222 replies to this topic

[Frankie811]

oak, on Nov 10 2005, 06:03 PM, said:

I attended the regional APA (American Planning Association) conference in Newport the last two days and heard about an interesting N. Main development.  Walgreens wants to open a new store on N. Main and wants to do its typical franchise suburban development model.  Walgreens has retained Andy Teitz (local land use attorney) to represent them and help seek needed variances for parking in front, signage etc.  Curiously, he is the same attorney who wrote the anti-formula architecture ordinance for the Town of Bristol historic district and he presented a session at the conference today about how to get franchises to comply with local development standards.  It will be interesting to see how he represents the proposed Walgreens on N. Main before the Providence ZBR.

Walgreens is also planning a new store in East Providence at the busy corners of Pawtucket & Warren Ave. Miller's Roast Beef will be demolished as a result. They are in the permit & zoning stage. There is a CVS & Brooks right across the street.

Edited by Frankie811, 10 November 2005 - 05:19 PM.

[brick]

oak, on Nov 10 2005, 06:03 PM, said:

I attended the regional APA (American Planning Association) conference in Newport the last two days and heard about an interesting N. Main development.  Walgreens wants to open a new store on N. Main and wants to do its typical franchise suburban development model.  Walgreens has retained Andy Teitz (local land use attorney) to represent them and help seek needed variances for parking in front, signage etc.  Curiously, he is the same attorney who wrote the anti-formula architecture ordinance for the Town of Bristol historic district and he presented a session at the conference today about how to get franchises to comply with local development standards.  It will be interesting to see how he represents the proposed Walgreens on N. Main before the Providence ZBR.

The way North Main is set up there is plenty of opportunity for them to have parking in back.  The only good thing I can see coming from this is if they got the stupid Brooks on North Main to actually make some upgrades.  That store looks like a relic from a Death Wish movie.

Why can't Walgreen go into the Shaw's plaza where it belongs?

[Frankie811]

Oops! Please disregard.

I was about to post a message that Colonial Toyota on N. Main St was moving to Lincoln when I realized that they're actually just off N. Main St on Pawtucket Ave in Pawtucket. But here's the story anyhow. And didn't they have another showroom on N. Main across from Dunkin Dounuts?




Colonial Toyota of 550 Pawtucket Ave., Pawtucket, and Rizzo Ford of 1703 Mineral Spring Ave., North Providence, have jointly purchased the 40-acre site of the former Flexicore/Durastone just over the Lincoln line and will be relocating both of those dealerships there in new, modern facilities, according to Jim Botvin, Colonial owner and president

Edited by Frankie811, 11 November 2005 - 05:23 AM.

[ArtInRuins]

The newish buildings that Miriam built in the Shaws "hole" are now being connected to the back of the Sears/Anderson Little parking lot with a large curving ramp... like a road on the side of a mountian. Miriam also owns the Sears building... so maybe they have plans to tear down the Sears bldg and do something with it? Not sure why else they would build that big mountain... for parking maybe?

[EPBOY]

Frankie811, on Nov 10 2005, 07:17 PM, said:

Walgreens is also planning a new store in East Providence at the busy corners of Pawtucket & Warren Ave. Miller's Roast Beef will be demolished as a result. They are in the permit & zoning stage. There is a CVS & Brooks right across the street.

I missed this one!!  Say it isn't so!!  Do we really need THREE drugstore chains at one intersection??  That's just stupid.

[Frankie811]

EPBOY, on Nov 12 2005, 12:03 PM, said:

I missed this one!!  Say it isn't so!!  Do we really need THREE drugstore chains at one intersection??  That's just stupid.

Yes, it's true. A friends of the owner of Miller's told me about this MONTHS ago, but only saw the zoning notice in the journal a few weeks ago. I guess the closed marine shop next door will be demolished as well.

