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Reservoir Triangle Stop and Shop


jencoleslaw

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according to an article in today's journal, the Adelaide ave stop and shop is closing, no reason given.

http://www.projo.com/business/content/proj...26.3bbfb8f.html

this is crazy! this store got 1.3 million in tax breaks to open and now it is closing after 3 years? This is why we should demand performance bonds on big box retail like this. That store will probably be empty or raised for some other big box retail now. ggrrrr. this makes me so mad! This is one of the ONLY walkable grocery stores in Providence!!

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according to an article in today's journal, the Adelaide ave stop and shop is closing, no reason given.

http://www.projo.com/business/content/proj...26.3bbfb8f.html

this is crazy! this store got 1.3 million in tax breaks to open and now it is closing after 3 years? This is why we should demand performance bonds on big box retail like this. That store will probably be empty or raised for some other big box retail now. ggrrrr. this makes me so mad! This is one of the ONLY walkable grocery stores in Providence!!

...the problem is, not enough people walked to it, drove to it, or even took the bus to it. The plaza owners got the tax break, not Stop and Shop. The store was a flop with regards to sales and had the lowest weekly sales in the entire division. It also had the one of the highest rate of shrinkage (retail term for lost or stolen items) in RI.

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...the problem is, not enough people walked to it, drove to it, or even took the bus to it. The plaza owners got the tax break, not Stop and Shop. The store was a flop with regards to sales and had the lowest weekly sales in the entire division. It also had the one of the highest rate of shrinkage (retail term for lost or stolen items) in RI.

really? where did you get that info? That's very interesting. I shopped there a lot, and found it to be a pretty good store. But yes, the developer got the tax break but that's why we can charge developers a performance bond, especially if they get tax breaks. Will they have to pay it back? I will have to ask Thom that.

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I say we convert the box to artist studio space, build affordable housing behind the box, and have athletic fields along the banks of the reservoir.

well, the problem with that is behind the box is a very polluted pond. It would be better to just put stuff in front of the box as it has already been capped. However, i doubt the developers will do anything creative with the space, although it sure would have made a good new high school so that we wouldn't have a build a brand freaking new one right next door.

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One of the saddest parts of this is that the Gorham silver complex was torn down to make way for this development.

Assuming that the envirnonmental issues could have been resolved, that would have been a fabulous adaptive reuse project. But that was before Eagle Square when the Cianci administration was all in favor of taking down abandoned mills.

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well, the problem with that is behind the box is a very polluted pond. It would be better to just put stuff in front of the box as it has already been capped.

Let's just build a bunch of art studio boxes to go with it then. Could you image what some good graphic people could do to the outside of a collection of big boxes?

However, i doubt the developers will do anything creative with the space

Screw the developer, you take tax breaks then shut down three years later you're getting eminent domained.

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Is this the one with the Popeye's at the entrance?

If so then I have to say that this plaza is an abomination. It's set WAAAAAAY too far back. This is a neighborhood where a lot of people walk or take the bus and you set the building about three hundred yards or so in? Who ever okayed this should have been slapped in the face. I'm glad it's closing. There's another supermarket about half a mile away on Broad street........and the door is five feet from the sidewalk so it compensates.

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Is this the one with the Popeye's at the entrance?

If so then I have to say that this plaza is an abomination. It's set WAAAAAAY too far back. This is a neighborhood where a lot of people walk or take the bus and you set the building about three hundred yards or so in? Who ever okayed this should have been slapped in the face. I'm glad it's closing. There's another supermarket about half a mile away on Broad street........and the door is five feet from the sidewalk so it compensates.

that would be the CPC of old, i suspect...

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One of the saddest parts of this is that the Gorham silver complex was torn down to make way for this development.

Assuming that the envirnonmental issues could have been resolved, that would have been a fabulous adaptive reuse project. But that was before Eagle Square when the Cianci administration was all in favor of taking down abandoned mills.

A few of those who made the decision to tear the Gorham complex down are important members of the current Administration. The effort to save the Gorham complex was wide ranging, including Preservation folks, artists, environmentalists and neighborhood residents. Ultimately the effort failed due to poor timing (no Struever around, no State Tax Credits...) and a distinct lack of vision on the part of the decision makers.

Now we are left with a inert shopping plaza which is barely accessable by foot, in one of the most densely populated parts of the City. I think the Providence Redevelopment Agency still owns the land, which was leased to the developer. Maybe that presents some opportunity...

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This whole deal is just another reason why amending Providence's Comprehensive Plan is so important.

Developers are going to do what they can do to make money - that's it, that's the ballgame. As soon as they don't think they can make anymore money, they skip out on the development and let the community deal with it. Those big empty boxes are everywhere - Warwick, Cranston, Coventry....that friggin' Anderson Little on North Main St. The developers don't have any connection to the neighborhood so they leave a boarded up two acre building with a weed-filled four-acre parking lot.

