Hope Point Tower (Fane) | 250 Dyer Street | Providence

Hubman said:
Thank God.

Maybe the developer will try his luck downtown where the tower should go.
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The tower was only a couple blocks from the biggest ones downtown. It would have brought foot traffic to that park and spurred infill development to close the gap back to downtown. Providence would see a revitalization which could lead to the rescue of the Superman building.

HopePointAerial by David Z, on Flickr

Now, here is the more likely scenario.... Large potential developers take note of what happened and decide to invest their money and time elsewhere. The city slowly crumbles to the ground, and the Superman building is torn down as part of New England's saddest result since urban renewal.

If the latter comes to fruition, I will personally make sure I never return to Providence again. Typically I stop through 2-3 times a year. I couldn't bear to see the place without this...

Providence, RI by Jef Nickerson, on Flickr
 
DZH22 said:
The tower was only a couple blocks from the biggest ones downtown. It would have brought foot traffic to that park and spurred infill development to close the gap back to downtown. Providence would see a revitalization which could lead to the rescue of the Superman building.
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Precisely. The development parcel may not be "dead top center" downtown Providence, which is obviously Kennedy Plaza neighborhood w/ Providence Place Mall, Amtrak station, Civic Center, etc. on periphery. But it's damn close enough. And that overhead aerial of downtown the developer supplied with the tower rendering shows how much infill development is still crying out to take place--the number of surface parking lots pockmarking downtown is downright tragic and embarrassing for New England's 2nd-largest city and 2nd-largest metro.
 
The moment of truth is at 4:30. I voiced my opinion at the bottom of this article but am worried that Providence could be flushing its future down the drain if it can't support this development.....

http://www.golocalprov.com/articles...calls-for-city-council-to-uphold-elorzas-fane


EDIT: It looks like even if this doesn't pass, the tower still has a chance. See this quote from the below article:

"Even if the override does not pass, it doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the road for the tower.

Senate President Dominick Ruggerio has said that he plans to propose legislation that would take authority away from the city in developing former Route 195 land."

http://www.providencejournal.com/ne...-to-vote-on-overriding-mayors-fane-tower-veto
 
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Curt Schilling said:
Here's the verdict..... No just kidding, the vote was rescheduled for Thursday due to a sick council member.

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-new...postpones-vote-on-hope-point-tower/1653524072

I'm very surprised so few people on here seem to care about this one. It may just be one development, but likely the future direction of New England's second largest city is at stake!
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Not viable.

http://www.golocalprov.com/news/exc...-economically-viable-charges-appraiser-scotti
 
DZH22 said:
If the builder is willing to assume the risk, what's the problem?
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So naive. The developer would require tens of millions, perhaps over a hundred million, in subsidies.
 
DZH22 said:
Here's the verdict..... No just kidding, the vote was rescheduled for Thursday due to a sick council member.

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-new...postpones-vote-on-hope-point-tower/1653524072

I'm very surprised so few people on here seem to care about this one. It may just be one development, but likely the future direction of New England's second largest city is at stake!
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^Not to nitpick, but the last sentence above is wrong. Worcester is New England's second largest city.
 
lapradetom said:
^Not to nitpick, but the last sentence above is wrong. Worcester is New England's second largest city.
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Worcester only is by population because of its relatively large land area. Worcester has 38.57 square miles, vs only 20.6 for Providence, yet only leads in population 185k to 180k. You can factor in North Providence alone for another 32k people in less than 6 square miles, and you're already at 212k people vs 185k with another 12 square miles in hand. Providence is absolutely the #2 city in New England, and Hartford is probably 3rd.
 
stick n move said:
Hmm that new render at #10 is interesting. Is hope point where those huge 3 ugly towers were first proposed? This looks much better.

“[10/10]
The latest design of Hope Point Tower proposed by the Fane Organization for construction at Dorrance and Dyer streets in Providence.”

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Same spot, same developer, just a different iteration of the proposal.
 
Another angle. I cant believe they are actually making the right motions to move forward with this. I love that people said its out of scale for the neighborhood and he said "thats the point its not iconic if it blends in..." Haha, Boston needs some more of that!! He said the Eiffel tower was chided as being out of scale too, now its an icon. I agree with him a tower that dwarfs the whole skyline does look iconic. Also its not like Providence is OKC, its actually filled in over a couple hundred years and also has a large metro are as well. Im still doubtful, but surprisingly its passed all the hurtles so far. Like it or not tall towers are beacons. They say "hey big things are happening over here". A city doesnt have any tall towers unless atleast something is going on. Construction is a beacon too saying we are progressing. This would be great for them. Id love to see Providence start doing better, they CANNOT demo the Superman building, if they were going to I wish we could disassemble it and move it to Boston haha... That would be a travesty to demo their art deco tower..

20180615-143000-Cover_Courtesy%20of%20IBI%20Group%20of%20Toronto.jpg



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dQfdc9fXkA
 
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It seems like we have missed some key notes regarding the Fane Tower and overall development in Providence.

April 8 - The Design Panel votes to recommend a rejection of the Fane Tower
https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190408/design-panel-reject-fane-tower


April 11 - Senate President is PISSED. Files bill to streamline redevelopment process on large state owned parcels.
https://www.providencejournal.com/n...-files-bill-to-streamline-i-195-redevelopment


June 4 - Bill passes in the state senate.
https://www.wpri.com/news/local-new...e-s-zoning-authority-over-195-land/2051984920
 
I still dislike it. If it were maybe a block or two north it would be good but now its just Jersey Shore meets Le Corbusier.
 
I think that monstrosity has to go through the design committee still, but it has been a while since there has been any news. I know lawmakers authorized up to $25 million in tax credits for the proposal last month.
 
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