARENT + DIAMOND, whose proposed project is shown above in a rendering, is one of three firms competing to develop Parcel 2, a 1.08-acre property at the base of College Hill next to the Michael S. Van Leesten Memorial Bridge over the Providence. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION

The Urbanica proposal for Parcel 2 is called “Collage.” Renderings show a red, curved building with a double-loaded corridor design, with a passageway in the center for pedestrians from South Water Street to South Main Street, but with three stories of apartments overhead that connect two parts of the building. The Boston-based firm’s plan includes a total of 194 residential units, amounting to 120,666 square feet, along with four commercial units of ground floor retail totaling 16,000 square feet. The project also calls for 90 underground parking spaces and 120 bike storage units. The Urbanica proposal plans for a food hall, a brewery, a gym and a cafe with outdoor patio seating.

In addition to hearing the proposals for Parcel 2, the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission is expected to vote on Sept. 20 on an application for final design approval for the Philadelphia-based Pennrose to start the first phase of a $48 million project on Parcel 9 in the district. The rental housing developer was selected last year by the commission to build 131 residential units with both market rate and affordable housing in two five-story, mixed use buildings on Parcel 9, the grassy one-acre plot located between Our Lady of The Rosary Church and the Interstate-195 off-ramp in Fox Point. Robert Davis, chairperson of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission, said December 2022 is the target date to begin construction on the first of two buildings, the five-story “Fox Point West” as it’s titled in renderings of the project, featuring 66 residential units, 21 market rate and the rest either income-based affordable and workforce housing.

The I-195 Redevelopment District Commission, a quasi-public state agency that’s responsible for selling and developing 19 acres of former Interstate-195 land, approved a $240,000 purchase agreement with Pennrose in April for the one-acre Parcel 9 property.

Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. IMHO, Urbanica is the best design. Interesting, imaginative with open spaces to view the rivew.
    Parent + Diamond is terrible, it looks like a Florida resort hotel with too long of a blocked view of the river.
    Eden’s proposal? Meh.