Providence developments

The Avenue​

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The Avenue​

Breaking ground 2024 – Estimated completion: Summer 2025

The Avenue
will be an 85-unit affordable housing development that will combine development of 39 newly constructed apartments at 434 Atwells Avenue in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence and the preservation and re-syndication of 46 affordable apartments, known as Elmwood Neighborhood Revitalization II (ENR II), in the Elmwood neighborhood of Providence.
ATWELLS AVENUE

  • 39 new apartments in 5-story building at 434 Atwells Avenue, Providence, on vibrant mixed-use street which will encourage pedestrian and bicycle traffic, easy access to public transportation
  • Residential apartments on floors 2 through 5, that include 11 one-bedroom, 24 two-bedroom, and 4 three-bedroom apartments; 2 ADA compliant units (1 one-bedroom and 1 two-bedroom)
  • A unit mix of 9 units at 30% AMI, 13 units at 60% AMI and 17 units of unrestricted/market rate housing
  • 1,000 square feet of commercial space on first floor for coffee shop, a fitness center, a mail room, bike storage, management office
  • 40 parking spaces, partially enclosed

https://oneneighborhoodbuilders.org/property/the-avenue-2/
 

30-story apartment tower proposed next to Hilton Providence​


The owner of the Hilton in downtown Providence is proposing a 30-story apartment building next to the hotel along Interstate 95:

Totally boring tower proposal but great place for height.
 

30-story apartment tower proposed next to Hilton Providence​


The owner of the Hilton in downtown Providence is proposing a 30-story apartment building next to the hotel along Interstate 95:

Totally boring tower proposal but great place for height.

Yeah, this should be a relative no-brainer in this spot. It's not pretty, but I imagine the design will evolve.
 
I would rather it be built on an already empty lot such as the one directly across the street (where the round design gas station once was).
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I remember about 20 years ago there was another tower proposal for this same site. In fact , they did not reclad the side of the Hilton facing the proposed site. They just covered it with the panels temporarily in preparation for the new tower. This one wont be attached the same way as that original proposal, however.
 
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I would rather it be built on an already empty lot such as the one directly across the street (where the round design gas station once was).
Same here. But considering that the Hilton property owner is proposing the tower, it makes sense. And this will still be an upgrade over that parking deck.
 

Somehow this is taking "another step forward" even though the board literally just heard about it! Here's a quote from the mayor Brett Smiley:
“When a luxury apartment gets built, an older luxury apartment becomes a middle-class apartment and that frees up another apartment which frees up another apartment. Every new unit into the marketplace helps”

Maybe he should have spoken up a little louder before the Fane Tower was canceled last year! Anyway it's still quite the surprise to see this proposal. It also seems further away from the main high-rise cluster than the Fane Tower was. Providence could certainly use a shot in the arm so hopefully this gets built and is successful.
 
Nah it’s a much better place for height.

I hope they improve the design. ZDS doesn’t have a great reputation. I know I shouldn’t complain about housing but crossing my fingures for something that looks a little less Alkron circa 1995. Especially with so many actual good proposals in the pipeline.
 
It also seems further away from the main high-rise cluster than the Fane Tower was.

Note, for the record, both locations are essentially equidistant--just 1,800 feet, so not much more than a 5-minute walk--from where the tall timber is clustered around Kennedy Plaza.

However, whereas the density remains fairly high along the Broadway St. corridor between this spot and dead-prime downtown, the density plunges rather significantly as you head south down Dorrance to Dyer St., where the much-maligned Fane Tower was proposed...
 
.....the density plunges rather significantly as you head south down Dorrance to Dyer St., where the much-maligned Fane Tower was proposed...

Aren't these blocks the ripest places to add significant density, and wouldn't the Fane Tower have been a springboard for that initiative? It always baffles me how quickly the city seems to die off in that direction. Downtown Providence could be so much more robust than it is today and deserves better.

For some perspective, the Hancock is about 2050' from the Pru, so Fane would have been closer to the heart of Providence's downtown than these 2 towers are to each other. It doesn't seem particularly far to me. Providence isn't Boston, but there's a major difference between a small-town backwards mentality compared to where it should be for arguably New England's #2 city.
 
