Jump to content

PAWTUCKET STATION THREATENED


Recommended Posts

Let's keep in prospective the reason why the neighbors who live in the depot area don't want to see the project completed. Currently these residents live in conditions rife with drugs, prostitution, and gang activity. Should the Depot project be completed, property values in the neighborhood would sharply increase. The multi-unit buildings that are currently rat and roach infested on Montgomery St. will be converted to condominiums, the old victorian style houses on Nickerson St. would be scooped up by developers and rebuilt and sold to young middle class yuppies who commute to and from Boston. Not only would the drugs, crime and prostitution be pushed out of this area, so would the current residents of the Barton St. area. Affordable housing is at a minimum now. These people know that these improvements will not benefit them.

Racepicks - welcome to the UP forum! Please continue to be a regular contributor here.

On topic - if the residents nearby to the Depot live in a crime and rat-infested area with drugs, then a station WILL benefit them. They will have more choices in obtaining a higher-paying job in the Boston or Providence metro areas while not worrying about transportation costs; the monthly fee for a T-pass is less than they would be paying for fuel and maintenance costs for an automobile if they drove to the same job.

The Barton/Weeden St. area would experience a a re-vitalization. Thinking ahead, they could purchase housing in this area now IF the station was to go in, and then watch their equity go up and up.

Doing nothing will NOT benefit the people in this area. It was the short-sighted nature of several administrations that caused the situation to be like this in the first place. And I should know - I used to live there - on Jenks Ave. in Central Falls.

Now... I'm thinking about starting a Boycott CVS myspace page.. anyone think this is a good idea? contributions?

I've been doing that since I quit that rotten corporation 10 years ago... <_<

Edited by MikeR
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 416
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

No, but vitali voted against the motion for a continuance would may have given them the 5th vote since there was one member absent. Vitali technically recused himself from the vote (hence the 4-3 initial count)

i wrote an email that i sent to all the council members. the only response i received was from the one who was absent. and in his response, he agrees that the building should be saved, but eminent domain is not the way to go about doing it. so no, there wouldn't be a 5th vote.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i wrote an email that i sent to all the council members. the only response i received was from the one who was absent. and in his response, he agrees that the building should be saved, but eminent domain is not the way to go about doing it. so no, there wouldn't be a 5th vote.

How does the Pawtucket City Council work, are they at large or does this 5th vote represent a ward? And if he represents a ward, where is that ward and are there people in that ward who will lobby him on this? He should respond better to the people who actually live in his ward. If they say they want a train station, they want access to jobs in Boston that will allow for them. They want a more urban, less drive-thru city...

And I'm not asking Jim specifically because I assume he doesn't know, just quoting his info.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what blows my mind is why wouldn't PAW/CF work on an incentive laden package with the developer, CVS, other retail/food venders, the DOT and the MBTA on a facility that would have provided all of the desired elements.

Tax breaks for the developer to ease the risk of taking on the entire project. The developer could have been given a % of parking revenue for any CR parking lot or small garage. The developer would also keep most of the leased space revenues from CVS and any food vendors as part of the train facility.

CVS could have built a unique intigrated pharmacy/convenient store as part of a new (or rehabbed) train station and shown community involvement/partnership in providing said venue as part of a much needed transportation improvement project.

The community gets jobs, CR service in both directions (lets not forget that the trains will be eventually be going all the way to Westerly in years to come, including TF Green Airport), economic development, community development, improved infrastructure and value, and pratical amenities...

talk about a win-win-win!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

what blows my mind is why wouldn't PAW/CF work on an incentive laden package with the developer, CVS, other retail/food venders, the DOT and the MBTA on a facility that would have provided all of the desired elements.

Answer #1: Time and money. I think Seelbinder figured this as an easy-in/easy-out development opportunity. By some land at a discount from a near dead mother of a city councillor, do the demo work, get a lease with CVS, build a strip mall. My guess is that his near-term plan is to then sell the developed strip mall to a local property management group. In and out in 2-3 years with a hefty profit. Having to wait for CR development, etc., means that taking into account the time value of money, he might make the same profit but over a 6-8 year span.

The bigger question is why the city didn't acquire the property at the hugely discounted rate it was sold for two years ago. Getting a CVS to develop in an area where there is a brand new Walgreen's has been built is about as hard as falling in the ocean from the gangplank.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Throwing out a vote still won't get them to the 5 yeses they needed though will it?

throwing out the vote on the seperation of the properties will nullify the vote for eminent domain, which means it can come back in January AFTER the new city councilors come in. Those councilors MAY be more in favor of the eminent domain issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Answer #1: Time and money. I think Seelbinder figured this as an easy-in/easy-out development opportunity. By some land at a discount from a near dead mother of a city councillor, do the demo work, get a lease with CVS, build a strip mall. My guess is that his near-term plan is to then sell the developed strip mall to a local property management group. In and out in 2-3 years with a hefty profit. Having to wait for CR development, etc., means that taking into account the time value of money, he might make the same profit but over a 6-8 year span.

