PROVIDENCE | Mini-boom, great renderings!

[Shawn]

Thanks to Cotuit's post at the Boston skyscraper forum for these great renderings!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/Providence/110West.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/OneTenAerial001.jpg
One Ten Westminster (official website here (http://onetenprov.com/)): 32 stories, "luxury apartments," "magical rooftop garden," December 2005 start date, mid 2007 finish

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/Providence/waterplace003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/Providence/waterplace002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/Providence/waterplace001.jpg
Water Place/Intercontinental (official website here (http://www.intercontinental.net/investment_management/fund_iv.asp#)): 307,470 square feet to be built of mixed-use property including retail, residential, office and hospitality uses. The first phase will include two building complexes containing a total of 275 apartment units; one 19-story tower and one 16-story tower in addition to 480 underground garage spaces.
Construction Start Date: March 2005

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/PVDprojects/GTECH-001.jpg
GTECH world headquarters: already UC across from the southern half of the Providence Place Mall

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/PVDprojects/Hilton-001.jpg
Holiday Inn renovation: conditional on the purchase of the Westin from the state by a private developer, who will also add 200 more hotel rooms in the form of a new tower next to the existing Westin (no renderings of the new Westin tower, sorry).

[James Bond Agent 007]

Wow, neat stuff!

[rhuck]

I'm so excited about this, and I've been following it for the past few months. Seeing that we haven't had a real skyscraper go up since the mid-1980's I thought everyone just thought skyscrapers were NIMBY's in Providence... which they are, to a certain extent. I, personally, want Providence to stay as a "mini-Boston", and I think most locals agree.

I won't believe it until I see the piles going down, though... Providence has had these proposals in the past, and they've never gone past the preliminary planning stages.

The Holiday Inn renovation is actually under a new plan, I believe. I saw a more recent rendering in the Providence Journal that looked different. I might have been from a totally different angle, though.

[City-of-Chicago]

AWESOME!!!

[Stephenapolis]

Very nice. Some good infill going on.

[Lecom]

Love those buildings. Perfect for Providence, especially the tall one. Just what the core skyline needs.

[MadVlad]

Very nice, Providence!! Up, up and away!!!

[pdxstreetcar]

Great News!!!

I hadnt heard about the Water Place/ Intercontinential tower.

There is also two other buildings in the works:
-10 story Federal Hill condo tower
-27 story condo tower across the street from Holiday Inn on old gas station site

[pdxstreetcar]

Here's the Westin Tower II (its not the best quality image since it a photo of the TV screen):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/pdxstreetcar/provrender1.jpg

[supastar]

Providence is the comeback kid. That first building is going to make a huge impact on the skyline.

[rhuck]

Wow, it's like art deco/noveux is back in style! :D

I never thought you could fit an entire new hotel on that block of land, but I guess I was wrong. It looks like each level in that tower will only have two or four rooms in it, though.

[oliveurban]

Wow, my fingers are crossed.

I heart PVD.

[Shawn]

DAMN the addition to the Westin is beautiful and tall for Providence!

[Cotuit]

The Holiday Inn renovation is actually under a new plan, I believe. I saw a more recent rendering in the Providence Journal that looked different. I might have been from a totally different angle, though.

I think that Holiday Inn/Hilton rendering up there is a first blush. I saw the one from ProJo online, it was a horrible ill-compressed image though, so I really couldn't tell what I was seeing.

[ItsConanOBrien]

That downtown looks really nice next to the river and all the parks by the capital. Make sure to find us some pictures of construction when it gets started. Go Bruins!

[fflint]

Fantastic additions!

[pdxstreetcar]

A 13-story downtown hotel was just announced today. Providence has had a pretty good month saying that over 100 stories of high rise towers have been proposed within the last 30 days.

[buildup]

There's some sharp looking projects happening up there! i really like the Westin tower.

[NEWNANGuy]

very nice.......Providence is a great looking city

[Buck]

Wow, I had no idea. All of these will be great for the city and skyline.

[martarider]

I lived in Providence from 1997 to 2002. Great to see all of these projects going up... I can remember walking between College Hill and the Mall past those vacant lots along the river, and wondering if anything was ever going to happen with those.

BTW how is the 195 relocation going? I always thought that was the coolest project of all, and it was just getting started when I left.

[Cotuit]

BTW how is the 195 relocation going? I always thought that was the coolest project of all, and it was just getting started when I left.

It's progressing nicely. Lot's of work is happening along India Point for the relocation to the new Bridge approach. We should see steel going up on the bridge soon.

[Cotuit]

We're still waiting to hear confirmation of the rumour of a new HQ for Citizens Bank as well.

[Cotuit]

Groundbreaking for Intercontinental, Parcel 2 is set for Monday. There has been a flurry of activity on site the last two days. Equipment set up, some minor digging, barriers erected around the site...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Parcel2/2005-0503-001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Parcel2/2005-0503-004.jpg

Steel should be rising at the GTECH site in a week or two, crane pieces began arriving yesterday.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/GTECH/2005-0503-GTECH003.jpg

This is the latest rendering on the second Westin Tower and should be close to final. Work is expected to begin in the next month or so. Removing the trees on site has already begun.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/2ndWestinTower/WestinTower2.jpg

[ltsmotorsport]

I really like what's going on there. Looks great.

[EDDYC]

All of this new stuff for Providence came about so fast! Too bad there isn't any major office development (except for GTECH), because that would draw more workers into the city on a daily basis. Also, any new tallest proposal for Providence would almost certainly come in the form of an office tower.

[MadVlad]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/2ndWestinTower/WestinTower2.jpg

Holy cow, that's State House Square in Hartford. Seriously, those buildings are very similar to State House Square, just reversed....

