Greater City Providence

Capital Center Commission Committee Meeting, Dec. 7

Providence Place
Photo (cc) Mr. Duckie

Though we heard before that Panera Bread was going into the Napa Valley Grille location, now the Capital Center Commission Agenda shows P.F. Chang’s looking to locate in that spot:

AGENDA (amended 12/2/10)

Tuesday, December 7, 2010, 7:30am
Department of Planning and Development
400 Westminster Street, 4th Floor Conference Room
Providence, RI 02903

1. Roll Call

2. Minutes
Meetings of August 3, 2010 and August 17, 2010

3. Parcel 13: Providence Place
Proposal by P. F. Chang’s to replace the existing storefronts (former Napa Valley Grille location) with new storefronts and to install new metal awnings, glass entry, entry doors and signage on the Francis Street elevation. The proposal also includes the installation of a blade sign on the west side (parking garage elevation) of the building.

4. Parcel 14: Veterans Memorial Auditorium
Proposal to construct a loading dock, restrooms and enclosed walkway on the west elevation (Park Street) of the building. The proposal also includes the installation of signage. This is a conceptual presentation for discussion only.

5. Adjournment

I have not been on the Francis Street side of the mall in a while. Does anyone know if Panera ever started work moving in there?

P.F. Chang’s was rumored to be looking to move into the GTECH Center when that building was under construction, but those plans never materialized.

Via: WRNI

Jef Nickerson

Jef is Greater City Providence's co-founder, editor, and publisher. He grew up on Cape Cod and lived in Boston; Portland, Maine; and New York before settling in Providence. In addition to urbanism, Jef is interested in art, design, and ice cream. Please feel free to contact Jef if you have any question or comments about Greater City Providence.

9 comments

  • Last time i was at the mall(about 2 weeks ago) it didn’t look like any work had been going on to the old Napa site(at least on the mall side next to old navy)..The space seemed too big for Panera but seems too small for P.F Chang,but if I had to choose I would rather see P.F there.

  • There is no work being done yet.

    The thing that boggles me, is that I heard the news about Panera from one of the top management staff of the company, and he seemed really excited. He mentioned an outside patio and an indoor courtyard area in the mall as well.

    I would rather see Panera go in. There is hardly anywhere to go hang out, drink some coffee, read a book, congregate, play a board game, etc in the Capital Hill/Smith Hill area. If there is, someone please fill me in. Panera would be a great addition, and welcomed by every single person I have talked with about it. It is such a hassle to go all the way Downcity to the Starbucks, and it would save some commute time for me and plenty others. The only thing that would hinder them is the parking situation, in my opinion.

  • I think Panera is going into the space that was once occupied by Fidelity, someone has been working on it for about a month and the mall still has Panera listed on the webpage.

  • Well, maybe they are both going then – that be great.

    Didn’t I see or read that something was going into the H2O Place restaurant area (glassed area on the bottom floor overlooking the the park) finally?

  • Supposedly, an Asian fusion type restaurant called Jackie’s or something to that effect (but not Jackie’s Galaxie?) is going into Waterplace according to a resident there, but they note that several things (including, originally, Finale) have fallen through to date. Originally, I thought it was Morimoto’s low range offering, and not PF, that was interested in G-Tech right after it was finished but then the recession hit…

    Landing both Panera and PF would be great for the mall…

  • You could be right about the rumored GTECH Center tenant, it was so long ago now, memory is hazy.

    Who knew there were so many Asian national chains?

  • ProJo reports on P.F. Chang’s coming to Providence Place saying they plan to move in next fall.

    Can it take that long to build a P.F. Chang’s franchise? The report also states that Panera is opening at the mall in January.

  • Panera is opening where Fidelity Investments used to be.

    The P.F. Changs I have been to have really nice details and a very distinctive layout. I imagine that they will gut out the Napa Valley Grill and start over from scratch. Wouldn’t be surprised if they redo the kitchen area as well. If they are just signing the paperwork now, I can see them taking a couple of months for plans and approvals, then 6 months for the buildout, then a few weeks to hire and train up the wait staff….Fall sounds about right.

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