36 replies to this topic

[Cotuit]

Governor quietly signs contract that allows Newport Grand to add slot machines, build hotel

[Frankie811]

Cotuit, on Dec 7 2005, 10:22 AM, said:

Governor quietly signs contract that allows Newport Grand to add slot machines, build hotel

The link master gets scouped, but comes back strong!


http://www.projo.com...7.12cd099e.html

[Frankie811]

Cotuit, on Dec 7 2005, 10:22 AM, said:

Governor quietly signs contract that allows Newport Grand to add slot machines, build hotel

http://rhodeisland.c...ticleId=1132057

[mental757]

PRPJO:  "Newport Grand’s new expansion includes hotel"

http://www.projo.com...LG.1d60783.html

[Cotuit]

Judge rules Newport Grand is beyond reach of city regulation in tussle over video slots [The Providence Journal]

[MapmanNo1]

Cotuit, on Feb 10 2007, 01:47 PM, said:

Judge rules Newport Grand is beyond reach of city regulation in tussle over video slots [The Providence Journal]

State to City: Drop Dead.

Lincoln has been having similar problems with the lack of local control over what their gambling facility can/can't do (see ProJo article).

A word to West Warwick: Once you open the Pandora's Box...

The owners of Newport Grand are respected members of the hospitality industry and are good businesspeople. But in my dreams, we could bulldoze this house of video bandits and do something constructive with the land instead of taking money from seniors and others who can't afford to lose. But why can't we? Oh, wait: 1/3 of all state revenue comes from gambling!

[mental757]

PBN:  "Newport can't stop Grand plan"

http://www.pbn.com/c...s.php/id/125544

[MapmanNo1]

http://www.beloblog...._procaccia.html

BIG NEWS, KIDDOS. PROC GROUP - according to the ProJo - is buying Newport Grand. They will be holding a press conference tomorrow morning.

So, what does this mean? Continued push for expanded gambling? New hotels? Lifestyle center?

There had been chatter a year (?) ago about O'Neill buying the property. Proc seems like a better fit, but we'll see...

[Gusterfell]

MapmanNo1, on Apr 3 2007, 11:06 PM, said:

So, what does this mean? Continued push for expanded gambling? New hotels? Lifestyle center?

Did I read that right?  "The largest private real estate development project in Rhode Island’s history?”  That'll catch my interest...

[Frankie811]

A major hotel developer in Providence and across the country will announce today that it plans to purchase Newport Grand, according to city officials. http://www.projo.com...EA.36050fe.html

[mental757]

PROJO: "Procaccianti plans $1.4B expansion of Newport Grand"

"...the Procaccianti Group says that it envisions a high-end hotel – possibly a Ritz Carlton – that would be the cornerstone of development that would include apartments, luxury residences, restaurants, shopping, service retail, a spa and wellness center, an entertainment venue, indoor and outdoor recreation venues and the video-lottery terminal facility. The developer is calling it O2 Newport, with the O2 standing for oxygen."

http://www.beloblog....ccianti_an.html



WOW!!!

[Gusterfell]

http://www.turnto10....04-03-0022.html

Channel 10 has a video up, complete with a couple renderings.  Apparantly Proccacianti has their eyes on the land under the bridge ramps, in addition to the Newport Grand property.  It also looks like there's some sort of mass transit involved, as one of the renderings shows people boarding a train.

Edit:  Here is the Daily News' take on the story, complete with this rendering on the main page:

Edited by Gusterfell, 04 April 2007 - 12:39 PM.

[Cotuit]

I wish I could buy stock in TPG.

[mental757]

there a really cool plan to create Commuter rail or shuttle rail from the Sakonnet River bridge down to the gateway center along the existing trackage that the Newport dinner train uses...

I read everything I could find about it on the RIDOT web page - it sounds like a really great idea/plan.  The cost to fix up the line isn't too, too high (although there will undoubtedly be RIer's writing editorials about how it would be waste, etc.).  There is a chance that the Newport dinner train folks could actually run the service as part of a public-private transportation venture.

[Lone Ranger]

Cotuit, on Apr 4 2007, 02:45 PM, said:

I wish I could buy stock in TPG.

I'm still waiting for them to relocate from their suburban shack in Cranston.  

[mental757]

PBN:  "TPG unveils $1.4B 'O2' development plan that begins with buying Newport Grand "

http://www.pbn.com/stories/24752.htm

PROJO: "Grand plan for Newport"

http://www.projo.com...1H.36957db.html

map:

http://www.projo.com...ocaccianti.html

slide show (I love the train idea!!):

http://www.projo.com...4_newportgrand/

Edited by mental757, 05 April 2007 - 08:05 AM.

[Cotuit]

[jencoleslaw]

with this kind of cashola outlay i don't want to hear any more p*ssing and moaning about how they can't afford to do green buildings. or save building facades.

[mental757]

the project isn't financed yet, so they'll use whatever excuses they can...

I think the only part of the plan that is definate at this point is the Grand purchase and the 20 million renovation to add more slots (per State contract) and support space.  I think the hotel part (Ritz or otherwise) would be next.

[Lone Ranger]

Another PBN article about this.  A comment about the residential component interested me:

Quote

There will be jobs created – about 650 once Newport Grand and the accompanying hotel (identified during the press conference as a Ritz-Carlton) are built out – along with 300 to 400 housing units, though Stokes added that the housing will be for moderate-income workers. “Folks we employ who make $30,000 to $40,000, they can’t live anywhere in this area,” he said.

We've discussed the purposes of (and plans for) the North End at some length here before, so I don't guess we need to get into all that again.  But if TPG is really targeting its residential units for that demographic, I think that'll go a long way towards convincing your born-'n'-raised Newporters to embrace this view of the future of their city.

I find it hard to comment on this proposal.  For one thing, the scope here is immense.  But for another, I am not one of those born-'n'-raised Newporters, so I can't honestly claim to see these plans through those eyes.  But as a born-'n'-raised Rhode Islander, I imagine how important TPG's plans could be for the economy of this state -- which ain't doing so well right now, if you haven't noticed.  I think about Newport's North End in those terms, and yeah, I like the possibilities here.

Honestly, how many projects or proposals of this magnitude do we have on the board right now?  Not many.  O'Neill's marina might qualify.  The IWay project.  The push to improve and utilize Quonset.  The TF Green runway expansion.  The TF Green intermodal station.  The Pawtucket station, perhaps.  That's it.  I can't think of any others.

I dunno.  Some will be resistant to change.  Both for the present, and more importantly for the future, Rhode Island desperately needs to strengthen its (historically) principal cities.  That demands change.  We know the status quo isn't working.  Providence did (and continues to do) its part.  Now it's Newport's turn.

I hope TPG can pull it off.