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PROPOSED: Greene Street Townhouses


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Churchill & Banks have requests for bids ASAP for their Greene St condo project. Bidding is to end by the end of May. Hmmmmm  I wonder what their sudden rush is. I couldn't find a thread on this board for this project but I do remember reading something here about it so maybe someone can post info or renderings.

Once again, no pics, no info: Churchill & Banks

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Townhouses proposed for downtown

The $10-million townhouse project was presented to the Downcity District Design Review Committee this month.

BY GREGORY SMITH Journal Staff Writer | December 30, 2003

PROVIDENCE -- Churchill & Banks, a local real-estate development company, plans to build eight townhouses embracing a courtyard on what is now a parking lot behind the former Coastway Credit Union headquarters on Greene Street.

The courtyard configuration, sometimes called a mews, is a first-of-its-kind proposal for downtown, according to Christopher J. Is

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  • 11 months later...

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This is on the agenda for the Downcity Design Review Committee on May 8th.

DRC Application No. 06.3: 10 Greene Street

Proposal to construct a new 3-story, 24-unit apartment building with two floors of partially below-grade parking.

10 Greene Street LiveLocal. Regardless of what the map says, I actually think this is the parking lot that is set back from Greene Street backing up against the Jackson Walk, but don't hold me to that.

DDRC Meeting is:

MONDAY, MAY 8, 2006 {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} 4:30 PM

Department of Planning and Development, 4th Floor Conference Room

400 Westminster Street, Providence, RI 02903

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Proposal to construct a new 3-story, 24-unit apartment building with two floors of partially below-grade parking.

10 Greene Street LiveLocal. Regardless of what the map says, I actually think this is the parking lot that is set back from Greene Street backing up against the Jackson Walk, but don't hold me to that.

This appears to be what has become of the original "gated" Greene St townhouse idea from '02 or '03. If so, too bad, since this street seems to be perfect for townhouse/brownstone type of development, although a good apartment building might certainly be better than a gated community.

That map reminds me, BTW, that Westminster St. needs to get extended through to the West End as soon as possible...

- Garris

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That map reminds me, BTW, that Westminster St. needs to get extended through to the West End as soon as possible...

- Garris

That map is reminding me how much I hate Regency Plaza. It looks even worse from the air. Reminds me of one of those suburban elderly high rises that you'd find in Cumberland or West Warwick.

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That map reminds me, BTW, that Westminster St. needs to get extended through to the West End as soon as possible...

- Garris

Yes...I used to attend Mass at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, and the square in front of the of the cathedral is quite desolate - just a brick plaza void of people and activity. And the cathedral itself is a marvelous piece of architecture - espically the blue marble columns inside. Westminister should be opened up and allow more traffic people through.

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  • 1 month later...

DRC Application No. 06.3: 10 Greene Street {sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}} Greene Street Townhouses

Continued review of the proposal to construct a new 3-story, 24-unit apartment building with two floors of partially below-grade parking.

Can someone tell me how the architectural terms "apartment building" and "townhouse" are at all compatible?

Here are some definitions of "townhouse" I found on Google:

- One of a row of houses connected by common side walls.

- A dwelling unit, generally having two or more floors and attached to other similar units via party walls.

- A type of dwelling unit normally having two floors, with the living area and kitchen on the base floor and the bedrooms located on the second floor.

- One of a group of adjoining, self-contained houses of uniform style usually with own direct access to outdoor area.

- An architectural type of construction; a row house on a small lot that has exterior limits common to other similar units; title to the unit and its lot is vested in the individual owner with a fractional interest in common areas, if any.

- A general term, which applies to a condominium of which no neighboring unit is above or below.

- A townhouse is similar to a condominium in that it's a type of joint real estate where each housing unit is individually owned. However, it has two or more stories, rather than the typical onefloor found in a condominium.

- Terraced house in a modern development, often very spacious and well appointed, probably with communal gardens and swimming pool.

- A house that is one of a row of identical houses situated side by side and sharing common walls.

- Single-family dwelling unit constructed in groups of three or more attached units in which each unit extends from foundation to roof and with open space on at least two sides (IRC).

- Form of multiunit housing in which the owner owns the area in the unit and also owns the land on which the unit is located.

etc, etc... I think everyone gets the point.

I would hate to see the word "townhouse" just become a marketing term...

- Garris

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I would hate to see the word "townhouse" just become a marketing term...

It probably has.

'Townhouse' was attached to this project a long time ago, it may not be calling itself that any longer.

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I would hate to see the word "townhouse" just become a marketing term...

- Garris

isn't townhouse already sort of a marketing term? according to people i know in real estate and insurance, a townhouse is just a nice word for a condo that has more than 1 floor. but technically, according to the books, it's called a condo. i think townhouse was meant to make it sound nice, like you weren't buying a condo, you were buying a townhouse. it has a nicer ring to it and makes the buyer feel warm and fuzzy.

that being said, i'd rather buy a townhouse than a single floor condo. :P

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The project is no longer townhouses. Looks like your average, brick facade urban apartment building. Nothing too fancy but will be a nice addition of density Downcity, and should be fairly affordable as well.