[BG918]

^ Is the building in between those two new towers Providence Place Mall? And is that Kennedy Square in the bottom right corner? I'm just trying to get a feel for where this project is going in Providence, which is BTW a beautiful city. I visited for the first time last summer and really enjoyed it, I definitely would not mind living there someday...

[Cotuit]

^ Is the building in between those two new towers Providence Place Mall? And is that Kennedy Square in the bottom right corner?

Yup, that's right.

[Atomik Punk]

Providence is doin' some things. It's too bad that this sorry ass shithole of Hartford won't follow Providence's blueprint. 8^(

[MadVlad]

Hartford is doing some stuff, they just take WAAAAAY too long to do it...

[Lecom]

Great addition to Westin Hotel. I'm happy for Providence. Looks like soon they'll have to update the skyline used in Family Guy : )

[etbs4eva]

Hartford is doing some stuff, they just take WAAAAAY too long to do it...

Providence began 25 years ago with infrastructure improvements to open up some key land for development and to beautify the city.

[Atomik Punk]

Hartford is doing some stuff, they just take WAAAAAY too long to do it...
^
Bro, I agree wit you completely, but this city has had sooooo many proposals come down the pipe and hasn't made goodon hardly any of 'em. I mean c'mon man, the shit that's been on the table for this city to grab hold of is just earth shaddering.

Don't even get me started on the mayors in this town...Gawd No!

Thurman Milner - Crackhead
Carrie S Perry - Crackhead & Hat Freak
Mayor Mike Peters - Never met a can beer he wouldn't devour.

Whatta joke...

They should be focusing more on the n'hoods and less focus on building convention centers and trendy shopping districts. Our n'hoods are a mess wit abandoned buildings and shitty sandlots. This is why New Haven right now is in much better shape than Hartford, because it thinks about the small guy first. Small business establishments, theaters, restuarants, thriving night life, et al. That's what Hartford need more of...

@LeCom
^
By the way, uhhh NICE avatar LeCom!:yes: :haha:

[mSeattle]

Great stuff!

[EDDYC]

Taken Sat. May 28 of GTECH site.

Tower crane:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/EDDYC/100_2128.jpg

Steel rising:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/EDDYC/100_2136.jpg

[Cotuit]

Too bad there isn't any major office development (except for GTECH), because that would draw more workers into the city on a daily basis. Also, any new tallest proposal for Providence would almost certainly come in the form of an office tower.

There is a new tallest under construction in Providence and it's residential, OneTen Westminster (http://www.onetenprov.com/). We're also waiting on confirmation of a few office building rumours including one along the river at Dyer Street near the current Route 195 overpass, two towers at the Old Public Safety Complex site, and and renovation and possible expansion of the city-owned Fogarty Building into a private office development.

Some updates on the projects in this thread.

OneTen Westminster

New renderings:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/OneTenWest/OneTen-2005-0810-Rendering.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/OneTenWest/110Weybosset.jpg

OneTen Westminster will be Rhode Island's new tallest building at 520 feet. It also appears to be stealing the title of tallest residential building in New England from Hartford's Hartford21, though the 'spire' makes that a controversial race. Demolition of existing buildings on site is in progress.

GTECH

GTECH is topped off and glass has been going on the building. Should be occupied by the end of this year.

http://static.flickr.com/9/76474858_795ecb116c_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/39/76474834_4359ef5507_o.jpg

The section that isn't glassed in is the parking garage. That will be covered with somesort of metal mesh.

Waterplace

Construction at Waterplace is said to be 'behind schedule.' Not sure when we'll be seeing steel rising.

http://static.flickr.com/39/76469752_1339a97998_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/37/76467685_e9636aefae_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/36/76467677_56d66c533f_o.jpg

Second Westin Tower

The work on the Second Westin Tower seems to be moving right along. The pile driving appears to be over and we expect concrete (it will be built with concrete, not steel) to be rising within the month.

http://static.flickr.com/41/76348496_4647331b35_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/42/76348478_70affc5c0f_o.jpg

You can see how the GTECH project is right across the street from the Westin, Waterplace is just beyond GTECH. These projects will have a huge impact on the cityscape.

Hilton

The Hilton project has been scaled back for now. They are recladding the Holiday Inn and converting it to a Hilton, but the additional tower for more rooms and condos is on-hold, for now.

Updated rendering:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Hilton/hiltonrendering.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/43/76352397_03d123cd50_o.jpg
The tower at left is the current Westin, the second Westin tower will be just to the right of that in a similar style.

http://static.flickr.com/38/76352377_85d09a1f94_o.jpg

[tackledspoon]

My sister lives in Providence, so I'm up there a lot. Maybe I'll get to see some of these buildings progress. I'm really excited. She keeps telling me how ugly she thinks these proposals are, but, having seen them, I think our differences in taste are quite apparent. Great designs, really.

[supastar]

OneTen Westminster is TIGHT.

[phillyskyline]

OneTen is gorgeous! Providence is lookin good...

[James Bond Agent 007]

Don't know why this thread was in General Development instead of City Compliations, so I moved it.

[donybrx]

grrrr. unintended double post. :slob:

[donybrx]

I've admired Providence for years and years. I love the irregularity, the age, the evidence of history from every century, the older office structures, narrow streets, upbeat newer installations and open spaces.. the physical location, the harbor, old powerplants and industrial evidence around..a real cites' city! It's the best smaller/midsize city in New England for my money!

[EDDYC]

Just drove past Providence on 95 today. The tower crane for the Westin expansion tower is almost assembled. The Masonic Temple reconstruction also has a huge tower crane assembled on site as well. One Ten Westminster should start construction in the first half of this year as well.

[Cotuit]

Just drove past Providence on 95 today. The tower crane for the Westin expansion tower is almost assembled. The Masonic Temple reconstruction also has a huge tower crane assembled on site as well. One Ten Westminster should start construction in the first half of this year as well.