[CtownMikey]

I doubt they'd open it unless there was demand for it..   some drugstores have ridiculous amounts of customers
a day.. the cvs at the reservoir/park intersection in Cranston and the walgreens on broad street in Pawtucket do well over 1000 scripts a day in their pharmacies.It may not sound like a huge number, but it is. Add that to the shortage of pharmacists being certified.. and it makes for a very dangerous situation.

The store I work at considers 200 scripts a day to be busy! We do have a smaller staff.. but still, add that to dealing with beotchy customers, non-english speaking customers, idiot doctors who leave out needed info which requires a phone call, and the idiots over at the insurance companies., and it gets very busy.
There have actually been a few reports on the news of local CVS pharmacists giving out the wrong medication or messing up dosage.. one was for a child!!, just due to over tiredness and lack of a lunch/bathroom break for their entire shift..   My boss goes through the same thing.. it's all due to lack of pharmicists in the area.

Now that I have gotten off topic..
Unless they have NEW pharmacists already hired to work at this new store.. then its very stupid to open it and force current employees to float over to that store.. (which they force you to do). But if they somehow have the  
needed staff.. THEN GO WALGREENS!

Edited by CtownMikey, 12 November 2005 - 11:41 AM.

[Garris]

ArtInRuins, on Nov 11 2005, 09:21 PM, said:

Not sure why else they would build that big mountain... for parking maybe?

I'm not aware of any other Lifespan construction projects there...  My guess would be for parking.  I'll ask around.

- Garris

Edited by Garris, 12 November 2005 - 12:29 PM.

[gregw]

Garris, on Nov 12 2005, 01:29 PM, said:

I'm not aware of any other Lifespan construction projects there...  My guess would be for parking.  I'll ask around.

- Garris

Last I heard, Miriam sold the Sears property as well as Anderson Little to Procaccianti. I also know that Brown sold the Ethan Allen and the Sears Automotive parcels. Don't know who bought these.

As far as the Procaccianti properties are concerned, they're doing marketing and demographic research to determine the best use.

http://sna.providenc.../?p=31#comments

Edited by gregw, 12 November 2005 - 08:07 PM.

[virgo20]

gregw, on Nov 12 2005, 07:05 PM, said:

Last I heard, Miriam sold the Sears property as well as Anderson Little to Procaccianti. I also know that Brown sold the Ethan Allen and the Sears Automotive parcels. Don't know who bought these.

As far as the Procaccianti properties are concerned, they're doing marketing and demographic research to determine the best use.

http://sna.providenc.../?p=31#comments

Well, this is good. It's about time . It'll be interesting to find out what the people in the area actually want there rather than hearing about everything that they don't want. Trader Joe's is not a good fit there...too close to Whole Foods and even closer to Shaw's and Stop & Shop. Maybe a budget hotel wouldn't be too bad as they did say there could be underground parking..( forgot about the bowling alley and Sears underground spot) Some retail is inevitable as long as they don't construct it like Eagle Square. I know someone said that there wasn't enough space, but I don't think that would be the case. The Benny's Tire place and the Payphone? building  could come down giving that section space for retail...The old Sears automotive would be perfect for a Walgreens and the old Sears/Anderson Little/ Duckpin bowling spot could support a budget hotel with ample parking...However, I don't know if the hotel idea will be a fit for Prociaccianti since he is already developing other hotels in the city..

[gregw]

I live a block and a half from North Main and can assure you that big box retail a la Home Depot, Walmart, Target (100,000 sq. ft. +), is not feasible there. Anyone who doubts this needs to drive up North Main and see how thin the commercial corridor is before the area turns residential. On the east side of the street, you would have to condemn scores of houses and level a steep grade to suit the sprawling retail centers.

On another front, as someone who lives in the neighborhood, I can tell you that Trader Joe's would totally clean up if they opened on North Main. They don't really compete with Shaw's and are actually quite different from Whole Foods as well.

