Archive | Features

PBN: India Point project is the first out of I-195 box

By on November 25, 2013 in 195 Relocation Project, Buildings

esplande-india-point

Developer Churchill & Banks wants to be a pioneer of Providence’s Interstate 195 land frontier.

The downtown developer hopes to build apartments, stores and offices on the former highway properties south of Wickenden Street on the city’s East Side.

But with the redevelopment process for those state-controlled parcels still some way off, Churchill & Banks is moving ahead with a mixed-use project on land it already owns next door, a development it hopes will influence the tone and direction of construction in the neighborhood going forward.

This fall the company unveiled plans for The Esplanade at India Point, a six-story, 29,000-square-foot expansion of the former Fuller Iron Works Building at 39 Pike St., now home to the Vanity lounge and headquarters of technology firm Swipely.

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195 Redevelopment District Commission Meeting – November 18, 2013

By on November 15, 2013 in 195 Relocation Project

A meeting of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission will be held at Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, 315 Iron Horse Way, Providence, Rhode Island, on MONDAY, November 18, 2013, beginning at 5:00PM, for the following purposes:

Public Session

Call to Order: The Chairperson

  1. Welcome by Chairperson: Chairperson Colin Kane.
  2. Approval of the Minutes of the Commission Meetings Held on October 21, 2013.
  3. Executive Director’s Report – Review of Activities during Past Month/Action Plan and Target Activities November – March, 2014 Including Discussion of Communications and Frameworks.
  4. Presentation/Discussion of District Audit by LGCD.
  5. Report from Fuss & O’Neill, District Engineers, Regarding Status of Master Permits from CRMC and DEM.
  6. Presentation by Brave River LLC Regarding Development of District Website.
  7. Chairman’s Report – Review of Activities in Past Month and Proposed Future Activities/Tentative Agenda for December 9, 2013 Meeting.
  8. Vote to Adjourn.
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ProJo: Residential construction, office space eyed for Fox Point land

By on October 31, 2013 in 195 Relocation Project, Buildings

The existing 3-story building on the one-acre lot now houses Vanity Restaurant. That portion of the development will house commercial tenants with the existing 11,000-square-foot structure expanded to 40,000 square feet of commercial space. The residential portion of the project will be new construction that includes 52 one- and two-bedroom apartments, including two penthouse suites. It will also have a rooftop garden. There will be 170 parking spaces for tenants and visitors.

vanity

Image from Google Maps

This project was on the Downtown Design Review Committee agenda in September. The project is being called, Esplanade at India Point.

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ProJo: Commission meets to discuss possible Garrahy Complex parking garage

By on October 24, 2013 in 195 Relocation Project, Downcity, Parking, Transportation

A legislative commission began looking Wednesday into whether building a parking garage adjacent to the Garrahy Judicial Complex on Dorrance Street would be a useful public project.

Garages are easy to build, going up Erector set fashion in months, but expensive — from $30,000 to $35,000 per space, he noted.

“They don’t support themselves out of the gate,” [I-195 Redevelopment District Commission chairman Colin] Kane said.

So it sounds like Kane is setting up the expectation that the public will have to subsidize this parking. GrowSmartRI tweeted:


…indeed.

Update: GrowSmartRI updated their status to indicate that Mr. Kane let them know that he “discussed the importance of transit, walking, and zipcars as part of the transportation equation.” We see the fact remaining that an entire Commission was created to ‘discuss’ parking at one specific location. A Commission where other transportation options may be mentioned, but are hardly the focus. Parking should be being discussed as a part of a transportation system. Parking should not be the focus where every other form of transportation is treated as, ‘oh, sure, that’s important too.’

Previously: State to study Garrahy Courthouse Garage. Again.

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195 Redevelopment District Commission Meeting – October 21, 2013

By on October 17, 2013 in 195 Relocation Project

A meeting of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission will be held at Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, 315 Iron Horse Way, Providence, Rhode Island, on MONDAY, October 21, 2013, beginning at 5:00PM, for the following purposes:

Public Session

Call to Order: The Chairperson

  1. Welcome by Chairperson: Chairperson Colin Kane.
  2. Approval of the Minutes of the Commission Meetings held on August 28, 2013 and September 9, 2013.
  3. Executive Director’s Report – Review of Activities from May through October 2013 and Proposed Activities in November 2013 Through March 2014 to advance Marketing of District Real Estate.
  4. Report on Legal Issues: Creatiion of Standard Disposition Documents and Precess; Life Science Tax Credit; Deeble Litigation Status.
  5. Update by DK-Communications, LLC on Public Relations.
  6. Approval of Resolution Supporting Burial of Power Lines.
  7. Review and Approval of Proposed 2014 Schedule of Committee Meetings.
  8. Chairman’s Report – Review of Activities in Past Month and Proposed Future Activities/Tentative Agenda for November 19, 2013 Meeting.
  9. Update on Attorney General/Open Meeting Law Violation.
  10. Vote to Adjourn.
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