Providence's signature art deco skyscraper may be demolished

[Hudson11]

The problem with conversion here is attracting millionaire buyers to finance the reconstruction... Providence is a nice city and all but it doesn't command the prices of other larger cities in New England such as Hartford, Stanford or New Haven. Never mind Boston. It would ache my conscious to see this building demolished either way. Something needs to be arranged, perhaps a renovation and significant incentives for companies to lease space. It should be a trophy building, not a relic.

It would be really stupid and shortsighted of Providence to allow demolition. The Southwestern Bell Building in St. Louis is another example of a tiered Art Deco office building that has been converted to apartments. And the downtown St. Louis market isn't exactly on fire. I can't imagine that a residential conversion wouldn't be workable in downtown Providence.


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/560416747351417173/

[MolsonExport]

Don't. Do. It.

[MonkeyRonin]

Clearly we've learned nothing from the mistakes of the past.

[llamaorama]

Buildings like this are beautiful. I'd love to say, "I live in the batman building" and everyone would be like "oooh what's it like inside, can I come over."

I'm surprised to hear Providence isn't doing so hot. I thought it was sort of okay, it's got Brown and is sort of artsy and is near the coast. You could do worse.

[craigs]

Originally Posted by Hudson11

The problem with conversion here is attracting millionaire buyers to finance the reconstruction... Providence is a nice city and all but it doesn't command the prices of other larger cities in New England such as Hartford, Stanford or New Haven. Never mind Boston. It would ache my conscious to see this building demolished either way. Something needs to be arranged, perhaps a renovation and significant incentives for companies to lease space. It should be a trophy building, not a relic.

It's true Providence doesn't generally command high prices for residential, but then again, this particular tower might pencil out in that it is easily walkable to all the area attractions, sits across the street from the bus system hub, and is about a six-block walk to Providence Station, which is served by Acela, Northeast Regional Amtrak, and the Providence/Stoughton MBTA commuter rail line. It's ideally situated for high density, transit-oriented housing!

[Shawn]

If I remember right, one of the biggest issues now isn't the lack of a Providence market for high-end, downtown living. It's that a decade of neglect has resulted in a truly epic mold infestation that makes a Super Man Building conversion into residential that much more cost prohibitive.

A NYC developer is building a 46 floor residential tower on I-195 reclaimed land from Providence's Little Dig. There's definitely a market for this in Providence. Apparently site work is already underway for the Hope Point Tower:

source

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by craigs

It's true Providence doesn't generally command high prices for residential, but then again, this particular tower might pencil out in that it is easily walkable to all the area attractions, sits across the street from the bus system hub, and is about a six-block walk to Providence Station, which is served by Acela, Northeast Regional Amtrak, and the Providence/Stoughton MBTA commuter rail line. It's ideally situated for high density, transit-oriented housing!

It is kinda strange that Providence, practically part of the Boston metro, couldn’t afford to rehabilitate such a gem. Downtown Providence is superb and no effort should be spared to save the old stuff and make sure all the newer architecture doesn’t mess up the composition.

[STLgasm]

Well that sounds like a dumb idea… Another example from St Louis that’s worth mentioning is the Continental Building. Rising 22 stories, this Art Deco gem is the tallest tower in midtown St Louis. Vacant and crumbling for 27 YEARS, most people assumed it was too far gone to save. Against all odds, it was meticulously restored in 2001 and is now a national model for historic preservation. If this baby can come back, anything can.

[Austin55]

This has long been one of my favorite buildings in the US. I'd be devastated to see it go.

[Doady]

When public transit ridership declines too much, tall office towers become less and less economical, and even high-rise residences becomes less attractive. The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority served 16 million trips in 2019 with 241 buses? 16 million tripps annually and 241 buses for a population of 1 million? Yikes. Without good transit connections, it would be tough even to build a new 26-storey office tower with enough space for a sea of parking surrounding the building, let alone renovate an existing building that was originally built without cars in mind. Ultimately, it will be transit ridership that determines the density of a place more than any height limits, and we might be seeing yet another example of that here. Transit ridership in Rhode Island has continuously declined from 21 million in 2008, and don't be surprised if the density and urbanity of Providence declines along with it.

[craigs]

It should be noted that Providence is so compact that fully 10% of its workforce walks to work.

[KevinFromTexas]

That's awful. My immediate thought was to turn that beauty into residential. There's bound to be some interest in it.

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

There's some rumblings of something similar happening to Valley Center/Chase Tower in Phoenix, since Chase is moving all of its workers out of the building later this year.

Really? Man, that would suck. I've always liked it.

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

It can't be any worse than the Power and Light Building in KC, which has been converted to apartments.

There have been plenty of old fat towers made into residential. One glaring one that comes to mind for me is the Tribune Tower in Chicago.

Originally Posted by SFBruin

This is crummy, but effectively, this building is just a giant sculpture in the middle of downtown.

If it is inhibiting development of downtown, who I am, a non-resident of greater Providence, to say no to tearing it down?

What's the occupancy rate of the Smith Tower in Seattle?

[DetroitSky]

This has been discussed since just about when the building became vacant. It’s an extremely disappointing and shortsighted decision. Hopefully a serious buyer can be found.

I’d imagine this would be the first time a state has demolished its current tallest building if it did happen?

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Shawn

If I remember right, one of the biggest issues now isn't the lack of a Providence market for high-end, downtown living. It's that a decade of neglect has resulted in a truly epic mold infestation that makes a Super Man Building conversion into residential that much more cost prohibitive.

ah, thanks for the additional info about the mold problem. that very well could be a big reason why redevelopers are staying away.

and not just because of the added cost of getting rid of the mold, but also the potential ongoing headache/worry of "what if it comes back?".

getting rid of mold in a house is one thing, but when it's infesting every nook and cranny of a century-old 26 story office tower, that's definitely a whole different can o' worms.



still, it would be an outright travesty if this magnificent edifice was lost forever due to mold problems. there's got to be a way to make it work.

i mean, if detroit's michigan central station tower can be saved, then nothing should be impossible.

[photoLith]

How incredibly dumb and short sighted of them if they actually go through with tearing it down. Houston tore down a couple of its great art deco towers just in the past 12 or so years, nothing as spectacular as this though.

[Crawford]

I know Providence isn't a boomtown or a high-wealth area, but there's no way they can't make this work. It has a pretty strong core and a ton of universities. And it looks like the tower's higher floorplates are ideal for residential conversion.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

ah, thanks for the additional info about the mold problem. that very well could be a big reason why redevelopers are staying away.

and not just because of the added cost of getting rid of the mold, but also the potential ongoing headache/worry of "what if it comes back?".

getting rid of mold in a house is one thing, but when it's infesting every nook and cranny of a century-old 26 story office tower, that's definitely a whole different can o' worms.



still, it would be an outright travesty if this magnificent edifice was lost forever due to mold problems. there's got to be a way to make it work.

i mean, if detroit's michigan central station tower can be saved, then nothing should be impossible.

Maybe a developer like Trump could be the savior here? That mold problem is nothing that can't be fixed economically by an army of barely-paid illegals spraying bleach everywhere

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Crawford

... but there's no way they can't make this work. It has a pretty strong core and a ton of universities.

Exactly. And that Miami Beach style building that Shawn posted, settles it; if that market supports that kind of building, then it's 100% guaranteed that a business case can be made for this one. It's not that infamous East St. Louis skyscraper. (I'm 100x more worried about that one.)

[JManc]

There are a lot of people who live in PVD and commute up into Boston proper. My ex/gf and I were looking at places near College Hill and I was looking for working for work in Boston which the time/ distance is not much different than what I do here now in Houston.