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Brown's Jewlery District expansion


marc_ri

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Supposidly they have good Education and Law programs. The curriculum is not hard from people I know who go there. Still from everyone I know the two most challanging schools in RI are Brown and Bryant, and then the specialized programs at URI are hard; ie. Pharmacy.
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interesting. he references UPenn and how it transformed west philly, but penn was already situated in west philly as far as i know (though i could be wrong if they have another campus farther west than their main campus). it makes no sense for brown to go to south providence because it's quite a bit farther from the main campus than the JD. although drexel, in philly, has it's main campus in west philly (just north of penn) and they have their med school and school of public health in center city. those schools run independently of the main campus though (with their own financial aid office, student services office, registration, etc). if brown moved one of their schools to another neighborhood, there wouldn't be as much of an issue, but if they still need a decent connection to the main campus, then the JD makes more sense than south providence.
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I can't disagree with the Mayor on this, it would be nice to see Brown investing in areas south and west of the hospitals. But at the same time, Brown can't really be relied on to build new neighborhoods when they are struggling to build themselves. They're already invested in the JD with several buildings already occupied. It only makes sense for them to continue to concentrate future growth there.
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If you think about this deal from the perspective of the City's administration, which is trying to balance a difficult municipal budget couldn't this transaction be seen as a negative?

Even if you assume that of all the of the spin off benefits which folks have mentioned so far come to fruition, how many of those benefit the City's sources of revenue directly? It seems to me that at least in the short to mid-term the activities which have been mentioned (new jobs, hotel stays, meals out) would primarly generate sales and income tax revenue. Those taxes go to the state. The City relies primarly on property taxes.

If you think in those terms, then the City is loosing (albiet gradually instead of in one fell swoop) tax revenue and in return is getting investment in an area that is already attractive, and likley to be come more so. Hardly ideal. If Brown were buying into an area that is currently unattractive or buidling up vacant or underused land, then the calculus is very different.

None of the above means I am opposed to the deal, just someting I thought was worth considering.

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i would like to see the buildings that brown (and any other non profit) buys stay as a kind of mixed use. a percentage of each building (maybe the first floor) remains public, ie., available for small businesses and offices to rent (paid to brown) and keep that percentage on the tax rolls and brown can take the upper floors for research, offices, dorms, whatever. I think the wholesale buying of properties, especially in bunches in the same neighborhood does nothing to make that area more vital--unless there are spaces for a deli, a dry cleaner, a stationary store, etc. Rather than make the jewelry district into a new brown campus, make brown fit into what is there, and enhance it more "urbanly" does that make sense?

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i would like to see the buildings that brown (and any other non profit) buys stay as a kind of mixed use. a percentage of each building (maybe the first floor) remains public, ie., available for small businesses and offices to rent (paid to brown) and keep that percentage on the tax rolls and brown can take the upper floors for research, offices, dorms, whatever. I think the wholesale buying of properties, especially in bunches in the same neighborhood does nothing to make that area more vital--unless there are spaces for a deli, a dry cleaner, a stationary store, etc. Rather than make the jewelry district into a new brown campus, make brown fit into what is there, and enhance it more "urbanly" does that make sense?
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I totally agree. Brown has to limit the distance between its main campus and its satellites given the realities of course scheduling and the location of the Med School on College Hill, etc. As much as I like Cicilline, I think he's grandstanding on this one.
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i would like to see the buildings that brown (and any other non profit) buys stay as a kind of mixed use. a percentage of each building (maybe the first floor) remains public, ie., available for small businesses and offices to rent (paid to brown) and keep that percentage on the tax rolls and brown can take the upper floors for research, offices, dorms, whatever. I think the wholesale buying of properties, especially in bunches in the same neighborhood does nothing to make that area more vital--unless there are spaces for a deli, a dry cleaner, a stationary store, etc. Rather than make the jewelry district into a new brown campus, make brown fit into what is there, and enhance it more "urbanly" does that make sense?
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Yup, this could certainly be true from the city's perspective.

My reply to the city on this would be, "If you think you've got such a hot, amazing, money-printing potential gem here in the Jewelry District that Brown is snatching up from under you, then how come there's been no coordinated effort to do anything to develop this neighborhood at all in the years that Brown has been telegraphing their moves? At least Brown has a plan... What has the city's been?"

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Yes, I believe so. Thom Deller was explaining this to a group of us at the charrettes. I believe he said that the PILOT policy's 15 year limit is as a result of a state, not a city, law, and any change in that 15 year period will need to happen on the state level.

Many large institutions pay their municipalities a fee in lieu of taxes, including Yale in New Haven.

- Garris

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My reply to the city on this would be, "If you think you've got such a hot, amazing, money-printing potential gem here in the Jewelry District that Brown is snatching up from under you, then how come there's been no coordinated effort to do anything to develop this neighborhood at all in the years that Brown has been telegraphing their moves? At least Brown has a plan... What has the city's been?"

Well, first, the fact that Thayer St runs through Brown and is arguably the city's most vital street, the fact that RISD owns much of S. Main and that's also a hugely vital, and the fact that the retail areas adjacent to most college campuses in many cities are their most happening areas (in New Haven, Burlington, etc) might argue against your point, but I do get the idea you are getting across as it relates to the JD.

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