As far as the other properties, I don't get the logic of tearing down Benny's Automotive given that it's a functioning business and you have vacant and deteriorating properties nearby.

As for Walgreen's, forgive me if I don't get excited. We already have Brook's and CVS on Hope St, not to mention East Prescription Center and Stop and Shop.

Also Walgreen's architectural formula is totally crumby, worse than CVS, with its cheap-ass Dryvit facades and wastefully vast parking areas.

Admittedly, they would probably do ok on North Main given that it seems that you can never have to many chain pharmacies, convenience stores, and Dunkin Donuts around here. Hopefully, though, upper North Main could have somewhat more creative and imaginative development.

While most of its architecture is pretty bad, upper No Main could become a destination if it could get some cheap ethnic restaurants there kind of like all those strips in LA that don't look like much but have all kinds of amazing hamburger stands, Chinese places, and taquerias. Throw in Trader Joe's and Amoeba Music and you've got a destination as opposed to yet another bland strip.

virgo20, on Nov 13 2005, 09:28 AM, said:

Well, this is good. It's about time . It'll be interesting to find out what the people in the area actually want there rather than hearing about everything that they don't want. Trader Joe's is not a good fit there...too close to Whole Foods and even closer to Shaw's and Stop & Shop. Maybe a budget hotel wouldn't be too bad as they did say there could be underground parking..( forgot about the bowling alley and Sears underground spot) Some retail is inevitable as long as they don't construct it like Eagle Square. I know someone said that there wasn't enough space, but I don't think that would be the case. The Benny's Tire place and the Payphone? building  could come down giving that section space for retail...The old Sears automotive would be perfect for a Walgreens and the old Sears/Anderson Little/ Duckpin bowling spot could support a budget hotel with ample parking...However, I don't know if the hotel idea will be a fit for Prociaccianti since he is already developing other hotels in the city..

[virgo20]

gregw, on Nov 13 2005, 11:32 AM, said:

I live a block and a half from North Main and can assure you that big box retail a la Home Depot, Walmart, Target (100,000 sq. ft. +), is not feasible there. Anyone who doubts this needs to drive up North Main and see how thin the commercial corridor is before the area turns residential. On the east side of the street, you would have to condemn scores of houses and level a steep grade to suit the sprawling retail centers.

On another front, as someone who lives in the neighborhood, I can tell you that Trader Joe's would totally clean up if they opened on North Main. They don't really compete with Shaw's and are actually quite different from Whole Foods as well.

As far as the other properties, I don't get the logic of tearing down Benny's Automotive given that it's a functioning business and you have vacant and deteriorating properties nearby.

As for Walgreen's, forgive me if I don't get excited. We already have Brook's and CVS on Hope St, not to mention East Prescription Center and Stop and Shop.

Also Walgreen's architectural formula is totally crumby, worse than CVS, with its cheap-ass Dryvit facades and wastefully vast parking areas.

Admittedly, they would probably do ok on North Main given that it seems that you can never have to many chain pharmacies, convenience stores, and Dunkin Donuts around here. Hopefully, though, upper North Main could have somewhat more creative and imaginative development.

While most of its architecture is pretty bad, upper No Main could become a destination if it could get some cheap ethnic restaurants there kind of like all those strips in LA that don't look like much but have all kinds of amazing hamburger stands, Chinese places, and taquerias. Throw in Trader Joe's and Amoeba Music and you've got a destination as opposed to yet another bland strip.

  The area has always been a retail zone...and as I agree with you on the fact that it would never support really big-box retail( a la Target ,Walmart etc. ),  it would take years and milleniums to get the density that lies up the hill on Hope. That will never happen there as the existing businesses were developed to fit into a quasi-suburban development.( Gregg's, Pep Boys, Honey Dew, Shell, etc. etc.) You would have to bulldoze half the buildings there to get the development that you think would be suitable. The Sears building and the bowling place have plenty of underground parking and can be developed with such amenities. Trader Joe's would be a much better fit for Downtown, Wayland Square, or Eagle Square. No. Main should be a retail zone constructed like the University Heights down the road. The plaza has a good mix of stores, albeit suburbanly constructed,that  provide a lot of services for many residents. University Heights is always packed. There is plenty of room on Upper No. Main for development like that....

