876 replies to this topic

[Cotuit]

North Main Street
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[TheAnk]

http://www.artinruins.com/index.php

Cool site about architecture in Prov/RI

Edited by Cotuit, 22 January 2007 - 09:43 PM.

[Cotuit]

I was looking at this cool Thayer Street Tour there the other day.

[Garris]

It's amazing how much Thayer is changing...  

- Supposedly the Gap is going...

- The Pizza Grille was open for like, what, a month or two? (too bad, it was great and cheap).

- Cafe Java is gone (no loss there).  A chinese place is opening instead?

- A West Indian clothing store (??!!??) is replacing the College Hill Bookstore?

- Something new is being built in the storefront along Angell next to Smoothie King.

     And this is all in like a few months time.  Anything I'm missing?  Supposedly, the rents for businesses here are out of control.  Also, talk about an area that could benefit from a huge parking garage hidden behind some storefronts and apartments...  

Garris

[Cotuit]

Garris, on Dec 27 2004, 10:20 PM, said:

- The Pizza Grille was open for like, what, a month or two? (too bad, it was great and cheap).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That closed? That was supposed to be like the flagship of their national chain. Oh well. I went in once, it was pretty good, but the whole experience was just odd to me for some reason.

The video store is closing (Edsas?). I don't really get what's going on up there. The rents are high so places are closing, but a place like the Gap that can afford the rent is closing because the amount of business they need isn't there. Do these landlords have people lined up to pay these rents. In Your Ear is still for lease, it wasn't like they had someone waiting to come in.

The fact that they can charge high rents makes me hopeful that the place won't be decimated, that there remains a demand, but that doesn't seem apparent from what is happening currently.

[Garris]

Cotuit, on Dec 27 2004, 09:43 PM, said:

That closed? That was supposed to be like the flagship of their national chain. Oh well. I went in once, it was pretty good, but the whole experience was just odd to me for some reason.

Ok, I'll admit, I really liked it.  Their buffalo chicken wraps were great.  This is from their website:
"Thank you, Providence, for helping us to define and refine the Pizza Grille
concept.

As of November 29, 2004, we have closed the doors of our Meeting Street
location. We have enjoyed serving you and we appreciate all the
encouragement you gave us these past few months.

We look forward to serving you again in the future - watch this space for
news of our new locations.

Sincerely,
The Pizza Grille"

The new gourmet pizza place near Totilla Flats on Hope, while expensive (and likely spelling their doom in that neighborhood), is fantastic.  Best pizza in Providence in my opinion (I think Providence pizza is grossly overrated as a whole and, save for Caserta, fairly expensive for what you get...  My runner up for best is Fellini's).  

Cotuit, on Dec 27 2004, 09:43 PM, said:

The fact that they can charge high rents makes me hopeful that the place won't be decimated, that there remains a demand, but that doesn't seem apparent from what is happening currently.

Yeah, I don't know what is going on there.  I've never quite been able to figure Thayer out.  It's range of retail and restaurants, for such a relatively small commerical area, is enormous.  You have Sushi X'press and Smoothie king, then you have Adesso and Paragon.  You've got Oop!, and then you've got Urban Outfitters.  You have Store 24, and then a place that sells $600 eyeglasses.  Somehow the Gap can't stay in business there, but the guy selling cheap Asian-themed rugs can.  Weird...

Out of curiousity, do you have any idea what is going in next to Smoothie King?  

Garris

[Cotuit]

Garris, on Dec 28 2004, 12:03 AM, said:

Out of curiousity, do you have any idea what is going in next to Smoothie King?   

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On Angell? Nope, the sign on the building used to be an asian place, thai or something. I don't know if the same place is reopening, or if it is something new. I think whatever it is, it'll be a full service restaurant.


I only ever went into the Gap once, and they didn't have what I wanted and sent me to the mall.  

[TheAnk]

Cotuit, on Dec 28 2004, 10:12 AM, said:

On Angell? Nope, the sign on the building used to be an asian place, thai or something. I don't know if the same place is reopening, or if it is something new. I think whatever it is, it'll be a full service restaurant.
I only ever went into the Gap once, and they didn't have what I wanted and sent me to the mall. 

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So how is the neighborhood by Hope? The area in the immediate vecinity of the Whole Foods strip?

[Cotuit]

Right near Whole Foods and Miriam Hospital is not so good. But areas along Hope Street itself aren't too bad, if a bit suburbanish.