Yes, the tower crane at the Masonic Temple is the one that was at the GTECH site.

The one at the Westin is too short right now, another one will be installed later, the current one is sitting where the tower will be, I assume the one on site now will be constructing the shorter wing closer to the mall. Work has begun on an elevator shaft, and the building should start rising at the rate of one floor a week sometime in February.

The backers of the Westin project are quite pleased about being the first ones to be going vertical. Waterplace broke ground first but ran into some site related delays. The site is on fill and they encountered all sorts of stuff in the ground as they drove the piles.

OneTen Westminster is switching from steel construction to concrete. Site clearing is continuing, then they start to drive piles before we see any vertical progress.

[pdxstreetcar]

that makes sense about the westin crane... i kept looking at it and thinking how short it is especiallly when the new tower is supposed to be taller than the existing westin. i'm a little disappointed that the original design for the new westin tower wasnt built, something about that skinny slender tower i really liked, although the current design should be a fairly good addition to the skyline.

the design for one ten westminster is awesome

[EDDYC]

Emporis says that One Ten Westminster is now under construction. I will likely be in Providence on Saturday to see the auto show. When I am there I will walk by the One Ten site to see if it is really under construction. I wasn't expecting it to be under construction until a few months from now, but we'll see, maybe it already is. If these new towers are a success, and the local real estate economy stays hot, I can guarantee that more high-rises will come down the pipeline for Providence.

In other news, Emporis now has the new GTECH headquarters building listed as a low-rise. This I can understand. I never was able to count 13 floors on that building, only ten.

[Cotuit]

Emporis says that One Ten Westminster is now under construction. I will likely be in Providence on Saturday to see the auto show. When I am there I will walk by the One Ten site to see if it is really under construction. I wasn't expecting it to be under construction until a few months from now, but we'll see, maybe it already is. If these new towers are a success, and the local real estate economy stays hot, I can guarantee that more high-rises will come down the pipeline for Providence.

Demolision of existing buildings on the site is in progress. But they haven't started construction of the new building. There's a building on the Weybosset Street side which they are saving the facade of, so the demolision work is rather delicate there and should take a little while longer yet. They need to shore up this building before they can start driving piles for the tower.

In other news, Emporis now has the new GTECH headquarters building listed as a low-rise. This I can understand. I never was able to count 13 floors on that building, only ten.

GTECH was proposed as 13 floors, several floors were to be speculative as GTECH will not fill the building. They got a little bit of cold feet on the speculative space and knocked the building down to 10 floors. Emporis is just catching up it seems.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/GTECH/2005-0729-GTECH001.jpg

Personally, as much as I think taller is better, 10 is better than 13 at this site. 13 would have resulted in too much of a shadow impact on Waterplace Park in the afternoon.

[fflint]

It's great to see Providence growing its downtown. Providence is hawt.

[sequoias]

Nice projects. ;)

[EDDYC]

They are still doing demo work on the One Ten site, so Emporis was wrong about that one.

On the Westin site, they were setting up the tower crane on Saturday.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v665/EDDYC/100_2869.jpg

On the Intercontinental site, they were still doing foundations.

[loodog]

If anyone can find any pictures that can be distributed, I'd love to see wikipedia's Providence page have some toward the end of its "history" section.

[Cotuit]

On the Intercontinental site, they were still doing foundations.

The first tower crane at the Intercontinental/Waterplace site went up last week, and the second one started going up today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Parcel2/2006-0313-waterplace002.jpg

[loodog]

I have many new pics in and around the area. Unfortunately, all of these pics are HUGE and I can't figure out how to shrink them, so here are links:

Gtech shots

The Gtech headquarters as seen from exit ramp 22A:
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence003.jpg


Gtech from Kennedy Plaza:
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence008.jpg

From Intercontinental:
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence012.jpg

From front:
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence014.jpg

From Providence Place:
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence015.jpg

From Prospect Park:
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence023.jpg

OneTen
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence004.jpg
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence005.jpg
Demolition well underway next to the Arcade for OneTen. That is a large footprint for a building.

Intercontinental
Both cranes are up:
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence010.jpg

Shot from the mall:
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence016.jpg

Westin

Nothing other than a crane showing yet:
http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence009.jpg

Then there's this question of this mysterious empty lot by the train tracks on South Main St. It's fenced off, but no signs indicating what it will be. Anyone know what this is about?

http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence020.jpg

[pdxstreetcar]

Update on OneTen, the 40-story luxury condominium tower in downtown Providence (To be Rhode Island's tallest):
New website up with video rendering and new still image renderings plus pictures of the views from the future building:
www.onetenprov.com
The showroom should be opening very soon and groundbreaking short be within the next few months.
On the bad side, it has an auto-drop-off on the first floor of the building along the main Westminster Street, this can be seen in the video.

For info:
PROPOSED: OneTen Westminster, Providence, Downcity (http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=9032)
Urban Planet

[Cotuit]

Then there's this question of this mysterious empty lot by the train tracks on South Main St. It's fenced off, but no signs indicating what it will be. Anyone know what this is about?

http://students.goucher.edu/jtenenba/providence/providence020.jpg

That's Capitol Cove, which has been rumored to be breaking ground in "a few months" for what seems like, a few years. Phase one includes townhouse style condominiums/apartments along the water. Phase two is supposed to include some sort of tower.

[kazpmk]

Does anyone know if some sort of foundation work began on One Ten yet??

[JManc]

^ i took this a couple of weeks ago of that site:

http://www.pbase.com/mancusoj/image/62841647.jpg

[Cotuit]

Does anyone know if some sort of foundation work began on One Ten yet??

