Archives For I-195 Redevelopment District Commission
“If people can access the parcel, they’re parking on it,” [Route 195 Redevelopment District Commission Chairman Colin] Kane told the commission Monday night at its regular meeting. “I’m guilty myself.”
A meeting of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission will be held at the office of Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, 315 Iron Horse Way, Suite 101, Providence, Rhode Island, on Monday, April 8, 2013, beginning at 5:00 p.m., for the following purposes:
I. Public Session
Call to Order: The Chairperson
- Welcome by Chairperson: Chairperson Colin Kane.
- To approve the minutes of the meetings held on March 4, 2013 and March 11, 2013. (Tab 1.)
- Update Concerning Legal and Business Issues Regarding Purchase of I-195 Land and Related Bond Transaction.
- Status of Executive Director Search.
- Review of Status of Purchase of I-195 Land and Related Bond Transaction and Vote to Approve Terms of Purchase and Bond Transaction.
- Chairman’s Report/Agenda for May 13, 2013 Meeting.
- Vote to Adjourn.
II. Executive Session
To consider and act upon such matters as may be considered at a meeting closed to the public pursuant to the Open Meetings Law, specifically matters permitted to be so considered under subsection (1) (personnel matters) and subsection (5) (acquisition and disposition of public property) of Rhode Island General Laws, Section 42-46-5(a) (the Open Meetings Law).
III. Public Session
Tempers flared at a Route 195 Redevelopment District Commission meeting Monday night over how much control the land panel may ultimately have or whether it’s being asked to cede to the state some control granted to the commission by legislation that created the panel in 2011.
The commission is moving closer to taking control of about 20 developable acres of former highway land, but it did not cast a final vote Monday about whether to proceed with a bond sale that will allow that to happen.
The bond proceeds will pay for the final phase of the $623-million highway-relocation project — knitting together city streets to connect the old highway land with the rest of the city. In financing the highway project, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation pledged a local match to the Federal Highway Administration. The bond sale will raise that money and allow the DOT to transfer control of the land to the commission.
It is hard to sell the land when we haven’t even built the streets and the utilities to it.
A meeting of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission will be held at the office of Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, 315 Iron Horse Way, Suite 101, Providence, Rhode Island, on Monday, March 11, 2013, beginning at 5:00 p.m., for the following purposes:
I. Public Session
Call to Order: The Chairperson
- Welcome by Chairperson: Chairperson Colin Kane.
- To approve the public session minutes of the meeting held on February 11, 2013.
- Update on Executive Director Search Process.
- Review of Legal and Business Issues Regarding Purchase of I-195 Land and Related Bond Closing.
- Chairman’s Report/Agenda for April 8, 2013 Meeting.
- Vote to Adjourn.
Seven years after initial plans were drafted to develop a park along the west waterfront of the Providence River, recent construction in the Jewelry District — including several University buildings — has altered those design plans. The new park will offer a grassy space with access to the river and outdoor programming that will strengthen connections between College Hill and downtown Providence.
The biggest change the commission made to the park plans was selecting a “parcel” from the initial allotment to offer for commercial development, [Bonnie] Nickerson [director of long-range planning for Providence] said.
The commission hopes to see the park ready for construction by summer 2014 and open to the public within 18 months, in late 2015, Nickerson said.
Rep. John Carnevale, D-Providence and Johnston, introduced legislation in the General Assembly that would place a $50 fee per semester on every out-of-state student attending Brown, the Rhode Island School of Design and Johnson and Wales University Feb. 14. The money raised from this fee would cover the redevelopment of the land opened up by the relocation of I-195, an area each university included in the fee has expressed interest in acquiring. Carnevale said in a press release he chose to raise funds from these universities because he did not want the state to invest heavily in land that would ultimately benefit “wealthy institutions” more than taxpayers.
“If one of those schools buys some land today, relatively cheap, and sells it five years from now when the area is active and thriving, who will reap the profit? Not the taxpayers,” Carnevale said in the press release.
