348 replies to this topic

[Gusterfell]

That's hot!  I like that it doesn't mimic the existing Waterplace towers, but still relates to them through similar height.  I think the wavy wall will be more visible than you might think from Memorial Blvd. and the East Side, and it will provide a nice foil to the straight lines of the neighboring buildings.

Yes, that sound you hear from the East Side is David Brussat blowing his top!

Edited by Gusterfell, 18 April 2007 - 08:53 PM.

[Cotuit]

pdxstreetcar, on Apr 18 2007, 05:55 PM, said:

Renderings:
http://www.smma.com/...p;project_id=19

The architect's site mentions a 1,000 car garage. First, perhaps BCBS should be giving out RIPTA passes and building less parking (especially if they are talking about green/LEED design). Second, I'm wondering if those spaces include the ones already built for Waterplace (Waterplace's parking sits under the BCBS pad). Third, I wonder if any parking will be above grade (I assume yes if they are adding parking on top of what Waterplace already has) and if so, where it will be, and how it will be screened.

[Cotuit]

Gusterfell, on Apr 18 2007, 10:52 PM, said:

I think the wavy wall will be more visible than you might think from Memorial Blvd. and Waterplace Park, and it will provide a nice foil to the straight lines of the neighboring buildings.

Yes, I agree, it will be visible enough, but I would like to see more of it outside the courtyard. Unfortunately I don't think you'll be able to see it from Stillman Street, but with the lower building at the entrance to the Courtyard, you should have a nice view of it walking up Exchange to the train station.

Gusterfell, on Apr 18 2007, 10:52 PM, said:

Yes, that sound you hear from the East Side is David Brussat blowing his top!

He lives Downcity, must be someone else blowing their top on the East Side, I'm sure this blocks someone's view of something brick.

[Cotuit]

JJK5, on Apr 18 2007, 04:20 PM, said:

Taller please.  And it's a rough image, but it sort of looks like the interesting side will mostly be blocked from view...

I don't think Intercontinental would let it go taller, that would steal the north light and the State House views from their penthouses.

[Cotuit]

Here's an interesting project from the architect's portfolio:

http://www.smma.com/...mp;project_id=5

Looks like one of the Waterplace towers knocked on its side.

[Cotuit]

Blue Cross to build in Providence to consolidate offices [ProJo 7to7 NewsBlog]

[JJK5]

Cotuit, on Apr 18 2007, 11:06 PM, said:

Here's an interesting project from the architect's portfolio:

http://www.smma.com/...mp;project_id=5

Looks like one of the Waterplace towers knocked on its side.

Looks like one of Genzyme's buildings.  I think that's next to the fancy Genzyme Center.

[Lone Ranger]

K, my question went unanswered the first time, so I'll try asking another way: would this be Providence's first LEED-certified building?

Love the renderings.   Hey, glass.  

[JJK5]

Lone Ranger, on Apr 19 2007, 03:35 AM, said:

K, my question went unanswered the first time, so I'll try asking another way: would this be Providence's first LEED-certified building?

Love the renderings.   Hey, glass.  

I searched the project list and came up with no LEED-certified buildings in all of Rhode Island, let alone Providence.  The only state in New England to not have a single one.

Certified Project List Search

[Frankie811]

Now we know what the Gov beef is concerning this project.  Carcieri, however, indicated he has serious reservations about the plan.

“It is not clear at this time that the construction of a Class A office building in one of the most expensive locations in Rhode Island comports with Blue Cross’ responsibility to provide affordable health insurance to the people of this state,”

http://www.projo.com...SI.3684c02.html

[Frankie811]

Cotuit, on Apr 18 2007, 10:52 PM, said:

The architect's site mentions a 1,000 car garage. First, perhaps BCBS should be giving out RIPTA passes and building less parking (especially if they are talking about green/LEED design). Second, I'm wondering if those spaces include the ones already built for Waterplace (Waterplace's parking sits under the BCBS pad). Third, I wonder if any parking will be above grade (I assume yes if they are adding parking on top of what Waterplace already has) and if so, where it will be, and how it will be screened.

From todays article.  The garage will cover parking for all three buildings, with the Blue Cross building using 180 parking spaces and the residences using the rest. Outside of those 180 spaces, the Blue Cross building would have no additional parking.

[Cotuit]

Frankie811, on Apr 19 2007, 07:14 AM, said:

Outside of those 180 spaces, the Blue Cross building would have no additional parking.

Wow, 180 spaces for 1,100 employees, looks like they will be giving out RIPTA pases. Good on them.

[RLucas83]

Cotuit, on Apr 19 2007, 09:03 AM, said:

Wow, 180 spaces for 1,100 employees, looks like they will be giving out RIPTA pases. Good on them.

Also by the time it would be completed, the T should be serving Warwick and Wickford which would also help boost commuting uptions and it is conveniently located right next to the train sta.

I think the building looks great, perhaps what g-tech could have looked like with a little more effort. Though i guess this probably kills Empire @ Broadway  for at least the next 5-10 years or so, though as long was W Residences gets built, the combination of that and this new project should put a "squeeze play" on the triangle parcel since it is the main development parcel between the 3 development hotspots.