They've pulled their permits and work should begin 'soon.'

[loodog]

Taken from:
"http://www.projo.com/business/content/projo_20060806_office06.1a8881f.html"

Building up downtown

After a long drought, the Providence market is about to be flooded with new office space

01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, August 6, 2006

BY ANDREA L. STAPE
Journal Staff Writer

The plan calls for spending $200 million to build 496,000 square feet of office space in a 22-floor tower.

The Procaccianti Group last month unveiled an ambitious agenda to replace the former Providence police and fire station, a downtrodden building with broken windows and a broken spirit that it bought from the city for $3 million. If the La Salle Square tower comes to fruition, it will be the largest office building in downtown Providence.

At the same time Procaccianti is proposing the new office tower, it is renovating 33,000 square feet of now-vacant office space on two floors at 111 Fountain St., across from the Rhode Island Convention Center.

And about 55,000 square feet of brand new office space is up for lease in the city's first office building in 16 years -- two floors GTECH Holdings Corp. won't be using in its new headquarters going up across from the Providence Place mall.

After an extensive drought, it seems like the Providence market is about to be flooded with new office space.

The surge addresses a need, say local commercial real-estate experts, since over the past few years there has been interest from large tenants in moving into downtown, but no contiguous office space that could accommodate a big, relocating tenant.

The vacancy rate for Class A, or high-end, office space in Providence is low, about 12 percent, according to a report by Hayes & Sherry, a Providence-based commercial real-estate firm. It's Below the national vacancy rate, which was about 13.6 percent at the end of last year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

However, expressing interest in moving downtown and making a commitment to lease 50,000 or 100,000 square feet of Class A office space are two different things.

The question remains: Can Providence actually draw new office tenants with a need for a large amount of high-end space into the city?

"I do think that if there were options that were coming online, there would be more people taking a serious look at Providence," said Peter Hayes, a broker with the Providence office of Hayes & Sherry.

BUT JUST having new space may not be enough to seal a deal.

It took a lucrative 20-year lottery contract with the state to convince GTECH to move its corporate headquarters, and about 700 people, from West Greenwich to Providence. The company plans to move into the building, on the corner of Francis Street and Memorial Boulevard, at the end of the year, taking over all but two floors.

For the Procaccianti tower to become a reality, there will have to be a similar situation, according to local real estate experts.

"Clearly, the Procacciantis have a challenge to put a tenant in the building -- ordinarily these buildings don't come out of the ground without a tenant," said Charles Francis, president of C.B. Richard Ellis Rhode Island, a commercial real estate firm.

In today's market, developers just can't afford to build speculative office buildings, said Dick Galvin, president of Commonwealth Ventures, one of the co-developers of the GTECH office building.

While Providence has seen a resurgence in recent years, with high-end condominiums being built and additional hotels dotting the skyline, the market still isn't so red-hot that developers are willing to take the risk that they could get stuck with an empty building, he said.

"Unlike other markets, there's not going to a be a rash of new announcements -- you're just not going to see a rash of spec office space," said Galvin.

In addition, the high cost of construction materials and fuel is putting a damper on speculative office construction nationally, according to the Realtors group.

Procaccianti, however, says it's "bullish" on the Providence market. The company points to the condos going up in the city -- some of which the company is building just a block away from its proposed office tower -- as magnets for business.

"There is a vitality in the city. I think there are opportunities where smart-thinking, green-thinking companies want to get close to the universities and the wealth that is in the city," said Tom Niles, executive vice president of development for Procaccianti. "I'm not saying it's going to be a neutron wave, but I think it's going to be a slow, steady wave."

For now, trends in the industry are pointing to additional interest in downtown office space after years of companies choosing sprawling suburban office campuses over urban life, according to regional real estate experts.

Over the past couple of years, Boston has seen a number of companies -- including the consulting firm Accenture and publishing firm Pearson Education -- move back to the city from the suburbs, said David Fitzgerald, executive vice president and partner of C.B. Richard Ellis in Boston. During the second quarter of 2006, vacancy rates for office space in downtown Boston were under 10 percent, according to a report by C.B. Richard Ellis.

"So many young professionals like to live in an urban environment. So the businesses that had moved to the suburbs, if they are competing to get the best people, are saying, 'Let's move back' " to where the employees are, said Fitzgerald.

In addition, smaller companies are giving up office space in the city's financial district to move to Back Bay to be closer to where people are living, he said.

"The high-end hedge funds and some of the money managers have also chosen to go to the Back Bay and I think that's because a lot of the empty-nester owners of these businesses are living in the city and are choosing to walk to work," said Fitzgerald.

In Providence, Commonwealth Ventures has seen businesses filling up smaller amounts of space in One Financial Plaza, a building the company co-owns just blocks from GTECH headquarters. Recently, Commonwealth has signed leases with Oracle and Oppenheimer, said Galvin.

Plus, Fidelity Investments recently spent $13.9 million to renovate a vacant office building next to the Providence train station and moved 325 people into 113,000 square feet of space. Galvin's company on Wednesday bought the building for $20 million.

"In the Northeast, it's all a function of labor pool and jobs," said Galvin. "I think there is a growing trend towards people wanting to be in urban areas so they can access all the amenities of urban living," which will cause companies to follow, he said.

WHAT HAPPENS with the two floors Galvin is leasing in the GTECH building and the two floors at 111 Fountain St. over the next year or so could give some insight into what may happen with the proposed Procaccianti tower.

Galvin is looking to lease about 55,000 square feet of office space on two floors, at the top of the new modern, glass GTECH building downtown. The lease rate for the two top floors of the building will be the most expensive on the Providence office market, $38 and $40 a square foot, according to a study of Providence's commercial real estate market by Hayes & Sherry. GTECH will be the primary office tenant, and will have its name on the building.