I’m not prepared at the moment to talk about how damn foolish I think this proposal is, but feel free to discuss amongst yourselves in the comments.
A Johnston real estate developer wants to be the first private party to dig into the land left behind by the Route 195 relocation project, offering the state a multifaceted vision for its vacant highway property in the Fox Point section of Providence.
Carpionato Group envisions a series of buildings and outdoor spaces including a hotel, town houses, a restaurant, research laboratories, three parking garages, shops and public spaces linked by pedestrian bridges — one a Ponte Vecchio-inspired span over Wickenden Street; the other a more utilitarian structure above South Water Street connecting a retail plaza to a park along the Providence River.
It would cost an estimated $254 million and would support the equivalent of 900 full-time jobs.
Carpionato has in the past proposed a large retail complex at the site of the old Providence Fruit and Produce Warehouse (which they tore down) and a hotel tower on the triangle parcel near Kennedy Plaza. Neither project ever happened.
A suburban developer’s project design reviewed by a Commission chaired by a suburban developer, this is the problem with the 195 Commission.
A meeting of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission will be held at the office of Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, 315 Iron Horse Way, Suite 101, Providence, Rhode Island, on Tuesday, January 29, 2013, beginning at 5:00 p.m., for the following purposes:
I. Public Session
Call to Order: The Chairperson
- Welcome by Chairperson: Chairperson Colin Kane.
- To approve the public session minutes of the meeting held on January 14, 2013. (Tab 1.)
- Review and approval of Resolutions authorizing the Commission to enter into the RIEDC bond transaction and to acquire I-195 surplus land.
- Update by Levin & Co. Concerning Executive Director Search.
- Presentation by Hecht Development and Churchill & Banks Regarding Development Proposals.
- Vote to Adjourn.
II. Executive Session
To consider and act upon such matters as may be considered at a meeting closed to the public pursuant to the Open Meetings Law, specifically matters permitted to be so considered under subsection (5), (disposition of public property) and subsection (7), (investment of public funds) of Rhode Island General Laws, Section 42-46-5(a) (the Open Meetings Law).
III. Public Session
Chairman’s Report/Agenda for February 14, 2013 Meeting.
The presentation by Hecht Development and Churchill & Banks is scheduled during the Executive Session, which is generally not open to the public.
So far, Rhode Island developer Churchill and Banks has expressed an interest in land on the east side of the Providence River, while University of Rhode Island President David Dooley said the university was considering 195 land on the west side as a site for a nursing school to be jointly operated by URI and Rhode Island College.
Other interested developers have not been identified. Proposals will be announced prior to meetings they are discussed at (meeting notices tend to be posted the Friday afternoon before the Commission’s Monday meetings). Two proposals may be up for discussion at the next meeting which is scheduled for February 11th.
A meeting of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission will be held at the office of Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, 315 Iron Horse Way, Suite 101, Providence, Rhode Island, on MONDAY, January 14, 2013, beginning at 5:00 p.m., for the following purposes:
I. Public Session
Call to Order: The Chairperson
- Welcome by Chairperson: Chairperson Colin Kane.
- To approve the public session minutes of the meetings held on November 19, 2012 and December 10, 2012. (Tab 1.)
- Engineering and Permitting Status Update.
- Briefing by RIDOT on Road Construction Schedule and Contract 15 (East Side) Activities.
- Bond and Land Acquisition update, including snow and landscape maintenance contract recommendations/property insurance.
- Q1/Q2 Workplan and Action Item Discussion, including market perspective and planning activities.
- Legal Activities Discussion (regulatory development, internal policies, etc.).
- Executive Director Search Update.
- Schedule and Protocol for Interested Parties.
- Chairman’s Report/Agenda for January 29, 2013 Meeting.
- Vote to Adjourn.
II. Executive Session
To consider and act upon such matters as may be considered at a meeting closed to the public pursuant to the Open Meetings Law, specifically matters permitted to be so considered under subsection (7), (investment of public funds) of Rhode Island General Laws, Section 42-46-5(a) (the Open Meetings Law).
III. Public Session