By amending the comprehensive plan, we can prohibit developers from even starting these kinds of developments in the first place. And we can limit the number of uses in any given zone (is there really a need for a Brooks and two CVS's within one-half square mile of each other?). And require the exteriors of developments to fit in with the neighborhood schematic (i.e., storefronts fronting the street, parking in back or on-street, required awnings, etc.).

Sure, some developers will hate Providence, but it's not like we're not going to have any more developments - we have too great a population density.

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MichaelQ, i believe in a lot what you say, but i don't think the comp plan will be where we can say "we have enough drug stores on this street, so no, brooks, you can't move in." I am not sure we can set quotas in the comp plan. I think the key is to make the zoning ordinance so strict that it won't matter what the hell developers build--it will be built to the street with no parking etc etc etc. In chicago, developers stick to the zoning ordinance, which is quite strict and they don't give out ordinances. ever. I think THAT is key.

The city most certainly has the ability in one way or another to force the developer to post a bond on these big projects, and yet, even with tax giveaways and practically free land from the PRA, it doesn't happen. And frankly, that's embarassing. its no surprise that developers come here, tear down buildings without a demo permit, and play fast and loose with the zoning without any fear of reprisals.

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MichaelQ, i believe in a lot what you say, but i don't think the comp plan will be where we can say "we have enough drug stores on this street, so no, brooks, you can't move in." I am not sure we can set quotas in the comp plan. I think the key is to make the zoning ordinance so strict that it won't matter what the hell developers build--it will be built to the street with no parking etc etc etc. In chicago, developers stick to the zoning ordinance, which is quite strict and they don't give out ordinances. ever. I think THAT is key.

The city most certainly has the ability in one way or another to force the developer to post a bond on these big projects, and yet, even with tax giveaways and practically free land from the PRA, it doesn't happen. And frankly, that's embarassing. its no surprise that developers come here, tear down buildings without a demo permit, and play fast and loose with the zoning without any fear of reprisals.

Totally. I get so aggravated with the city thinking that they NEED to give the sink away to foster development. I just don't buy that.

And I definitely could be wrong, but I thought that the local zoning ordinances can limit the number of specific uses in any given area (Jesus, and I just took Land Use Planning a year ago. How do I not remember this?). As long as the zoning is in furtherance of the spirit of the comprehensive plan, I think you can pretty much do anything. If a developer wants a variance, we spell out exactly what it needs to do to get it, and ONLY then do you give it. You're right - it's just gotta be strict.

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What's up with Stop & Shop anyway, anyone know? There was talk in the other thread that they may be being sold, or their parent is trying to unload them.

my late step-father used to tell us a really bad joke...

"did you hear that stop and shop is going to merge with A&P? they're gonna call it stop and P." :rolleyes:

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Totally. I get so aggravated with the city thinking that they NEED to give the sink away to foster development. I just don't buy that.

Right on. this is a pet peeve of mine as well. I'd like to see an accounting that shows how these kinds of give-aways do and do not pay-off in the long-run. The high falutin' developers who build the condos and the big-boxes will come regardless. Maybe if we didn't give them a hand-out, it'd force them to go forward only with more viable plans (not an s&p that closes in 3 years!) since their financial risks wouldn't be cusioned by providence corporate welfare.

If the city is going to hand out tax incentives to developers, why not put them towards local businesses, low-income housing, schools, libraries, roads without potholes... let the big developers use more of their own money and show a little more committment to their projects.

as for the closest supermarket? my guess is it's the pricerite on manton.

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What is the next closest big grocery store to this location? Aside from bodegas and the smaller stores in Southside, where do people on Southside buy thier groceries?

That's the thing.You're talking about an area that is overwhelmingly Hispanic and poor. If they can buy 8 platanos for a dollar @ Compare market on Broad or Price Rite over the line in Cranston than the 4 for a dollar @ Stop & Shop, where do you think they're going to go? There's a reason mainstream big businesses don't do well in this area when there are many smaller businesses that cater to the demographic......and you know Cranston shoppers aren't crossing the line into Pvd to do their grocery shopping...If you're total household income was 20K with kids, every penny spent counts.

It's a shame that this is closing. Despite the fact that it is in a horrible location, I think only stores that can offer prices that cater to the poor Hispanic low income residents will survive here. Hey, maybe Wal-Mart will open a 2nd location in the city. It would thrive there. Maybe it would put the Post Road and the Cranston one out of business because all you see are Pvd people there.

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The Cranston Street Parkade would be my guess...

The closest mainstream grocery store is indeed the Stop and Shop at the brewery in Cranston. Compare Market on Broad Street is actually pretty good, and very busy.

I would bet five bucks this will become a Home Depot. And it will definitely stay big box, unfortunately. I see very little chance of it becoming anything else, considering the developer and the environmental condition of the land...

In that case, I think the best possible scenario would be a Target, which would do bang up business there...

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