29 replies to this topic

[MapmanNo1]

Lone Ranger, on Jan 4 2007, 11:44 PM, said:

It doesn't have to be Williams, either.  I'd happy with something on the other end of the parking lot, Jones Ave, which -- well, what the hell, is there even anything on Jones Ave?  

Now that I think about it, I imagine Jones is only there as a service road for that strip mall.  For the trucks.  Pity.  If not for that, it could probably be condemned and the developer could use that land too, say for something like the SmithBarney building in the plaza across the street.

Something, anything, to create a better sense of space in that area.

Because everyone has an opinion, this is an incredibly hard site, so I am sympathetic to Garabedian and Newport Collaborative. While I understand their explanations and understand that they are juggling many interests and limitations - desire among many residents for Bellevue frontage, lease limitations for retailers, visibility requirements for retailers, harbor views for condos, etc., not to mention the ever-finicky HDC - I am still not 100-percent satisfied with their final design. But, as they say, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. While I would make many changes to their proposal, it is a good one that improves the site, so I'm not willing to shoot it down.

Here's how I would rank the "priority streets" for having active streetscapes that border the Bellevue Gardens site:
1) William Street. This street links the colonial core with Bellevue and provides a shot of colonial streetscape all the way up the hill. It would be nice to complete it.
2) King Street. Currently, the shopping center moons the tennis courts, King House and colonial homes with its ugly ass. This needs to be fixed.
3) Bellevue Avenue. I agree - the parking lot, no matter how beautifully landscaped, is still a daunting mental barrier. But I would still like to preserve some kind of "forecourt" to the architectural gems across the street. Though it may not be historical, it certainly is nice to appreciate these structures from a moderate distance.
4) Jones Avenue. Jones is currently a dead streetscape. But I think that's okay. Not every street needs retail frontage and pedestrian activity. Kingscote is next door, so having a quiet street provides a transition to the mansion district. I think a nice medium-height stone or brick wall would look nice there, to shield the parking lot and complete Kingscote's wooden fence across the street. Not to mention, this would harken back to the Stone Villa days, when the site actually was a mansion.

Another thing that isn't historical but is still a good thing to foster is the connection with the entrance to the Casino, which hits Bellevue at an angle. Bringing that corridor into the Bellevue Gardens site will do much to bridge the gap between the two sides of the street.

To illustrate, it's time for Mapman's amazing Paintbrush skills. Black is road/parking lot, pink is building footprint, green is park area, and red is the Casino entrance angle.



As for the Stop & Shop/Smith Barney shopping center? On the Bellevue side, it's not as egregious as Bellevue Gardens. While it could be better, I'm not going to nitpick. The real problem with that shopping center is its out-of-control mooning of Bowery and Freebody Streets.

[Lone Ranger]

That's exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about.  Actually, incorporating that plan with Garabedian's plan, it puts every one of the streets in question to better use than now.  Short of a full-scale demo and rebuild, it would be ideal.

Mapman, this cracked me up:

Quote

2) King Street. Currently, the shopping center moons the tennis courts, King House and colonial homes with its ugly ass. This needs to be fixed.

[MapmanNo1]

Bellevue Gardens close to approval, but is held up by stormwater runoff concerns [1/30/07 Daily News]

Some excerpts from the Daily News:

Quote

When the special meeting of the Newport Zoning Board of Review began Monday at 6:30 p.m., just about everyone in the packed City Council chamber expected a decision on the proposed $40 million-plus Bellevue Gardens project by the end of the night. Even the board's chairman, Peter J. O'Connell, was talking about closing the hearing by 9:30 p.m. and taking a vote soon afterwards.

As it got close to 11 p.m., though, the board members were talking about scheduling a Feb. 26 meeting to call additional expert witnesses to talk about stormwater runoff. With additional witnesses pending, the attorneys present could not complete their closing arguments.

It was the zoning board's third hearing on the proposal.

Stabach said the developer is proposing to install 1,500 feet of pipe, three feet in diameter, under the parking lot to collect runoff. This grid would hold the water and then discharge at a slow rate into the stormwater pipe on Bowery Street.

Board members had problems with this proposal.

For the proposed Bellevue Gardens stormwater collection system to work, a stormwater pipe must be laid along King Street to Bowery Street. It remains to be worked out how much of this work the city would pay for, and how much the developer.

