24 replies to this topic

[mental757]

PROJO:  "College eyeing 200 acres in East Greenwich"

http://www.projo.com...V2.25d6c29.html

Beacon:  "Premature to say what would become of buildings here if NEIT moves to EG"

http://warwickonline...d...1&Itemid=30

Edited by mental757, 02 August 2007 - 08:43 AM.

[CtownMikey]

too bad NIT couldn't move to the 195 land..?? crazy idea?

[jencoleslaw]

CtownMikey, on Aug 2 2007, 11:29 AM, said:

too bad NIT couldn't move to the 195 land..?? crazy idea?

yes. we don't need any more schools in Providence that aren't paying property taxes.

what would be most unfortunate would be if greenspace got gobbled up by NEIT. That land would most certainly be turned into a brownfield as a result, leaving yet another set of brownfields at their current location.

[Frankie811]

jencoleslaw, on Aug 2 2007, 11:42 AM, said:

yes. we don't need any more schools in Providence that aren't paying property taxes.

Brown makes payments to the City of Providence in lieu of taxes, as of a few years ago.

[Cotuit]

Frankie811, on Aug 3 2007, 07:04 AM, said:

Brown makes payments to the City of Providence in lieu of taxes, as of a few years ago.

The PILOT program runs out eventually and is entirely voluntary. If an institution like NEIT moved to the city they'd be under no obligation to join it. Providence has a wildly large percentage of land that is tax exempt, be it city or state land or hospital or university land, or other. Of course all the usual arguments can be made about the economic impact of these institutions, and I agree with a lot of those arguments, but the city needs more tax paying land, not less.

[Frankie811]

I'm sure that your correct, but I wanted to point out that both Yale & Harvard Universities make millions of dollars in payments to both the cities of New Haven, CT & Cambridge, MA, in lieu of taxes. Annually!

[Mothra]

Yale is not Brown (or RISD or RIC or Miriam or RI Hospital or...) and New Haven is not Providence.

[Lone Ranger]

Mothra, on Aug 3 2007, 12:46 PM, said:

Yale is not Brown (or RISD or RIC or Miriam or RI Hospital or...) and New Haven is not Providence.

Brilliant contribution, Holmes.

[Mothra]

Lone Ranger, on Aug 3 2007, 12:01 PM, said:

Brilliant contribution, Holmes.

Pot--kettle--black, McGyver.

My point is that you cannot compare the institutions and cities because they are different. It doesn't matter that Yale (much wealthier than Brown) actually pays more to New Haven (not a capital city) than what they would have to pay on their property. It doesn't matter that Harvard (the wealthiest university) pays tons to Boston (a city with an excellent tax base). What matters is that more than 40% of this city's land is made up of roads, non profits, state and city property--all untaxed and untaxable, so the city can't afford to give away 100 acres along the water for another insitution.

[Lone Ranger]

No, your point seems to be that Brown doesn't happen to be one of America's two richest universities, which is precious little of a point.  Brown is still a) probably the single most important (and powerful) institution in the city, b) one of America's wealthiest universities as well as being, I believe, in the top 1% of all universities in the world in terms of endowment, and c) nonetheless apparently hungry to improve itself, as it seeks to entrench itself among the premier biomed universities in the country in the next couple of decades.  The name Brown Med might not now garner the same level of respect as Harvard Law, but Brown seems to be doing its damnedest to get there eventually.

And the matter doesn't get much attention, but IMHO Brown and RISD are the real secret behind the Providence Renaissance.  

Brown makes certain payments now, and I suspect that when the PILOT program runs out there will be new arrangements made in which Brown will continue to make some kind of payments to Providence.  God knows they can afford to chip in.  And in return, I hope the city bends over backwards to accomodate Brown's future desires for growth.  Because there are a lot of formerly industrial northeastern cities trying to renew themselves and improve their image, and there are a lot of formerly industrial northeastern cities trying to broaden their tax base, but there are only so many of these elite universities.  I'm not afraid to be the first to say it: at least for the next 50 years or so, as goes Brown, so will go Providence.

[Cotuit]

Lone Ranger, on Aug 3 2007, 10:56 PM, said:

And in return, I hope the city bends over backwards to accommodate Brown's future desires for growth.

The city doesn't need to bend over backwards, Brown just knocks the city aside, stomps on it, and does what Brown wants.

[Mothra]

Lone Ranger, on Aug 3 2007, 08:56 PM, said:

And the matter doesn't get much attention, but IMHO Brown and RISD are the real secret behind the Providence Renaissance.

I'm not afraid to be the first to say it: at least for the next 50 years or so, as goes Brown, so will go Providence.

Oh? Really? The real secret? Then, where was Brown and RISD in the 60s, 70s and 80s? Oh, wait, I remember, they were tearing down housing stock for parking lots and some of the ugliest dorms ever (Grad Center, anyone?), running up the rents in Fox Point by letting students live off campus and running out the immigrant (Cape Verde, Portuguese) population over to East Providence and beyond.

