Davol to move from Cranston to Warwick?

[mental757]

http://warwickonline.com/warwickonline/ind...3&Itemid=30

...don't look now, but here comes Warwick!

"glass and brick building..." - sounds perfect for a Providence buidling!

[brick]

http://warwickonline.com/warwickonline/ind...3&Itemid=30

...don't look now, but here comes Warwick!

"glass and brick building..." - sounds perfect for a Providence buidling!

That's pretty irritating. I interviewed at Davol and the operations in Cranston are largely clerical and engineering. They have a very limited prototype production facility. In other words, they could easily occupy an urban building. And knowing the salary they offered me at the time (3 years ago), I can only imagine that you would be talking about a hefty number of upper middle class office workers adding to downtown. Hell if they moved downtown I would call them and ask if they still needed any help.

Like I've said, the state is definitely going for that New Jersey feel. No spot of land undeveloped by suburban office parks or McMansion housing. blah.

[mr2448]

That's pretty irritating. I interviewed at Davol and the operations in Cranston are largely clerical and engineering. They have a very limited prototype production facility. In other words, they could easily occupy an urban building. And knowing the salary they offered me at the time (3 years ago), I can only imagine that you would be talking about a hefty number of upper middle class office workers adding to downtown. Hell if they moved downtown I would call them and ask if they still needed any help.

Like I've said, the state is definitely going for that New Jersey feel. No spot of land undeveloped by suburban office parks or McMansion housing. blah.

Their present location has become mainly a mixture of retail and small office space. They are the goliath in that area. A new building showcasing them along I-95 is a good call on their part. That location next to the hotel was rumored to be just about anything for the last 30 years. I even heard they were putting back the old gravel pit as I knew it as a kid.

I am curious to know what will happen to the Cranston location, esp. since it is located along a former rail line that would be perfect for light rail.

Mark

[Cotuit]

In addition to dropping the hotel proposal, Carpionato is looking for approvals to exceed the 35-foot building height restriction by 20 feet, said Coates.

55 feet! Heavens! Aren't they afraid there might be a shadow cast on Route 5 or something!?

[Lone Ranger]

That lot is zoned for 35 feet?

This is why I say Warwick is hopeless. If you're not going to zone for a little height on a site like that, then where?

But as Cotuit points out, a blasphemous shadow might be cast upon the pristine brilliance that is the city of Warwick. Can't have that.

[JimmyGreaves]

It's because Providence's commercial property taxes are the third highest in the nation.

[Jerry2]

It's because Providence's commercial property taxes are the third highest in the nation.

Is that a detriment to business growth? You know...I was thinking about that the other day once again for the umpteenth time. RI is always comparing itself to MA when it comes to economic growth in the form of taxes etc. What about the next smallest state in the country? Delaware has only 2 counties and Wilmington is one of the top 5 banking powerhouses in the country. The property taxes are low and many of its towns consistently rank high on quality of life issues. Shouldn't we compare ourselves to somebody our own size? What are they doing differently? Is it smaller government? Discuss.

[yossarian]

Is that a detriment to business growth? You know...I was thinking about that the other day once again for the umpteenth time. RI is always comparing itself to MA when it comes to economic growth in the form of taxes etc. What about the next smallest state in the country? Delaware has only 2 counties and Wilmington is one of the top 5 banking powerhouses in the country. The property taxes are low and many of its towns consistently rank high on quality of life issues. Shouldn't we compare ourselves to somebody our own size? What are they doing differently? Is it smaller government? Discuss.

Delaware has low taxes because it is far and away the most popular state in which to incorporate a business. It imposes a franchise tax on business incorporated in the state which generates substantial revenue for the state government that (I assume) is passed along to the cities and towns. So I don't know if Delaware is a comparsion given its unique status.

[basachs]

Is that a detriment to business growth? You know...I was thinking about that the other day once again for the umpteenth time. RI is always comparing itself to MA when it comes to economic growth in the form of taxes etc. What about the next smallest state in the country? Delaware has only 2 counties and Wilmington is one of the top 5 banking powerhouses in the country. The property taxes are low and many of its towns consistently rank high on quality of life issues. Shouldn't we compare ourselves to somebody our own size? What are they doing differently? Is it smaller government? Discuss.

Just a point, Delaware has three counties: New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. Still one area code though, just like us! 302.

As far as quality of life, that is declining rapidly due to the huge sprawl problem they are letting themselves accept. The beach area is totally sprawlerific. Farms are disappearing at an alarming rate. Similiar to South County.

Wilmington is also dead, dead, dead after 5pm.

Delaware is unique in its approach to taxes and while it is true a lot of businesses are there and/or incorporate there, the urban core of Wilmington is not exactly thriving.