Commonwealth Ventures does not yet have a taker for the top two floors, although it is in preliminary discussions with several parties, said Galvin.

"We want to have someone in the first or second quarter of next year. . . We've got to get GTECH in and happy," said Galvin.

Procaccianti doesn't have a tenant for the yet-to-be-renovated Fountain Street property either, although it is talking to some in-state tenants, said Ralph Izzi, spokesman for the Procaccianti Group.

The company also sees a market in businesses interested in moving their people out of a variety of buildings across the city into new space in one main property, said Niles.

But while Procaccianti says it's bullish, the development company has also been careful to give itself plenty of time to find a tenant. It doesn't plan to finish the proposed tower at the former public safety site until 2010.

"For years, we have had no new product [in Providence]. Now, with GTECH and Procaccianti there will be competition to see if these buildings fly," said Francis. "We have a better shot than ever of getting someone from out of state with all that's going on."




I can't imagine there being a market for so much upperscale office space. There have been previous proposals for the old police/fire station including the dreaded hotels and condos and they've all seen the shredder. The only possible way I could the demand would be pulling companies from Boston with the appeal of cheaper space and a lower cost of living, except RI has a higher sales tax.


Anyone else have thoughts on this?

[EDDYC]

Something decent will eventually go up on that site. Offices? Maybe not, but if not offices definitely condos. Providence is ripe for some highrise activity after all the dormant years between the completion of the first Westin tower (1993) and the start of the GTECH building (2005).

[SanMiguel]

i found this rendering of Westin today
but seems that's an older design of it.
http://www.bilherron.com/urblog/p/westin-full.jpg

.

[foxmtbr]

Looks awesome! :tup:

[OfCourse]

ah, that does look awesome. providence kicks ass. :tup:

[portugalplayer]

Taken from:
"http://www.projo.com/business/content/projo_20060806_office06.1a8881f.html"

Building up downtown

After a long drought, the Providence market is about to be flooded with new office space

01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, August 6, 2006

BY ANDREA L. STAPE
Journal Staff Writer

The plan calls for spending $200 million to build 496,000 square feet of office space in a 22-floor tower.

The Procaccianti Group last month unveiled an ambitious agenda to replace the former Providence police and fire station, a downtrodden building with broken windows and a broken spirit that it bought from the city for $3 million. If the La Salle Square tower comes to fruition, it will be the largest office building in downtown Providence.

At the same time Procaccianti is proposing the new office tower, it is renovating 33,000 square feet of now-vacant office space on two floors at 111 Fountain St., across from the Rhode Island Convention Center.

And about 55,000 square feet of brand new office space is up for lease in the city's first office building in 16 years -- two floors GTECH Holdings Corp. won't be using in its new headquarters going up across from the Providence Place mall.

After an extensive drought, it seems like the Providence market is about to be flooded with new office space.

The surge addresses a need, say local commercial real-estate experts, since over the past few years there has been interest from large tenants in moving into downtown, but no contiguous office space that could accommodate a big, relocating tenant.

The vacancy rate for Class A, or high-end, office space in Providence is low, about 12 percent, according to a report by Hayes & Sherry, a Providence-based commercial real-estate firm. It's Below the national vacancy rate, which was about 13.6 percent at the end of last year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

However, expressing interest in moving downtown and making a commitment to lease 50,000 or 100,000 square feet of Class A office space are two different things.

The question remains: Can Providence actually draw new office tenants with a need for a large amount of high-end space into the city?

"I do think that if there were options that were coming online, there would be more people taking a serious look at Providence," said Peter Hayes, a broker with the Providence office of Hayes & Sherry.

BUT JUST having new space may not be enough to seal a deal.

It took a lucrative 20-year lottery contract with the state to convince GTECH to move its corporate headquarters, and about 700 people, from West Greenwich to Providence. The company plans to move into the building, on the corner of Francis Street and Memorial Boulevard, at the end of the year, taking over all but two floors.

For the Procaccianti tower to become a reality, there will have to be a similar situation, according to local real estate experts.

"Clearly, the Procacciantis have a challenge to put a tenant in the building -- ordinarily these buildings don't come out of the ground without a tenant," said Charles Francis, president of C.B. Richard Ellis Rhode Island, a commercial real estate firm.

In today's market, developers just can't afford to build speculative office buildings, said Dick Galvin, president of Commonwealth Ventures, one of the co-developers of the GTECH office building.

While Providence has seen a resurgence in recent years, with high-end condominiums being built and additional hotels dotting the skyline, the market still isn't so red-hot that developers are willing to take the risk that they could get stuck with an empty building, he said.

"Unlike other markets, there's not going to a be a rash of new announcements -- you're just not going to see a rash of spec office space," said Galvin.

In addition, the high cost of construction materials and fuel is putting a damper on speculative office construction nationally, according to the Realtors group.

Procaccianti, however, says it's "bullish" on the Providence market. The company points to the condos going up in the city -- some of which the company is building just a block away from its proposed office tower -- as magnets for business.

"There is a vitality in the city. I think there are opportunities where smart-thinking, green-thinking companies want to get close to the universities and the wealth that is in the city," said Tom Niles, executive vice president of development for Procaccianti. "I'm not saying it's going to be a neutron wave, but I think it's going to be a slow, steady wave."

For now, trends in the industry are pointing to additional interest in downtown office space after years of companies choosing sprawling suburban office campuses over urban life, according to regional real estate experts.

Over the past couple of years, Boston has seen a number of companies -- including the consulting firm Accenture and publishing firm Pearson Education -- move back to the city from the suburbs, said David Fitzgerald, executive vice president and partner of C.B. Richard Ellis in Boston. During the second quarter of 2006, vacancy rates for office space in downtown Boston were under 10 percent, according to a report by C.B. Richard Ellis.

