PROVIDENCE – A city design review panel has recommended approval for two buildings in the $158 million first phase of the Wexford Science & Technology campus, which will include an innovation center, outdoor courtyard and hotel.
The site plan now moves forward to the Interstate 195 Redevelopment District Commission, which is expected to take it up Monday.
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The architectural design, by Baltimore-based Ayers Saint Gross, includes a programmable courtyard with outdoor seating located between the two buildings, which could be used for outdoor concerts, fairs and farmers’ markets.
The 191,000-square-foot District Hall building, located on a site at Dyer and Ship streets, would include space for the Brown University School of Professional Studies, the Cambridge Innovation Center and other office and research-related tenants. Brown is expected to occupy 50,000 square feet, while the CIC will take some 66,000 square feet.
The design also includes a café and a two-story public meeting space meant to facilitate interactions among local entrepreneurs.
The exterior design is dominated by metal panels and glass curtain walls.
The six-story hotel, to be run by the Starwood Aloft brand, will include a restaurant at street level and an outdoor patio. It is expected to include some 170 guest rooms.
The site plan includes a walkable path between the structures that would connect to the courtyard, and to additional buildings planned for later phases in the Wexford project.
The plan would have the City Walk pedestrian and biking route running alongside the District Hall building at Ship Street.
The project will occupy a portion of two parcels – Parcels 22 and 25, in the I-195 redevelopment district.
I-195 Redevelopment Commission Executive Director Peter McNally, who attended the meeting of the Downtown Design Review Committee on Monday, told its members that the 5-acre site that is the location for the multi-phased project is subject to a purchase and sale agreement.
The commission plans to subdivide the two involved parcels to fit each of the three planned phases in the Wexford development. The additional lands would not be released by the commission until each of the preceding phases begin development, McNally said.
The commission’s concern, he said, was that they be left with marketable development sites if the later phases of the Wexford project were not to move forward.
The Wexford Science & Technology project is being pursued by Baltimore-based Wexford, which is a developer of science and biomedical research facilities affiliated with universities, and CV Properties LLC, of Boston, now completing the South Street Landing project along the Providence River.
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer.