[mental757]

Being a RI company (with LOOONG ties) I just figured the State and city of Providence might have been willing to offer some incentives to move downtown instead of suburbville. Davol could have been a nice peice of one of the proposed office towers going up - which would have certainly helped the financing aspects of that particular project.

[Jerry2]

Just a point, Delaware has three counties: New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. Still one area code though, just like us! 302.

As far as quality of life, that is declining rapidly due to the huge sprawl problem they are letting themselves accept. The beach area is totally sprawlerific. Farms are disappearing at an alarming rate. Similiar to South County.

Wilmington is also dead, dead, dead after 5pm.

Delaware is unique in its approach to taxes and while it is true a lot of businesses are there and/or incorporate there, the urban core of Wilmington is not exactly thriving.

I don't know. I've only been to Wilmington maybe twice, but I found it to be quite charming. It wasn't bustle city, but it seemed like a nice city. I also didn't see the mega-sprawl that you describe. I'm sure it exists as in any state, but Delaware is also very pro-environment.

[basachs]

I don't know. I've only been to Wilmington maybe twice, but I found it to be quite charming. It wasn't bustle city, but it seemed like a nice city. I also didn't see the mega-sprawl that you describe. I'm sure it exists as in any state, but Delaware is also very pro-environment.

Curious as to how you view DE as pro environment?

Wife is from DE and I have been traveling down there for 10 years. I would say you are right back then, but not now.

[yossarian]

Delaware is unique in its approach to taxes and while it is true a lot of businesses are there and/or incorporate there, the urban core of Wilmington is not exactly thriving.

I should have clarified: Well over 50% of the Fortune 500 are incorporated in Delaware (b/c of the states 'flexible' corporate law). This is what allows the state to have its unique tax structure that relies so heavily on franchise taxes (somewhere in the neighborhood of a quarter of all state revenue). However, the state a business incorporates in has no relation to the state where the company is headquartered or even maintains an office. Therefore, it would not come as a surprise if Wilmington is dead after 5 p.m.

[Jerry2]

Curious as to how you view DE as pro environment?

Wife is from DE and I have been traveling down there for 10 years. I would say you are right back then, but not now.

Delaware is teaming up with Maryland to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed which includes much of the state. It is not like here where CT approves legislation for a sprawl-centered theme park right next to the RI border in the last great wilderness expanse from Bo-Wash. See here.

[Sin5Cents]

I am curious to know what will happen to the Cranston location, esp. since it is located along a former rail line that would be perfect for light rail.

Mark

The Cranston "Davol" building is currently 80% rented by Citizens Bank for back-office/information technology operations. Since 1998, Citizens has slowly been renting more and more of the building as Davol has downsized. I would expect that Citizens would simply rent out the remaining 20% and consolidate some other facilities or for future growth.

[mental757]

PBN: "Davol breaks ground on future home in Warwick"

http://www.pbn.com/stories/25335.html

[mental757]

Warwick Beacon:

http://warwickonline.com/warwickonline/ind...2&Itemid=30

[mental757]

PROJO: "Davol cements ties to state"

http://www.projo.com/business/content/BZ_D...RR.27a4a8d.html

render included

[Cotuit]

[Lone Ranger]

Yawn.

[mental757]

http://warwickonline.com/warwickonline/ind...1&Itemid=30

[mental757]

now that our offices are back at the HQ (construction displaced us to EG for a year), I drive by hear everyday and the structural steel for the 2 buildings are close to completion.

There is also another new fairly large building going up in Metro Center visible from the Airport Connector.

I know most people here don't care too much about these - just providing an update.

[mental757]

PROJO: "New digs for Davol, EMC Insurance"

http://www.projo.com/business/content/Q_BZ...T0I.b84915.html

[brick]

So they ended up calling me in recently for an interview for a different job and I got some info on the new building during the process.

They expect to be in there sometime between March and June.

One reason for them being in Warwick instead of moving to Providence is, I suspect, that Carpionato wanted to sprawl out that space and they had this opportunity. Carp. owns their current building and is building the new one. Davol signed a 25 year lease which doesn't mean a ton in terms of whether they are staying. However, Davol is paying for the build-out which I think would mean unless something huge happens Bard will keep Davol in RI for at least the near term (5-10 years). Nothing is ever written in stone though, another company could merge with Bard and change all of those decisions, etc.

I still think it sucks and I even mentioned to one guy that I would be much more eager to work for them if they had an urban location. Being a true RI'er, he thought I was crazy (who wants to deal with parking in Providence!!!!!!, etc.). I think this is a notion probably shared by many of the employees. For such a densely populated area, people sure are anti-urban.

[mental757]

PBN: "New office space filling in Warwick"

http://www.pbn.com/private/371f5bb6b8.html

"The larger office building is being constructed for medical-technology company Davol Inc., which last May decided to have Carpionato build it a new headquarters and signed a 20-year lease.

Davol, one of the state