West Side redevelopment plan stalls

Caught between a legal battle over parking variances, the shrinking Rhode Island economy and the loss of the R.I. Historic Preservation Investment Tax Credit program, a planned West Side Providence redevelopment of a former church and warehouse into 20 condominiums has stalled.
Getting it back on track could take years, the developer said.
The most recent blow came on Sept. 18, when the West Broadway Neighborhood Association and Providence Preservation Society won a R.I. Superior Court appeal against a zoning variance for off-site parking for the project at 19 Harrison St., developer Bernie Guttin said last week.
“I needn’t tell you about the economic state in Rhode Island,” said a frustrated Guttin, a Realtor operating as 19-21 Harrison Street Associates LLC. “We’ll probably pursue the venture, but we just don’t know when. As to whether and when we’ll be able to get off the ground, the answer to that is a definite ‘later.’”
In 2006, when Guttin signed on to redevelop the 0.22-acre site, the condo market was strong, he said. At that time, he expected to complete the project by early 2008.
But after a March 2007 Providence Zoning Board approval, a legal battle started concerning the development’s parking. The building takes up an entire parcel with no room available for the city-required 30 parking spots. After negotiating rented spots in the neighborhood for most of the cars, Guttin struck a deal with U.G. Gas, a gas station on nearby Westminster Street, to buy its property, contingent on his project gaining approval, and make it a surface parking lot for about eight cars.
That 0.15-acre site, assessed at $361,900, is part of the West Side Overlay District, where city zoning doesn’t allow parking as the primary use. But the zoning board granted Guttin a variance – one of six – to allow the use.
But WBNA and the Providence Preservation Society objected to the use of the location, at the corner of Westminster and Dexter streets.
“To us, that’s an unbelievably prominent corner. A kind of a gateway corner for the neighborhood,” WBNA Executive Director Kari Lang said, “because you turn onto Dexter Street and there is the beautiful Dexter Training Ground – 10 acres – and the lovely Cranston Street Armory.
Guttin said WBNA suggested that he move an existing building, which is set back behind gas pumps, to front along Westminster Street. He said that wouldn’t be worth it and he wouldn’t be able to attract a tenant.
In its ruling, the Rhode Island Superior Court stopped short of ruling against use of the parcel for parking, instead ruling against the way that use was granted. In the opinion, written by Associate Justice Alice Bridget Gibney, the court said the U.S. Gas property isn’t identified in the project plans, although the Zoning Board’s decision mentions it and “assumes” that it will be purchased.
Aside from the parking variance, Lang said the redevelopment was welcome in the mostly residential neighborhood.
“The idea of the building being renovated is very exciting to WBNA,” she said. “If you look at the historic photos of it as a church, it was quite magnificent. So a renovated building would be great.”
PPS Director of Preservation Services Sara Cannata Emmenecker agreed, saying, “Our opposition is not necessarily to the redevelopment of the building.”
The four-story building was built in 1874 as the Pilgrim Congregational Church, according to the R.I. Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission. With additions in 1920, it became a 24,000-square-foot brick warehouse, used as a moving company headquarters until being vacated a few years ago.
Standing outside the building, it’s clear that it’s a hodgepodge of different styles and additions from its different incarnations. Over the window, there are the white-and-gray stone arches from when it was a church. There’s the brick that covered up most of the windows when it became a warehouse. And, from its most recent use, there are the bay doors and a “Lawton Moving & Storage” sign. On the north side a concrete block addition doesn’t match the material and paint color of the rest of the building.
In its most recent assessment, the Providence Assessor’s Office valued the building and its 0.22-acre parcel at $513,000. The building is owned by Lawton Family Realty LCC, but there’s a signed contract that says Guttin would buy it if and when the renovation is finished, he said.
In its ruling, the court sent the project back to the zoning board, asking it to clarify its reasons for granting the parking variance, along with the five others. So now Guttin can resubmit the plans to the zoning board, which might again grant the variances.
“I’m sure we could get it passed,” he said. “But … we’re just going to sit back and wait” for the economy to improve.
The condo market in Rhode Island is in the doldrums, according to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors. Second-quarter figures showed that sales in the state were down about 28 percent from the same period a year ago. In Providence, sales were down by 6 percent.
If Guttin tried to rent the units as apartments, the per-unit construction costs would push rents too high, he said. And the projected project cost can’t come down much because the building is part of the Broadway-Armory Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, Guttin said.
But even if the parking issue can be resolved and if Guttin sees increased market demand, now that the historic tax credit program has been shut down to new applicants the project will be more expensive, he said. “While we’re still interested … I don’t even know if we could get financing for it today.” •