[Cotuit]

I was up on Thayer Street for the first time in a few weeks yesterday, I saw that the Gap is becoming a City Sports. Seems like a good fit for the area, and if we must have a chain store, I like that it is a New England based chain, they are headquartered in Willmington, MA, this will be their first Rhode Island store.

[Cotuit]

Garris, on Dec 27 2004, 10:20 PM, said:

- Cafe Java is gone (no loss there).  A chinese place is opening instead?

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The place replacing Cafe Java looks to be coming along. Max's Upstairs right next to Cafe Java also closed. The windows are papered over with giant question marks that say 'Coming Soon' under them. I don't know if Max's owners are reinventing themselves, or if someone new is coming in. You would think Max's wouldn't shut itself down during the school year, so I assume it is someone new.

Garris, on Dec 27 2004, 10:20 PM, said:

- A West Indian clothing store (??!!??) is replacing the College Hill Bookstore?

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The place in the College Hill Bookstore is Spectrum, they moved from a smaller location down the block. They still have all of CHB's signage in the windows, I thought it was a temporary thing for them to have more sales space for the holidays, but they are still there and their old location is empty.



--I renamed this thread since it turned into a discussion about the East Side--

[matt]

I'm bummed to hear Max's is closed.  I just went there for the first time this fall.  Enjoyed a redsox game there.  

Hope the falafel place doesnt go anywhere.   Its bad enough we lost In Your Ear.  If we lose falafels...  well...   i'll just have to hang out at the gap.

[Cotuit]

matt, on Jan 30 2005, 09:14 PM, said:

i'll just have to hang out at the gap.

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Gap's closed silly.  

[matt]

Cotuit, on Jan 30 2005, 10:51 PM, said:

Gap's closed silly. 

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i mean... johnny rockets?  ha!

[TheAnk]

TheAnk, on Jan 7 2005, 11:44 AM, said:

So how is the neighborhood by Hope? The area in the immediate vecinity of the Whole Foods strip?

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The Doyle Street area has probably the best potential for renewal in Providence, next to Broadway.. Lower Doyle has some great turn of 1900s houses, that are just begging to be done over..

The only problem, as I see it... Is the development on Pleasant Street.. Looks like affordable housing, like an army of run down grey houses... Too bad.. Lower Doyle is ripe for the picking.. Just needs a concerted effort from 5-10 landlords and bang.. It will be nice...

[lld]

TheAnk, on Jan 31 2005, 02:44 PM, said:

The Doyle Street area has probably the best potential for renewal in Providence, next to Broadway.. Lower Doyle has some great turn of 1900s houses, that are just begging to be done over..

The only problem, as I see it... Is the development on Pleasant Street.. Looks like affordable housing, like an army of run down grey houses... Too bad.. Lower Doyle is ripe for the picking.. Just needs a concerted effort from 5-10 landlords and bang.. It will be nice...

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There are plenty of people who live around Doyle and like it plenty.  But rents/prop values/taxes are increasing, as Mount Hope is the next obvious spot for renewal/gentrification.  And a lot of them are the same people/families who were renewed out of Fox Point decades ago.

[Cotuit]

It would be nice to see some affordable mixed use developments created along North Main Street where the strip malls are under-occupied.

[eltron]

TheAnk, on Jan 31 2005, 04:44 PM, said:

Looks like affordable housing, like an army of run down grey houses... Too bad..

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Not so fast there...

Have you SEEN the most recent affordable housing projects in Providence? In all respects, they generally come out better than market rate projects. Check out the Melrose/Adelaide Redevelopment project, Elmwood Neighborhood Revitalization project, among others...

"Affordable" housing does not necessarily equal low-quality housing. I think in many cases the market-rate folks have the low-quality part of the equation down pat.

I'd love to post some photos up here to illustrate, but haven't yet figured out how to post images directly...Is this even possible?  

Any help with this would be appreciated!

[Cotuit]

eltron, on Feb 14 2005, 10:33 AM, said:

I'd love to post some photos up here to illustrate, but haven't yet figured out how to post images directly...Is this even possible?   :blink:

Any help with this would be appreciated!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You need a place to host your images online, see this thread for more information.

I use Photobucket for my image hosting. If you have highspeed internet through Cox they provide a limited amount of free space for their customers, I can let you know how to access it.

[eltron]

Thanks cotuit!