[Garris]

I agree with Virgo that N. Main is somewhat "lost" at this point.  The best hope at this point is to get mass transit (an LRT or BRT line) in there in the future to promote as much density development as possible.

- Garris

[Frankie811]

Garris, on Nov 13 2005, 10:28 PM, said:

I agree with Virgo that N. Main is somewhat "lost" at this point.  

- Garris

Talk about a waste and a hole. How about that huge parking lot that Miriam Hospital owns at the corners of N. Main & Third which is the site of the former RI Auditorium. There's so much that can be done with that land.

[riari]

So, on the other end of North Main, the windows of the old Providence Monthly have been covered with brown paper for a couple months.  Printed signs for "LOTUS" went up a couple weeks ago, and I came up with three theories:

1. yoga studio
2. Asian restaurant
3. Asian furniture store

The last one won.  If you peek through holes in the paper, you see the high-end Asian furniture.  Anybody know more about Lotus?

[TheAnk]

riari, on Nov 14 2005, 03:26 PM, said:

So, on the other end of North Main, the windows of the old Providence Monthly have been covered with brown paper for a couple months.  Printed signs for "LOTUS" went up a couple weeks ago, and I came up with three theories:

1. yoga studio
2. Asian restaurant
3. Asian furniture store

The last one won.  If you peek through holes in the paper, you see the high-end Asian furniture.  Anybody know more about Lotus?

You sure its not a massage parlor? I hear from the ProJo those are prevalent in Prov due to some arcane laws..    

[virgo20]

TheAnk, on Nov 15 2005, 12:10 PM, said:

You sure its not a massage parlor? I hear from the ProJo those are prevalent in Prov due to some arcane laws..    

[Frankie811]

virgo20, on Nov 15 2005, 12:19 PM, said:

I mean really, who cares!!!  When crimes rises, the police (not just in Providence) concentrate their attention on prostituition, to prove to the public that they're doing their job. Can't solve the gang problem, drugs, holdups, car thefts, break-ins, no problem. Let's do a pros sting.

[ruchele]

Frankie811, on Nov 15 2005, 01:55 PM, said:

I mean really, who cares!!!  When crimes rises, the police (not just in Providence) concentrate their attention on prostituition, to prove to the public that they're doing their job. Can't solve the gang problem, drugs, holdups, car thefts, break-ins, no problem. Let's do a pros sting.

Um, actually, that's not true, at least as far as the Providence Police go.  I have had a LOT of conversations with Providence cops about their prostitution strategies.  Esserman has told them that their highest priority is guns and violent crime.  When people are getting shot, the "little stuff" like prostitution goes way to the bottom of the list.  It doesn't help any that the prostitution laws are hardly enforceable because of the whole "indoor vs. outdoor" issue.

Edited by ruchele, 15 November 2005 - 12:24 PM.

[Frankie811]

ruchele, on Nov 15 2005, 01:04 PM, said:

It doesn't help any that the prostitution laws are hardly enforceable because of the whole "indoor vs. outdoor" issue.

I know all about the indoor/outdoor issue. But that's not the point! The outdoor issue is pretty much solved. As far as the indoor issue is, I say who cares. I mean really, these so-called message parlors are mostly in non-residential areas that offer services to men for a fee. A crime, to be sure. A moral wrong, yes. But how does busting these estabishments help solve the crime wave effecting this city? Crimes that every city dweller is concerned about!?  But I will say this.  Most of these places that have been shut down have been staffed by oriential women who are treated like slaves. And for that I say NO! This I believe goes on in NYC everyday.