Building Brown… and URI… and RIC

Ted Nesi reports on the Nursing School for PBN. Adding info on the parcel the schools are interested in:

Education officials are eyeing a section of highway for the nursing building just south of the J. Joseph Garrahy Judicial Complex in Dorrance Plaza, about a block from where Brown University plans to build a new home for its Warren Alpert Medical School. Officials want to turn the area, which is also close to Rhode Island and Women & Infants hospitals, into a “Knowledge District” centered on the biotechnology and life sciences sectors.

PBN reports today about the proposed URI/RIC Nursing School. A nine-month study by the Board of Governors concludes that building a 120,000 sq. foot shared facility in the Jewelry District is the best option for the two schools.

The new facility, plus renovations to space at the schools’ respective campuses would cost in the neighborhood of $79 million.

The report makes no recommendation on the best way to finance the project. The state could issue bonds to pay for the building. Another option would have URI and RIC become the anchor tenants for a privately financed building that would likely sit close to where Brown University is constructing its new medical school.

The private-public option is attractive because it would spur private investment while keeping the building on the city’s tax rolls, Rhode Island Commissioner for Higher Education Ray DiPasquale said.

Proposed Nursing Education Center in Providence stalls [The Providence Journal]