There is no getting around the fact that RISD and Brown contribute in many ways to the vitality of the city. And I wouldn't worry about Brown in the next 50 years. After the 150+ years it has been sitting on College Hill, I doubt it will pick up and move to Smithfield.

And my point still stands. Providence cannot afford any more insitutions who do not pay property taxes, regardless of what they are.

[Lone Ranger]

Mothra, on Aug 4 2007, 08:46 AM, said:

And my point still stands. Providence cannot afford any more insitutions who do not pay property taxes, regardless of what they are.

Wouldn't argue with that.  Didn't argue with that.  I don't want NEIT to come here anyway.  Hey, I've got a great idea, if they need more buildings, why don't they use some of the couple hundred acres they paved for surface parking on their Warwick campus recently?  OK I exaggerate, but only slightly.  If they would build a f****** parking garage, they could fit 4 or 5 large new buildings on that land.  Easily.  Now they want to move deeper into the burbs so they can waste land even more readily than they do in their current location?  That's an enlightened institution for you.  

As for the rest, note that I didn't say that Brown & RISD have been (or are) perfect.  What I did say is that, without Brown & RISD, Providence never finds rebirth as anything more than the post-industrial smear it became in the middle of the last century.

[JJK5]

Lone Ranger, on Aug 4 2007, 12:55 PM, said:

Wouldn't argue with that.  Didn't argue with that.  I don't want NEIT to come here anyway.  Hey, I've got a great idea, if they need more buildings, why don't they use some of the couple hundred acres they paved for surface parking on their Warwick campus recently?  OK I exaggerate, but only slightly.  If they would build a f****** parking garage, they could fit 4 or 5 large new buildings on that land.  Easily.  Now they want to move deeper into the burbs so they can waste land even more readily than they do in their current location?  That's an enlightened institution for you.  

As for the rest, note that I didn't say that Brown & RISD have been (or are) perfect.  What I did say is that, without Brown & RISD, Providence never finds rebirth as anything more than the post-industrial smear it became in the middle of the last century.

I think I heard that new buildings, including a library are going where the old parking lot was, the new parking lot being replacement parking rather than additional parking.

[runawayjim]

Lone Ranger, on Aug 4 2007, 12:55 PM, said:

Wouldn't argue with that.  Didn't argue with that.  I don't want NEIT to come here anyway.  Hey, I've got a great idea, if they need more buildings, why don't they use some of the couple hundred acres they paved for surface parking on their Warwick campus recently?  OK I exaggerate, but only slightly.  If they would build a f****** parking garage, they could fit 4 or 5 large new buildings on that land.  Easily.  Now they want to move deeper into the burbs so they can waste land even more readily than they do in their current location?  That's an enlightened institution for you.  

As for the rest, note that I didn't say that Brown & RISD have been (or are) perfect.  What I did say is that, without Brown & RISD, Providence never finds rebirth as anything more than the post-industrial smear it became in the middle of the last century.

parking garages have no place in warwick... only lots and lots of them with buildings surrounded by lots of luscious green grass.  

back on topic, i was thinking about this when i saw the tread and thought it might be good for them to come to providence, but thinking about losing taxable land doesn't sound too great right now while brown and RISD are buying up more buildings.  the only college i wish would buy up more land to expand is PC, so long as they don't expand into parking lots.  however, i don't see that happening anytime soon (i'd like to see them expand east towards douglas ave to be specific).  as for NEIT, i really think they should try expanding where they are and not remove open space in another town.

[mental757]

PROJO:  "New England Tech moving forward with campus plans"

http://www.projo.com...1.5703540c.html

[mental757]

PROJO:  "Residents object to N.E. Tech plans"

http://www.projo.com...28.1b9bb4b.html

[Bil]

mental757, on Jan 17 2008, 01:41 PM, said:

PROJO:  "Residents object to N.E. Tech plans"

http://www.projo.com...28.1b9bb4b.html

Today I saw a "STOP NEW ENGLAND TECH" lawn sign on the side of Division St. This could get a little ugly.

[mental757]

PBN:  "New England Tech buys 25 acres from Rite Aid"

http://www.pbn.com/stories/29255.html


seems NET means business.  Now that they bought this parcel/building I can see them moving sooner rather than later.  Unless they decide to lease it out for now of course.


PROJO:  "Rite Aid sells land, building to N.E. Tech"

http://www.projo.com...18.1c76e77.html

Edited by mental757, 18 January 2008 - 09:26 AM.

[mental757]

Warwick Beacon:  "New England Tech to build 'green' campus"

http://warwickonline...d...8&Itemid=30


"New England Tech to build a wind-turbine"

http://warwickonline...d...6&Itemid=30