PROVIDENCE – A new 30-story residential high-rise could go up in downtown Providence on Atwells Avenue.
The proposed 216-unit tower received its first major approvals this week from the Downtown Design Review Committee, who voted in favor of the project on a 2-1 vote (half of the committee's members were absent).
No one from the public spoke for or against the project.
The project will not need to go before the Downtown Design Review Committee again because of recent rule changes that reduce the number of meetings required for project approval. The final plan approval will be handled by city officials. It would come back before the committee if there are major modifications to the design.
Who is building the new Providence high-rise?
Procaccianti Companies , based in Cranston, is proposing to build the market-rate tower.
The company owns the Hilton hotel on the same property on Atwells Avenue and also built the condo tower ( The Residences Providence ) next to the Omni Hotel.
The project basics:
The proposed tower would sit on top of a podium with 248 parking spaces.
The site is currently a parking garage and a one-story events building attached to the hotel, which would be demolished.
Procaccianti Companies Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs Ralph Izzi Jr. said it is far too soon to know how much the project would cost, but he is hopeful that by the time construction would be ready to start that interest rates will have come down.
Construction would likely last for 18 months to two years.
The building would be "upscale units," he said.
The Residences Providence, which his company also built, are some of the most expensive luxury condos in the city.
What will the building look like?
- The main entrance will be on Atwells Avenue
- The first eight levels of the building would be a large podium to accommodate 248 parking spaces, a small gym, the leasing office, the lobby, a lounge and a coworking space.
- The first four levels of the building would conform with the size of the plot, while the fifth floor, referred to as Level 3 in the plans, would be cantilevered about 40 feet above LaSalle Street.
- The residential portion starts on the 9th floor (Level 7 in the plans)
- Part of the podium roof, facing toward Federal Hill, would be an outdoor space for residents while the opposite side, against the hotel, would be for parking and mechanical systems.
Residential makeup
The proposed makeup of the 216 units as follows:
- 18 studios
- 108 one-bedroom units
- 82 two-bedroom units
- 8 three-bedroom units
All three-bedroom units would be on floors 27 through 30. The two-bedroom unit would be on all floors, the studio apartments would be on floors 7 through 15 and the one-bedroom units would be on floors 7 to 26.
Page 1 of
21-Atwells-combined Contributed to
DocumentCloud by Wheeler Cowperthwaite (The Providence Journal) •
View document or
read text One height bonus and six waivers
The three Downtown Design Review Committee members who attended the meeting unanimously approved the six waivers requested to allow the project to go forward and the one award of a height bonus.
Developers requested a height bonus of 12.5 feet above the maximum building height in downtown of 300 feet. Zoning rules allowed them to ask for the bonus, referred to as an "incentive," because they were providing so much parking in the building.
The plot is on a slope, with a service road that goes between the Hilton and the pavilion sitting 20 feet lower than Atwells Avenue. While the project requested a height inventive for 12.5 feet, it will appear, from most of Atwells, to only be 300 feet tall. From LaSalle Street, the building would appear to be 326 feet tall.
The requested waivers were:
- Demolish the buildings currently on the site
- Have fewer entrances
- Two waivers to have fewer windows the first eight levels of the building
- Fence off the mechanical systems on the roof
- Have a different recess line
Architect Eric Zuena said most of the waivers the developer was requesting were needed because the ordinances assume that the ground floor of any building is a commercial space, not a purely residential building.
Page 3 of
TPG building dsr24.5.13 Contributed to
DocumentCloud by Wheeler Cowperthwaite (The Providence Journal) •
View document or
read text 2005 proposal faded away
In 2005, the Procaccianti Companies proposed a $700 million project ($1.1 billion adjusted for inflation) to build new hotels, a condo tower and other spaces, as well as the renovation of the Hilton. The condo tower never came to fruition.
The proposed project would overhang about 40 feet above over LaSalle Street (also referred to as Aborn Street in the plans) for four levels of its parking podium, at which point, the residential units and the tower portion of the building would begin.
The Amica Mutual Pavilion already overhangs over part of the side road, which dead ends at the back of the building.
The developer needs to get Providence City Council approval for the overhang.
Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Providence Journal subscription . Here's our latest offer .
Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter .
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: This new condo high rise could go up in downtown Providence Here's everything to know.
Most Popular
Comments / 0