"So many young professionals like to live in an urban environment. So the businesses that had moved to the suburbs, if they are competing to get the best people, are saying, 'Let's move back' " to where the employees are, said Fitzgerald.

In addition, smaller companies are giving up office space in the city's financial district to move to Back Bay to be closer to where people are living, he said.

"The high-end hedge funds and some of the money managers have also chosen to go to the Back Bay and I think that's because a lot of the empty-nester owners of these businesses are living in the city and are choosing to walk to work," said Fitzgerald.

In Providence, Commonwealth Ventures has seen businesses filling up smaller amounts of space in One Financial Plaza, a building the company co-owns just blocks from GTECH headquarters. Recently, Commonwealth has signed leases with Oracle and Oppenheimer, said Galvin.

Plus, Fidelity Investments recently spent $13.9 million to renovate a vacant office building next to the Providence train station and moved 325 people into 113,000 square feet of space. Galvin's company on Wednesday bought the building for $20 million.

"In the Northeast, it's all a function of labor pool and jobs," said Galvin. "I think there is a growing trend towards people wanting to be in urban areas so they can access all the amenities of urban living," which will cause companies to follow, he said.

WHAT HAPPENS with the two floors Galvin is leasing in the GTECH building and the two floors at 111 Fountain St. over the next year or so could give some insight into what may happen with the proposed Procaccianti tower.

Galvin is looking to lease about 55,000 square feet of office space on two floors, at the top of the new modern, glass GTECH building downtown. The lease rate for the two top floors of the building will be the most expensive on the Providence office market, $38 and $40 a square foot, according to a study of Providence's commercial real estate market by Hayes & Sherry. GTECH will be the primary office tenant, and will have its name on the building.

Commonwealth Ventures does not yet have a taker for the top two floors, although it is in preliminary discussions with several parties, said Galvin.

"We want to have someone in the first or second quarter of next year. . . We've got to get GTECH in and happy," said Galvin.

Procaccianti doesn't have a tenant for the yet-to-be-renovated Fountain Street property either, although it is talking to some in-state tenants, said Ralph Izzi, spokesman for the Procaccianti Group.

The company also sees a market in businesses interested in moving their people out of a variety of buildings across the city into new space in one main property, said Niles.

But while Procaccianti says it's bullish, the development company has also been careful to give itself plenty of time to find a tenant. It doesn't plan to finish the proposed tower at the former public safety site until 2010.

"For years, we have had no new product [in Providence]. Now, with GTECH and Procaccianti there will be competition to see if these buildings fly," said Francis. "We have a better shot than ever of getting someone from out of state with all that's going on."




I can't imagine there being a market for so much upperscale office space. There have been previous proposals for the old police/fire station including the dreaded hotels and condos and they've all seen the shredder. The only possible way I could the demand would be pulling companies from Boston with the appeal of cheaper space and a lower cost of living, except RI has a higher sales tax.


Anyone else have thoughts on this?

Does anyone know how tall this is suposed to be?

[rhuck]

I'm a bit confused as to why they say it's going to be the largest office building. At 22 stories, it's smaller than One Financial Plaza, at 30 stories, "The Superman Building" at 28 stories, and Textron at 23 stories. I don't think its width would make up for the lost height.

[portugalplayer]

Does any one have these building in 3D for google earth?

[BANKofMANHATTAN]

I love both of those Westin renders. they look great!

Come to think of it the one posted above resembles
Milwaukee Center quite a bit but i like just the same...
almost better than the one they're going with - i dig the spire.

[pdxstreetcar]

Update on One Ten Westminster: the 520 ft tower project has been delayed a few months for a W Hotel to be designed into the bottom portion of the tower and replacing many floors of the less desirable lower floor condos. The top floors will continue to be luxury condominiums. Construction is expected to start around November 15, 2006. Tower appearance and height stay the same. It appears that the tower will be a much better product with this addition!!!!

For Much More Info:
Urban Planet: 110 Westminster (page 56) (http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=9032&st=1100)

[Cotuit]

I took a hard hat tour of Waterplace a few weeks ago. Here's a photo from the 10th (of 19) floor showing the nearly complete GTECH Center, and the fast rising second Westin Tower.

http://www.woneffe.com/gallery/waterplace/2006-0916-waterplace016.jpg

A photo of the model. The non-detailed models are place holders for Phase II.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Parcel2/2006-0916-waterplace002.jpg

[Cotuit]

A progress photo on GTECH:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/GTECH/gtech_construction_triptych.jpg

GTECH from Union Station Plaza:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/GTECH/2006-0915-gtech003.jpg

GTECH had a ribbon cutting last week, but the employees actually move in next week. A Fidelity office has already relocated from the mall to the first floor though.

[ctman987]

Some Providence pictures from this past March, which means some of them are outdated but better then nothing

RI Convention Center
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/RIConventionCenter2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/RIConventionCenter.jpg

Shepard Building at URI (downcity)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/ShepardBuildingofURI.jpg

Waterplace Condominium Tower Site
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/WaterplaceCondominumsTowerssite.jpg

RI Credit Union near the capital
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/RICreditUnion.jpg

Westminster Street Lofts
Some Providence pictures from this past March, which means some of them are outdated but better then nothing
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/WestminsterStLoftsarea4.jpg

GTECH, Westing and Providence Place Mall
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/ProvidencePlaceMallWestinGTECH.jpg

GTECH and the Providence Place Mall
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/GTECHProvidencePlaceMall.jpg

Interior of the Providence Place Mall
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/InsideProvidencePlaceMall4.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/InsideProvidencePlaceMall5.jpg

Westin Hotel construction (tower II) next to the Providence Place Mall
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/WestinHotelandtowersiteProvidencePl.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/WestinHotelentrance.jpg

