Plan for luxury high-rise still taking shape

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — New York developer Jason Fane still hopes to build a luxury high-rise tower on former highway land in the capital city — a plan that's soon heading to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission for consideration.

Fane's latest proposal to the commission included a parking garage underneath a single residential tower, but it did not meet a strict requirement set in January by the commission, 195 District executive director Peter McNally said Friday. The commission stipulated that any development by Fane not cover more than 40 percent of the 1.08-acre parcel on Dyer Street where he hopes to build.

McNally said Fane has been working "collaboratively" with the 195 district officials on updating that proposal, and the two sides last met in Providence on Wednesday. 

McNally said he expects The Fane Organization to submit a revised proposal before the commission's next meeting — which had been set for Monday but is being rescheduled, probably for next week.   

Fane declined an interview request Friday. 

McNally said he's encouraging Fane to meet stipulations outlined by the commission in January, which is when the panel made clear it would not support Fane's early plans for three high-rise towers.

In addition to limiting development to the northern portion of Parcel 42, the commission also required Fane to provide them with a detailed project budget, specific information about sources of capital for the project and credible evidence that the financing would be available concurrently with closing on the land, and the source of any governmental help he would use to cover any financing gap.

Plus, the commission stipulated that any high-rise tower be authorized by an amendment to the city's zoning ordinance and receive approval from the State Historic Preservation Office. The towers Fane initially proposed — 33, 43 and 55 stories tall — were well outside city zoning regulations for Parcel 42, where zoning allows a seven-story building that can be extended by three more floors if developers meet certain requirements.

City spokesman Victor Morente and Acting City Council President Sabina Matos on Friday said the full City Council would need to approve such a zoning change. Morente said the city's planning department has not been asked to consider such an amendment. Matos said the council has no request from Fane to do so, either.

When the 195 commission next meets, McNally said it's considering taking action to move the Fane proposal further along. Such a decision, he said, must include consideration of various issues, including zoning, building height and the footprint a tower would cover on the land.

Pop-up food emporium OK'd

Food operators and designers working under the name "The Shack" got the green light last week from the 195 Commission to build a temporary concession stand and outdoor eating area on another former highway parcel: Parcel 22.

That's just near One Ship Street and adjacent to land that Wexford Science & Technology expects to close on in the third quarter of this year, McNally said. Johnson & Johnson has begun creating its new health technology center in One Ship, a building Wexford bought last year so it could begin locating tenants near the 195 land before building its planned innovation center.

The commission approved spending $320,000 from its 195 Fund to help create the food emporium — an effort McNally said is expected to enliven the area especially nights and weekends. The Raimondo administration created the fund in 2015 with $25 million to encourage development on the former highway land. 

The Shack's team includes a husband-wife couple, John Paul and Diana Murton, and KITE Architects in Providence.

Wexford plans proceed

Also last week, the 195 commission approved spending $300,000 from its 195 Fund to cover commission expenses for legal and design work associated with Wexford's application, McNally said. Separately, the Wexford project has gotten $19.5 million from the fund. 

The commission and the R.I. Commerce Corporation have approved a total of about $40 million in tax credits and other incentives for this project, which is expected to bring the Cambridge Innovation Center, Brown University's School of Professional Studies and technology companies together and to include an Aloft hotel by Starwood Hotels & Resorts. They'll build on a portion of Parcels 22 and 25.

Those incentives have included the value of the land, which the commission agreed not to sell to Wexford.

However, the commission voted Monday to subdivide the land where Wexford, of Baltimore, and CV Properties, of Boston and Southport, Conn., expect to build, McNally said. 

Wexford will now buy its land, valued at $3 million, for $1 to build its innovation center. However, CV Properties will buy its land for $1.5 million, McNally said.

Design guidelines enacted

The commission has also published rewritten design guidelines for the 5.7 acres of former highway land located east of the Providence River, after taking public comment Monday.

No zoning or other substantial changes were enacted, McNally said.

But the commission has now written guidelines, based on city zoning laws, for Parcel 1A, about a quarter of an acre where architect Gerald Fandetti, of Kendall Hotel LLC, has proposed building a boutique hotel. 

 -Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story used an incorrect name for KITE Architects