[misterchlo]

Too bad..this news is really a "net zero" for the city...a wash.  A shiny new corporate headquarters would be great in that location, but from a company perhaps relocating from Boston or elsewhere (or even from the suburbs).  But this just isn't real economic development.  A publicly funded state health care provider, taking advantage of unique tax breaks for that site to build a shiny new headquarters on some of the most prime real estate in town.  I don't entirely disagree with the governor on this (which surprises me as I dont often like what he has to say!).  And it is just sucking life out of the opposite end of downtown and leaving some big holes over on Empire Street and elsewhere.   I really wish Providence would be able to attract a real company to build a headquarters on that site..

[Cotuit]

RLucas83, on Apr 19 2007, 10:17 AM, said:

Though i guess this probably kills Empire @ Broadway  for at least the next 5-10 years or so

Not necessarily.

[Frankie811]

Cotuit, on Apr 19 2007, 10:23 AM, said:

Not necessarily.

Hmmmmmm  And what have you heard on the street, eh?

misterchlo, on Apr 19 2007, 10:20 AM, said:

Too bad..this news is really a "net zero" for the city...a wash.

Wow! 4 posts in two yrs.  

[misterchlo]

Frankie811, on Apr 19 2007, 09:25 AM, said:

Hmmmmmm  And what have you heard on the street, eh?
Wow! 4 posts in two yrs.  

I do check in from time to time and read the posts just to catch up on the latest developments in the city. This forum is usually way ahead of the ball on all the new developments that are happening.  But I either don't have the time or choose not to get involved in most of the debates I see here over hypothetical ideas for the city...I'll leave that to the official city planners, politicians and the market forces that be.  So yes.. 4 posts (now make it 5!) ..thanks for noticing though.

[Cotuit]

misterchlo, on Apr 19 2007, 10:20 AM, said:

Too bad..this news is really a "net zero" for the city...a wash.  A shiny new corporate headquarters would be great in that location, but from a company perhaps relocating from Boston or elsewhere (or even from the suburbs).  But this just isn't real economic development.  A publicly funded state health care provider, taking advantage of unique tax breaks for that site to build a shiny new headquarters on some of the most prime real estate in town.  I don't entirely disagree with the governor on this (which surprises me as I don't often like what he has to say!).  And it is just sucking life out of the opposite end of downtown and leaving some big holes over on Empire Street and elsewhere.   I really wish Providence would be able to attract a real company to build a headquarters on that site..

We can't rely on stealing companies from Boston to drive our economic development. It is imperative to the health of the region that Boston not start losing businesses. It would be a short term gain for RI, but an ailing Boston would hurt us in the long run. Now if companies from outside the region are looking at us and Boston, by all means we should do what we can to try to land them over Boston.

However, we also can't rely on companies from outside the region, with all the positives we could all list about Providence, one fact remains when looking at it nationally, it is expensive. Regionally we are still a bargain compared to Boston, but nationally, we're crazy expensive from cost of living to taxes. We need the legislature and the Governor to work on that, with our positives I think we can still remain more expensive and compete nationally, but we are too expensive right now (and it's still really hard to do business here from a red tape perspective).

Providence currently has the tightest office vacancy in the region, but even so, there is little pressure on the market. We're almost full, but no one else is looking to come in. It seems what we mostly have a need for is small offices, less than 200 people. What we really have is a lot of really small firms, 5 people or so, looking to expand, to maybe become 20 person operations. These firms are not going to be building new towers downtown, and may not even be looking for Class A space (as they can't afford it). There are plenty of people who own or work for these small firms right here on UP who might be able to speak about their searches for space.

I think with BCBS vacating their Empire spaces, it gives an opportunity for us to create more space for these smaller firms in space that is not necessarily Class A. This move could even prove a positive for the Empire area as we will see one monolith leaving with the possibility of lots of smaller firms moving in. It will make the area more dynamic, and could bring in an intangible energy with these small start ups.

With all the positives BCBS is listing about this space, from construction costs being lower due to the pad already being ready to go, to the tax stabilization deal I'm having a hard time thinking of where else in the city they could go for the amount of space they need. Maybe someplace like ALCO would be cheaper than being Downtown (maybe not) but does ALCO even have the space for them, and if so, wouldn't it be kind of sad to see ALCO basically taken over by one firm? Also, we aren't lacking for places to build Class A offices, it's not as if this is the last developable parcel in Providence, its not even the last developable parcel in Capital Center. Plus we have all of the 195 land to develop in a few years, and holes in the fabric all throughout the Downtown and the Jewelry District. Providence is not lacking for interesting and valuable spaces to develop.

I suppose one could look at the glass as half empty as far as this being a net zero on bringing jobs to the city, but one could also look at the glass as half full in that we won't being seeing 1,100 jobs move to the suburbs and we won't see a sprawling 300k+ sq. foot campus built in some office park somewhere surrounded by parking. We keep jobs in the city, and we dodge a sprawl bullet for the rest of the state (though I'm sure there are suburbs that would be more than happy to pave themselves over for the tax money, so they will be seeing this as half empty).

[matt]

Is this the existing BCBS office on Empire?

[Cotuit]

That's Verizon.

I think the one on the right here they own, the one on the left they rent space in.



And then they also have their LaSalle Square building and rent in a few other places.