The Cosmopolitan
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/TheCosmopolitan2.jpg

110 Westminster Site
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/110Westminster3.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/cf45d669.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/110Westminster2.jpg

Masonic temple renovation and conversion into Renaissance Hotel
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/MasonicTempleRennisanceHotel.jpg

2 Thomas Street
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/2ThomasStreet.jpg

Hotel Providence
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/HotelProvidence3.jpg

Holiday Inn Downtown & Dunkin Donuts Center
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/HolidayInnandDunkinDonutsCenter.jpg

RISD Center for Integrative Technology
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/RISDCenterforIntegrativeTech.jpg

Rising Suns Mills
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/RisingSunMills.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/RisingSunMills5.jpg

The Foundry
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/TheFoundry4.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/TheFoundry6.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/TheFoundry.jpg

The Providence Fruit Packaging Warehouse (set to be redeveloped) followed by The 903 (formely the Jefferson - an apartment to condo conversion) and then the Foundry
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/FruitProducePackingWarehouse903Foun.jpg

Providence Fruit and Packaging Warehouse
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/ProvidenceFruitandProducePackagingW.jpg

Eagle Square
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/EagleSquare4.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/EagleSquare.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/DunkinDonutsatEagleSquare.jpg

Some new residences next to Riverview Place on the east side of College Hill
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/ResidencesnexttoRiverviewPlace.jpg

Conleys Wharf at Providence Piers
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/ConleysWharfatProvidencePiers.jpg

Dreyfus Hotel renovation
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/DreyfusHotel.jpg

Fleet Library at RISD
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/FleetLibraryRISDRIHospitalBuilding.jpg

The 903
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/903JeffersonProvidencePlace.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/903JeffersonatProvidencePlace6.jpg

Mowry Nicholson House
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/MowryNicholsonHouse2.jpg

Public Safety Complex
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/PublicSafetyComplexWashingtonSt.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/PublicSafetyComplexWashingtonSt5.jpg

[ctman987]

And now some already established Providence things

Downcity skyscrapers from the Westin
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/DowntownSkyscrapersfromWestinHotelP.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/DowntownSkyscrapers.jpg

Downtown from College Hill
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/DowntownfromCollegeHill.jpg

RI State Capital
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/StateCapital2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/StateCapital.jpg

State Offices across from capital
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/StateofRIOfficesacrossfromCapital.jpg

Trinity Repertory Theater
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/TrinityRepertoryTheater.jpg

Turks Head Building
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/TurksHeadBuilding.jpg

City Hall
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/CityHall.jpg

Courtyard by Marriott Downtown
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/CourtyardbyMarriottProvidenceDownto.jpg

10 Weybosstet St
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/10WeybossetSt.jpg

Biltomore Hotel
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/BiltmoreHotel2.jpg

Pell Chaffee Performing Arts Center
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/PellChaffeePerformingArtsCenter2.jpg

Kennedy Plaza
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/KennedyPlazabybacksideof110Westmins.jpg

One Citizens Plaza
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/OneCitizensPlaza.jpg

Abbot Park at Johnson and Wales University
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/AbbotPartatJW.jpg

Merchants Bank Building
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/MerchantsBankBuilding.jpg

Union Station
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/UnionStation.jpg

Trinity Brewhouse
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/TrinityBewhouse2.jpg

Providence Public Library
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/ProvidencePublicLibrary.jpg

Federal Hill - Atwells Ave - LITTLE ITALY
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/FederalHillonAtwellsAve.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/FederalHillonAtwellsAve3.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/FederalHillonAtwellsAve2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a238/ctman987/Providence%20RI/FederalHillonAtwellsAve4.jpg

[loodog]

Many good pics here. Would you mind if I put a few of these on wikipedia?

[thenewsupastar]

Providence is looking great. My boyfriend and i may up there within a year. He's just been accepted to the PhD program at Brown. Now, we need to figure out what the heck i'm going to do up there.

[portugalplayer]

Does anyone know when One Ten is going to start to be built?

[ctman987]

Many good pics here. Would you mind if I put a few of these on wikipedia?

Im sorry it has taken me so long but yes you may use them on Wikipedia

[pdxstreetcar]

Does anyone know when One Ten is going to start to be built?
Apparently by the end of the year, there have been some delays as the interior is redesigned to incorporate a W Hotel. It is also being renamed W Hotel & Residences.

[portugalplayer]

Apparently by the end of the year, there have been some delays as the interior is redesigned to incorporate a W Hotel. It is also being renamed W Hotel & Residences.


So are you saying that the Westin Hotel is going to have three buildings, The Westin Hotel, The Residents(the one being built now right next to the westin) and One Ten Westminster?

[Cotuit]

So are you saying that the Westin Hotel is going to have three buildings, The Westin Hotel, The Residents(the one being built now right next to the westin) and One Ten Westminster?

The Westin will have two buildings, the original and the new tower with more hotel rooms and condos.

OneTen Westminster is a completely different project, located on Westminster Street, 110 Westminster Street. It was to be all condos, but the W Hotel has stepped in and the bottom half will be a W Hotel, the top half will be condos. Latest I'm hearing for construction to commence is February. But perhaps some foundation work before then. There's some redesign to do to incorporate the W Hotel into the existing design and various funding arrangements to work out.

[wxjay]

Growing up in East Providence, I am very excited by all of these projects going on in Providence. During the late 80s to the early-90s, Providence was a place you didn't want to be. The downtown area was trash, businessed were closing down, and nothing was really drawing people there. However, the entire "Renaissance" of the city over the last 10-12 years has been remarkable. The best thing (honestly) was the addition of the Providence Place Mall. It added the retail and restaurants that was so desperately needed for that city. Many people thought the project would fail becsuse of high-end stores like Nordstrom and paying for parking, but it is going stronger than ever.