The station could be developed now with the ancillary retail in anticipation of the funding for the track work which will be required to actually open the depot to commuters. The redeveloped station could be used as rentable function space in the interim or some other temporary use with a CVS a dry cleaners, what-have-you, in a liner building on site, generating income until such time as the depot is ready to open. You could even build the parking garage and use it as satellite parking for the South Attleboro station running a shuttle out there. Certainly there are people in the Pawtucket/CF/Lincoln/Cumberland area who would rather not fight the traffic at South Attleboro every day.

There's a way to get your return on investment even before the depot is ready to open if you're willing to be creative. And there's all the historic tax benefits that would go along with it.

And as for the drive-thru, the open space there is huge, there's no reason they need to tear anything down to have a drive-thru, that's just stupid. Not that I'd want to see a drive-thru.

throwing out the vote on the seperation of the properties will nullify the vote for eminent domain, which means it can come back in January AFTER the new city councilors come in. Those councilors MAY be more in favor of the eminent domain issue.

Ah that makes sense. But how do they hold off demolition until January. They are going to have to get a judge to rule the demo is illegal and extend the injunction until January?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a way to get your return on investment even before the depot is ready to open if you're willing to be creative. And there's all the historic tax benefits that would go along with it.

That's what I think, but apparently when you look at traffic flow, if you want to fit a 14,000 s.f. CVS, all of the parking, and a drive thru to whatever drive-thru standards are, the front facade has to go. This is with the CVS being built as a separate (new) structure on the corner of the lot bounded by Broad St. and Clay St. I am having trouble figuring out why the facade needs to go to make this happen, but I've only seen the renders, not the site plan.

How did Providence get the CVS in Hope Village to give up their drive-thru? I can't even imagine how hard they had to work for that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah that makes sense. But how do they hold off demolition until January. They are going to have to get a judge to rule the demo is illegal and extend the injunction until January?

i think there's still the question on the legality of the demo since the building straddles the city line. someone mentioned the possibility of a need for a permit from both cities before they can begin demo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its official. Central Falls mayor a jackass.

This story is so full of holes and its slanted against the so called "crusaders" that want to restore the building.

C.F. mayor: Can't restore train station

This is about the most poorly reported article I have ever seen. Central Falls needs to be given to Massachusetts or absorbed by The Bucket or Lincoln...

Also, apparantly, the Central Falls City Council has submitted a letter that they will go along with eminent domain proceedings if the Pawtucket council passes it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is about the most poorly reported article I have ever seen. Central Falls needs to be given to Massachusetts or absorbed by The Bucket or Lincoln...

Absorption by Pawtucket would do fine, thanks.

Also, apparantly, the Central Falls City Council has submitted a letter that they will go along with eminent domain proceedings if the Pawtucket council passes it.

That's something, anyway. Now, while the legal issues sort themselves out, if only we can keep Seelbinder from fudgeing up the building any more than he already has ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How is it not a complete outrage that Central Falls made the decision to tear down part of a structure which sits for the most part on land which they have no jurisdiction over without communicating at all with Pawtucket or the passenger rail line operator. Big safety violation by the contractor, and whoever executed the demolision permit. Interesting that the issue hasn't really been in the news.

The station proposal has been in all the papers this last year, of course Central Falls City Hall knew what was going on. It was time to set the plan in motion or nobody was gonna see any of that money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How is it not a complete outrage that Central Falls made the decision to tear down part of a structure which sits for the most part on land which they have no jurisdiction over without communicating at all with Pawtucket or the passenger rail line operator. Big safety violation by the contractor, and whoever executed the demolision permit. Interesting that the issue hasn't really been in the news.

The station proposal has been in all the papers this last year, of course Central Falls City Hall knew what was going on. It was time to set the plan in motion or nobody was gonna see any of that money.

it's actually mostly in central falls. i think the articles and news stories i saw said something like 1/3 in pawtucket and the rest in central falls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How did Providence get the CVS in Hope Village to give up their drive-thru? I can't even imagine how hard they had to work for that.

That CVS was built before they had drive through pharmacies. The last movie I remember seeing in the theatre that used to be there was The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time, which came out in 82, so I'm assuming that store was built in the 83-84 range.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That CVS was built before they had drive through pharmacies. The last movie I remember seeing in the theatre that used to be there was The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time, which came out in 82, so I'm assuming that store was built in the 83-84 range.

Your a local? :) The Hope Cinema, right? :thumbsup: Talk about your wide screen cinemas. :thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.