I don't think it's fair to lump all urban success principals into a tower, and particularly not what was proposed. The podium was insane and wouldn't have been green lit in any real city. I also don't think it's fair to categorize resistance to that project as "small-town backwards mentality." Personally I think there's a lot of density being added. I do wish for more and way faster, and that parcels 2 and 8 would get going in particular. Also, I'd kill to live in Boston but its towers are like a joke/ not enviable in any respect. To me the Pru looks almost as dumb as Tour Montparnasse. Sweet views from within tho!
 
Also, I'd kill to live in Boston but its towers are like a joke/ not enviable in any respect. To me the Pru looks almost as dumb as Tour Montparnasse. Sweet views from within tho!

Our tallest may be approaching 50 years old, but at least it's not approaching 100 years old and hasn't been abandoned for the better part of a decade. Also, if we needed to find a way to save it, we wouldn't chase capital out of the city like you all did with Fane. Whether you thought the tower was feasible or not, the developer did and spent a lot of money over the course of many years trying to get *something* built there. Heck, he originally wanted 3 buildings, albeit with iffy designs but those could have been fixed.

Boston has boomed for the last 10-15 years. NYC boomed even harder in that time period and continues to do so. Philly and even Baltimore saw major changes. You'd think a city like Providence would have been well positioned to grow itself and offer a smaller-sized alternative, but it seems you all told progress to go to hell. And yes I have seen much of the new development. It's not only uninspiring, but also a small fraction of what it could have been. The Fane Tower by that waterfront park would have become the new focal point of the city and encouraged development to bridge the very modest gap between it and the rest of downtown. Instead that area continues to feel isolated, even with the new development, which is more on par with Burlington or Waltham suburban buildings than New England's #2 city. You seem to settle for mediocrity every time over there. We kind of do the same thing at a larger scale, but still (miraculously) managed the biggest skyline improvement in Boston's history.

What's going on with the Industrial Trust Building? Is it being saved or are they still looking for more funding?

I love Providence, but it seems like the general attitude of the people who live there is that they don't want to see it grow or succeed. Downtown could be incredible, instead of mostly a couple fractured main streets surrounded by piecemeal sketchy areas within a couple blocks away. Even right here in the heart of downtown has parking lots, a missing building, and blight. There's just a real lack of pride over there to chase away the kind of developments that could actually revitalize the place.

This may say December 2022 but that brick wall without the building was still there in March 2024. Turn the view around and there's a 428' abandoned historical gem.

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Note, for the record, both locations are essentially equidistant--just 1,800 feet, so not much more than a 5-minute walk--from where the tall timber is clustered around Kennedy Plaza.

I went back and checked and it's only about 1200' from the back of Industrial Trust, the tallest building in the city. That's less than a quarter mile. It's crazy that this location was seen as so "out of bounds" in the scheme of downtown, instead of viewing this as a catalyst for growth and connectivity to the new park. I mean it's literally RIGHT THERE. Totally appropriate location for a city that's trying to be a city.

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I went back and checked and it's only about 1200' from the back of Industrial Trust, the tallest building in the city. That's less than a quarter mile. It's crazy that this location was seen as so "out of bounds" in the scheme of downtown, instead of viewing this as a catalyst for growth and connectivity to the new park. I mean it's literally RIGHT THERE. Totally appropriate location for a city that's trying to be a city.

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What a wonderfully--yet depressingly--illuminating overhead view you've shared. Look at how many surface lots there are in that capture--at least eleven! So, yes, certainly agreed, the Dyer/Dorrance corridor is crying out for more density, more urbanism, anything other than the vitality-sapping surface lots.

(That said, Still Here is an extraordinary giant mural there, and I hope when that lot gets developed, a way is found to relocate the mural to an equally prominent locale so the many stunning perspectives of it in Downtown can somehow get preserved--if altered. The story behind the mural. For all of the commodification and romanticization of "Narragansett," from beers to beaches to bays, it was their land, and it was stolen, and they were murdered and starved and enslaved and alienated from their cultural and economic practices, and their descendants bear witness.)
 

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I think came out of a study i.e. not part of a proposal, but cool idea for what a new transit could be: https://www.vision3architects.com/projects/capital_center_bus_hub/ This would take up plot 8 being studied: https://www.providencejournal.com/s...-these-7-locations-in-providence/73673224007/ I do wish the capital center commission was as engaged as the 195 folks in terms of trying to build up on the remaining parcels over there.
Cool rendering but I’m inclined to agree that the money is likely better spent on improving service.
 

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