I love the new designs for the skyline, including the W Hotel & Residences. My one concern, though, is if the business infrastructure is there to support these high end condos. The opening of G Tech has helped a lot, but we need more companies to move operations and headquarters into Providence and Rhode Island. Otherwise, these high-end residential units will go nowhere.

[nick22185]

Any news on OneTen Westminster or Westin, or any other building for that matter?

[Cotuit]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/153/329519714_9ed4ee9880_o.jpg

[loodog]

The city's plans for the next 15 years:

http://www.providenceconnects.org/matriarch/documents/Providence2020_lowres.pdf

Main emphases:

1) Development of a new streetcar system reaching from Olneyville to Southside waterfront

2) Redevelopment of centrally located land freed up by the relocation of Interstate 195

3) Riverfront improvements on the Woonasquatucket River west of Providence Place, creating continuous pedestrian access to the waterfront

4) Redevelopment of the corridor south of Downcity between the Providence River and Interstate 95 (the renders of Harbor Landing Park are just beautiful in a place that is currently anything but)

New (higher) caps on building heights are also shown in maps.

[Cotuit]

Waterplace today:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Parcel2/2007-0202-waterplace002.jpg

Westin today:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/2ndWestinTower/2007-0202-westin001.jpg

Construction has started at Capitol Cove:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/capcove/2007-0202_capcove004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/capcove/2007-0202_capcove007.jpg

[portugalplayer]

What's capitol cove supposed to look like.

[Cotuit]

This isn't a good rendering but it's all I've seen:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/capcove/capitolcoverrendering.jpg

[Cotuit]

Progress photos from today:

Waterplace:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Parcel2/2007-0305-waterplace001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Parcel2/2007-0305-waterplace005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Parcel2/2007-0305-waterplace003.jpg

Westin, a topping off ceremony is happening here next week (I think):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/2ndWestinTower/2007-0305_westin005.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/2ndWestinTower/2007-0305_westin004.jpg

Steel is going up at the Dunking Donuts Center:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Dunk/2007-0305_dunk002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Dunk/2006-09_dunkrendering.jpg

Bonus photo of the Hilton next to the Dunk with the electronic sign on:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Dunk/2007-0305_dunk004.jpg

[M. Brown]

Whats going on with one ten? canceled?

[Derek]

Providence is lookin hot;)

[VA_Gentleman]

The Westin is looking huge, congratulations. What is the deal with Westin anyhow? They seem to be building hotels everywhere lately. There is even a midrise under construction in my hometown right now.

[portugalplayer]

Whats going on with one ten? canceled?


No, I think they are just tearing down the old building and setting up the foundation now.

[Cotuit]

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island announced today that they will be consolidating their offices from 4 seperate buildings downtown into one new tower at the Waterplace development.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/bcbs/BCBR_image2.jpg

The new building will sit to the left of the two Waterplace towers currently under construction:

http://www.woneffe.com/gallery/westintour/2007-0406_westin014.jpg

BCBS hopes to start construction this year, and occupy the new building by 2010. The new building will be 13 stories tall and feature retail on the ground floor.

[TheBostonBoy]

Wow, this is great....I am a New Englander, and I love my New England cities especially Boston and providence....I am very happy to see Providence looking so nice, and it is amazing how fast it is growing....this is great, maybe in the near future providence will become a lot bigger of a city, and have a population boost, and become even closer to looking like a Boston lol
but it's great, One Ten will be sick and i hope they build some more towers in the next 5 or so years, some that are close in height to one ten

[loodog]

Wikipedia's OneTen article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OneTen)

Someone recently added to the wikipedia article that, as of latest statements, 75 condos will be built, and completion is estimated at August 2009. They didn't add a source, but I can't think of a reason someone interested in the OneTen article would insert something (s)he didn't have good reason to believe. Seems to me Blue Chip Properties saw the condo inundation in the market and (rationally) chickened out a bit.

Hotel space is good, though. I've been hearing through multiple sources that the city is under pressure from the state for increased convention capacity, especially with the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority buying out the Dunk and this new $62 million project to renovate it and connect it to the Rhode Island Convention Center. Can't have conventions without places for the people to sleep.

In the op/ed corner: The new Westin looks like a clone of the old one, which is harmless enough. Gtech turned out bland, but at least minimalist enough to not offend anyone's stomach. Intercontinental's Waterplace towers turned out just as uvula-smacking as its renders. God, it's like the ugliness of the Avalon and Fidelity buildings infect anything built near it. I guess it's better than an empty lot, though. At least the Blue Cross building will recess them a bit into the streetscape.

[TheBostonBoy]

well this thread is dead

[loodog]

New proposal, hot off emporis:
http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2005_3rd/Sep05_InterContinentalProvidence.html
Intercontinental couldn't get enough of Providence and Providence couldn't get enough hotel space. Intercontinental is expected to close on the land soon and proposes a 15 (or 18 according to emporis)-story....get ready for this... hotel with condos on top. This is ridiculous. Where is the market? If you want to know where it is, it's that triangle on the corner of Memorial, Exchange, and Steeple that always seems to get sculptures decorating it and amorphous piles of dirt.

[djvandrake]

I've always been enthralled by Providence even though I've never had a chance to visit. It's great to see so much happening downtown. :)

[Cotuit]

New proposal, hot off emporis:
http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2005_3rd/Sep05_InterContinentalProvidence.html

Hot off 2005 :rolleyes:

That proposal is very much on hold for now.

OneTen Westminister/W Hotel is not however:

http://www.projo.com/ri/providence/content/EDC22_05-22-07_J15NLVI.31eb0d2.html

[Patrick]

The Family Guy skyline!