Tidewater Landing master plan details design, construction timeline

Updated at 10:21 a.m. on Jan 5, 2020.

A NEW MASTER Plan for the proposed Tidewater Landing project will be introduced at the Pawtucket City Council meeting on Jan. 6. / COURTESY FORTUITOUS PARTNERS

PAWTUCKET – After a year of extended deadlines on a multimillion dollar, mixed-use development anchored by a soccer stadium, developers of the proposed Tidewater Landing project have submitted a master plan, including a proposed construction timeline for review and approval by the City Council.

The 30-page document from Fortuitous Partners scheduled to be introduced at the council’s Jan. 6 meeting largely mirrors details already unveiled about the project slated for 28 acres across two properties along the Seekonk River. A third property owned by Apex Cos. was previously scratched from the project plans amid continued difficulty in acquiring the site, though the city has since authorized its seizure by eminent domain.

Construction on the hallmark 8,000-to-10,000-seat soccer stadium, as well as mixed-use residential, retail and office space along Division Street is anticipated to start this coming fall, with an early 2024 completion date.

The hotel and event center, as well as parking improvements related to the development, will be built under a second phase anticipated to begin in 2025 and finish by 2027. The plans attributed the delayed timeline for phase two to the need for clarity in the post-pandemic market for hospitality and indoor event spaces.

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A MASTER PLAN for the Tidewater Landing project details the design of the project, which is split between two properties on either side of the Seekonk River. /COURTESY TIDEWATER LANDING

 

The project design splits the development on either side of the Seekonk River, with a pedestrian bridge connecting the two sites. The 17-acre Tidewater site west of the river, which includes parcels owned by National Grid and the city, will house the soccer stadium, an outdoor event plaza and some retail and residential space.

East of the river, on the city-owned Division Street site, will be the hotel and event center and more mixed-use residential, retail and office space.  

AN ILLUSTRATIVE RENDERING of a public plaza north of the soccer stadium included in the Tidewater Landing project master plan. / COURTESY FORTUITOUS PARTNERS

As proposed, the project requires the city to create a new zoning district, essentially blending its existing zoning requirements for riverfront mixed use and commercial downtown areas, to allow for taller buildings, building multiple structures on a single parcel and creating parking on both sides of the river – flexibility deemed “crucial” to the project’s success, according to the submitted plans.

The zoning ordinance request will also be introduced at the council meeting on Jan. 6.

The master plan also notes plans between Fortuitous and National Grid to develop an environmental remediation plan for the Tidewater site, which once housed operations for The Pawtucket Gas Co., and has varying levels of contamination in the soil and groundwater, according to prior assessments. 

The city, state and developer in September entered into an agreement giving Fortuitous Partners exclusive rights to the project, but the financial details of the public-private partnership intended to pay for it still have not been set, with the latest extension giving project partners until the end of the month.

This story has been updated to correct the directional orientation of the project in relation to the Seekonk River.

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