:thumbsup: Good, no garages... How tall is it?

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I believe 3 stories, maybe 4? It's 24 or so condos ranging from $350-$425k.

With Cathedral Square still in place, that seems like a lot of money for the area. It still seems sketchy over there on Greene St. and having the view of the big blank wall of the Verizon building isn't all that appealing. I wonder if they will actually sell these things. I guess if Westminster were opened again and there were some real street traffic there?

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With Cathedral Square still in place, that seems like a lot of money for the area. It still seems sketchy over there on Greene St. and having the view of the big blank wall of the Verizon building isn't all that appealing. I wonder if they will actually sell these things. I guess if Westminster were opened again and there were some real street traffic there?

Greene Street is the sketchiest street Downtown. I recently parked my car on a rendezvous down there a couple of weeks ago and the area was teeming with drug addicts and male prostitutes. Always a sure bet for a parking spot nonwithstanding, it seems "they" have moved operations from Empire to Greene and that ugly elevated park that Cotuit wanted to get rid of if they opened up Cathedral Square.

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I wonder if they will actually sell these things. I guess if Westminster were opened again and there were some real street traffic there?

I wonder too... If Westminster were opened up by the time of completion and Cathedral Sq had a rejuvenation planned, this could be a really nice location.

One of the reasons I was excited about townhouses there was that it had the potential to turn the street into a more residential feeling neighborhood, with lots of "eyes on the street." Less so now... Too bad...

Again, though, such work means the neighborhood would probably improve with time. Downcity is starting to fill in some holes and hidden corners, and this is never a bad thing.

- Garris

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  • 2 weeks later...

GreeneStCondos.jpg

Churchill & Banks

Garris, you like?

I'm not Garris, but I like it.

Still, the last four times I've parked on Greene St. I've been accosted by scam artists and panhandlers. Hopefully they do something to make the place a better neighborhood or something. Making Regency less insular would be a good (but unlikely) start.

Also, did we know about this?

Not really familiar with the neighborhood, but it looks to be very similar to the plaza in Pawtucket that Recchia hates with a passion.

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Garris, you like?

I do, actually. For that area of the city, it'll have quite an impact, as there's nothing good there now. It has a nice traditional New-England urban look about it. It would work well in Boston, Portsmouth, NH, etc... I wish there were a bit more going on at eye level on the streetscape but, given Brick's comments, maybe it's better that there isn't...

More interesting than the strip plaza info on the Churchill and Banks site was the info about Imperial Place in the JD, especially that they haven't decided what yet to do with it, making the previous render we had here on UP a mere fantasy. Too bad, that was a nice render!

- Garris

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Still, the last four times I've parked on Greene St. I've been accosted by scam artists and panhandlers.

The police have chased them from Empire St and now they've relocated to Greene St. And it dosen't help having the Cathedral Sq Apts over there where they is definately some drug activity going on. :ph34r:

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...It has a nice traditional New-England urban look about it. It would work well in Boston, Portsmouth, NH, etc... I wish there were a bit more going on at eye level on the streetscape but, given Brick's comments, maybe it's better that there isn't...

- Garris

Too bad that the first floor is at eight feet or so above the sidewalk level. It's about four or five feet too high to provide any interest at street level OR to provide the "eyes on the street" safety of a building with an appropiriately placed first floor (one where the first floor occupants are comfortably a few feet above grade, but not entirely removed from the street). As said earlier in the thread, that might be intentional, because the life on the street right now is undesireable, but what about in the future? If the area improves in the future, this will be a dead zone.

I assume that's parking under the building, with the openings under the stack of porches looking into the parking garage? I wonder if there's any reason why the whole building can't be pushed down four or five feet (ramps into the garage? need for openness at the garage to avoid the requirement for mech ventilation?).

Otherwise, I think this rendering looks pretty good, but the devil is in the details...

BJE

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  • 2 years later...

Here is the description from the Churchill & banks site:

"Greene Street Condominiums Location: Providence, RI

Use: Residential

Size: 32,000 sf

Located just east of Cathedral Square in the heart of the city's revitalized arts and entertainment district, this development is planned as a cluster of 24 luxury condominium units ranging in size from 900 to 1600 sf. Designed as a private enclave surrounding a landscaped entrance courtyard of stone and greenway, the property will be serviced by gated access and ample underground parking with townhouse living quarters above.

The rich brick-clad architecture will be complemented by interior finishes featuring exotic hardwoods, custom kitchens, granite and marble countertops, gourmet appliances and state-of-the-art utility and lighting systems."

Anyone have an update on this - just out of curiosity and seeing how it's been 2 years??

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