Providence developments

^That area, right between the mall and the train station is a joke. They need to build it out or improve the park, but it's a big time dead zone. It's OK when they throw a concert in that area, but it's a black hole, devoid of life most of the time.
 
Lrfox said:
^That area, right between the mall and the train station is a joke. They need to build it out or improve the park, but it's a big time dead zone. It's OK when they throw a concert in that area, but it's a black hole, devoid of life most of the time.
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I was trying to imagine how they could develop that park or part of it to bring life to that area when I was walking through. It doesn't work as a giant open lawn. Maybe some sort of condo development like the one at Kendall Sq? The lower-rise buildings would actually look pretty nice next to Providence Place.
 
Is it a true park, or just a yet-undeveloped site that has been landscaped?
 
The reason why that parcel hasen't been developed is one, because the trains run under it, and two, because there are a ton of utility cables that run underneath it which would cost a lot of money to relocate. This piece of land has been looked at for building projects long ago in the past but has been turned down for the reasons I've stated. It's being used this weekend for the ironman contest/race/challenge.

http://ironmanrhodeisland.com/
 
Frankie811 said:
The reason why that parcel hasen't been developed is one, because the trains run under it, and two, because there are a ton of utility cables that run underneath it which would cost a lot of money to relocate. This piece of land has been looked at for building projects long ago in the past but has been turned down for the reasons I've stated. It's being used this weekend for the ironman contest/race/challenge.

http://ironmanrhodeisland.com/
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That's understandable. In that case, they should just properly landscape it/give it some loose program. Benches, trees, walkways, etc.
 
Johnson & Wales to start Providence garage construction by late summer

A Johnson & Wales University administrator said Tuesday that the university expects to begin construction by September on an 800-car parking garage on Richmond Street.

Barbara Bennett, the university's legal counsel, told the audience at a business breakfast, "We are getting ready to do it."

She also said the university will begin work on classrooms for its new physicians assistant program in October.

The garage project will take 12 to 14 months, a university spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail. Johnson & Wales is working with Walker Parking Consultants, of Boston, and Vision 3 Architects, of Providence, on the construction and design of the five-story garage. The garage will be exclusively for use by university faculty, staff and students.
 
The Gilbane Development Company is proposing a dramatic new building for the heart of Thayer Street ...
several other attendees noted that at four stories with underground parking, the building would significantly alter the scale and feel of the street
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Cute little Providence NIMBYism!
 
Well, that's a pretty dramatic change to a residential neighborhood: "The project would require the demolition of all the small multiple-family houses which occupy the area." If, say, Tufts University wanted to do this here in Somerville, I would not be happy.

This is the block that the developer proposes to demolish: http://g.co/maps/qqfk7 . It appears to contain 11 buildings, including a number of businesses.
 
Total number of houses that could be demolished per this article: 10. Possibly fewer. Hardly like demolishing all of Somerville...

I'd rather Providence fill some of its still-vacant riverfront real estate than rip apart College Hill, but this isn't the hugest loss.
 
Right, but I still would not want to lose a block of varied, useful, and occupied buildings to make way for a single large structure like this one.

(My edit to my last post, adding a paragraph, coincided with your reply to it.)

Among the businesses that would be lost here are a Middle Eastern restaurant and a Ben & Jerry's.
 
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I would assume the building will include space for retail. It'll be a shame if these specific businesses don't survive (though from what I've seen most would not be a great loss...and I can assure you the Ben & Jerry's or something like it will live on) but the dispacement of retail and of "occupied buildings" would be temporary. And including space for 220 more students will be a boon to neighborhood retail for sure.
 
I'm with the NIMBYs. That's a cool little block. Brown should be building over one of the nearby parking lots.
 
Justin7 said:
I'm with the NIMBYs. That's a cool little block. Brown should be building over one of the nearby parking lots.
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I agree. That building would be great on an empty lot or in place of an old strip mall. But on quirky Thayer Street, it looks sterile and certainly is out-of-scale. I've only been to Thayer Street once, but it's very urban and bustling even though it's lined with mostly one- and two-story buildings. Unlike, say, Coolidge Corner, which feels wide and expansive, Thayer feels enclosed, intimate and even rambling. That's also, in part, because so few buildings fill an entire block.

Replacing an entire block of well-functioning, urban buildings for a white-washed replacement--even a bigger one--was something I hoped we'd grown beyond.
 
6989810707
JWU plans new business, tech school buildings



A new business-school building is at the heart of Johnson & Wales University’s latest downtown-campus expansion plans.

The new 80,000-95,000-square-foot building is expected to take a year to design and up to 16 months to build.





http://www.pbn.com/JWU-plans-new-business-tech-school-buildings,66154?page=1&sub_id=66154
 
Thayer Street is my favorite part of Providence (I haven't seen all, but I've been a couple of times, and it's the only part of the city which I have seen that had a really great urban vibrancy). I agree with those who think this block should NOT be demolished, even if, as CSZS said, it is not a "dramatic building" and probably would not be out of scale (Portland's Munjoy Hill, which is more or less the exact same scale as this neighborhood, has had some four story "3 deckers" in the past and probably still has a few...they fit right in). I do not like massive structures with a centralized entrance (even if they house more units). Were this proposed as infill, I'd be all for it (don't sacrifice good enough for the ideal), but where it proposes to take down an existing block, I agree with Mike "I hoped we had moved beyond this."
 
Edit -- after seeing the rendering, I am not as against this project as before, but those generic looking first floor retail windows risk giving up some of what makes the neighborhood unique. Does the structure extend down or off Thayer? The article says "off thayer," but both sides in the rendering have the Thayer signs hanging off. If it extends off of rather than along Thayer, I think this might not be that bad after all. And the taxes will be a sticking point for the City, I'm sure. Universities typically are tax exempt, but pay taxes occasionally "just because." Is this private or university?
 
the only part of the city which I have seen that had a really great urban vibrancy
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Also check out Wickenden Street and Federal Hill the next time you're in Providence.

Since this proposal tears down the entire block (except for one or two buildings), I'm sure that it fronts on Thayer Street.
 
It fronts on Thayer but leaves 2/4 buildings on the block that also front Thayer intact - so this will not fill the entire block along that street.
 
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