Almost two years after plans were announced for 32-story luxury condo tower at 110 Westminster St., construction is expected to finally begin on the project — although, in a reflection of the softening housing market, it has been reconfigured to include an upscale hotel on roughly the first 15 or 20 floors.
Thomas E. Deller, Providence’s director of Planning & Development, says he expects the foundation for 110 Westminster — currently a gaping hole, after the demolition of the site’s previous structures — to be poured in December or January, with construction to follow in the spring. Although it could not be confirmed at press time, talk suggests that W Hotels, which operates hotels in a number of US and foreign cities, will be the partner for the lodging portion of the project.
When 110 Westminster, a project of Granoff Associates of Providence and BlueChip Properties LLC of Boston, was announced in February 2005, it seemed to mark an audacious new day in the gritty old downtown — mostly because the condo units were said to sell for between $500,000 and $2.5 million. But as Deller says, the commitment of a hotel for a large chunk of the development now offers “greater financial assurances that the building will be constructed and the project will be completed.”
With the prospect of more downtown demolition, critics are concerned about the threat to the historic character of Providence’s old retail district, particularly the possibility that some projects may not come to fruition after older structures are razed.
The most immediate demolition target is the building housing such businesses as Cuban Revolution (which plans to relocate to a nearby Buff Chace-owned property on Aborn Street) and New Japan, in the intended site of a Sierra Suites hotel on Washington Street. Deller says the project requires only a City Council easement before it can move forward.
Existing holes in the downtown fabric include the former Weybosset Street location of Downcity Diner, and a sizeable space fronting on Weybosset Street where Chace plans to build a combination retail-residential-parking garage.
Critics are concerned about proposals by the Cranston-based Procaccianti Group to demolish the Fogarty Building, located across from the Rhode Island Convention Center, as well as the former police and fire headquarters in LaSalle Square. Jack Gold, executive director of the Providence Preservation Society, cites “a very strong relationship” between the old public safety complex and the nearby Providence Public Library. Demolishing the former, he says, “will hurt the context of that part of downtown.”
Deller agrees that the city needs to be concerned about demolition outpacing fresh development, although he said demolition permits are not typically issued until after building plans are in place.
The Procaccianti proposals are expected to return before the Downcity Design Review Committee, and their chances of going forward seem strong. As Deller puts it, “Unfortunately, some of the buildings that may have some importance in some people’s eyes may have to come down.”