Attorney Bonnie Watson, representing abutter Henry Rosemont, argued the developer should be required to retain more of the stormwater runoff on site, instead of detaining it for later discharge.

The zoning board is the last major hurdle for the Bellevue Gardens proposal.

[Cotuit]

ProJo Editorial:

Don’t drown Gardens [The Providence Journal]

[MapmanNo1]

It happened! For real, this time! Bellevue Gardens gets approved! It will (!) be built!

And with cutting-edge green roofing and stormwater retention, to boot...

http://www.newportda.../news/news2.txt
And in the ProJo: http://www.projo.com...ue.1e8f3d3.html

Quote

The $40 million condominium and retail complex proposed at Bellevue Gardens in Newport won its final major approval from the city Monday night when the Zoning Board of Review voted 5-0 to grant the project a special-use permit.

Noreen Drexel, a prominent Bellevue Avenue resident and philanthropist, hugged architect John Grosvenor, congratulating him on getting the project through after more than two years before the Historic District Commission, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Review. In the fall of 2005, the HDC rejected the project, forcing it to be downsized and redesigned.

The 21/2-story chateau-style building will feature a rooftop garden that offers views of Newport Harbor to the west, and contain 43 two- and three-bedroom condominiums. The exterior will be shingled, with a mansard roof, dormers, towers and redwood balcony rails. There will be retail stores on the first floor. The architectural style of the building will reflect the style of historic buildings along Bellevue Avenue, such as the Newport Casino.Henry Rosemont of Thomas Street, who pressed the developer for a better stormwater management plan, and his attorney, Bonnie Watson, also said they were pleased.

Rosement hired the Horsley Witten Group of Sandwich, Mass., and its president, Scott W. Horsely, to propose low-impact techniques for managing and retaining stormwater on the property. Horsely then worked with VHB of Providence, the engineering firm hired by Bliss Properties, and the developer's landscape architect to develop a plan that all parties bought into, including the Zoning Board.

Horsley and VHB civil engineer John Stabach explained how "bioretention areas" and "rain gardens" would be constructed throughout the property to replace the large impermeable asphalt parking area that now exists there.

The engineers also will dig out strips about 3 feet deep, lined with cement and filled with a biofilter soil. These areas would be in depressed areas with permeable pacers nearby so that water would flow into them. The dug-out areas would be filled with vegetation. As stormwater filters though the soil, it will be cleaned by the time it reaches the bottom, where it will flow into a pipe that eventually will tie into a city stormwater pipe.

There will be cisterns to catch runoff from the roof. The water in the cisterns will be used for irrigation and perhaps for toilets. In addition to the rain garden on the roof, other rain gardens also are planned on the ground.

Horsely, an adjunct professor at Tufts University, teaches stormwater management at workshops run by the Environmental Protection Agency.

"This project could become a tremendous example for other projects in Newport and the state of Rhode Island," he said.

The system is so effective, he said, it will retain 50 percent of stormwater on site even if 3.4 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period - the magnitude of a storm expected every two years. The developer also agreed that the stormwater collection system would provide water quality treatment for the first inch of rain, the first flush over pavement that usually is the most polluted.

City department heads will work on details as they oversee the development plan in the coming months. Also, the Historic District Commission will review details of the design, but these processes are not expected to hinder the construction timetable. The project will be built in phases over a four-year period.

Edited by MapmanNo1, 27 February 2007 - 05:12 PM.

[Lone Ranger]

I hadn't really considered this before, but the residents on the upper floors of this development are going to have spectacular views of the harbor.  

[Gusterfell]

Looks like they're branding this as "181 Bellevue Avenue."

The project's website is up, complete with renderings, site and floor plans, and mock-ups of views from the residences.

In other news, the sales office is in place in a trailer in the Bellevue Gardens parking lot.  No sign of physical work yet.

Edited by Gusterfell, 03 November 2007 - 03:54 PM.

[Gusterfell]

This project has now received all necessary permits and approvals, and demolition of the northern part of the shopping center for phase I is set to begin in January.  Phase I is expected to be complete by April of 2009.

[Lone Ranger]

Been out of the city for quite some time.  Did anything ever happen with this project?

[Gusterfell]

Nothing yet.  The renderings are still up in the vacant portion of the building that is supposed to be demolished for phase I, but the project website seems to be down and things have been eerily quiet about whether this is still happening.