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COMPLETE: Hilton Downtown Providence


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The thought occurs to me that we might be able to use the side facing 95 to determine the likelihood of the tower being built anytime soon.  I don't imagine they'd waste money detailing that facade if they're expecting to tear it up a year or two later to attach the tower.

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Oh I don't think they'd leave the west facade un or underdone regardless of how soon they were planning the new tower. It's a Hilton, it can't really have a bad facade, it's clientele wouldn't like that. And they are already working on the west facade. Even if they are only planning to wait 18 months before moving on the tower, I think the west facade will get similar treatment to the east (except no new windows).

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  • 3 weeks later...

Out of curiosity...If the condo market does get over-saturated....is there a possibility of the tower becoming more hotel rooms?

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They aren't building the new tower right now. They likely won't unless they see the condo market allowing it. Based on current proposals there isn't a need for more rooms at this time.

I would imagine they could decide to build a new tower with more hotel rooms if something like Parcel 12 fails to happen. But really, I think there are enough hotel proposals, solid and nebulous, that they won't be jumping into adding more rooms anytime soon. The best hope for a new tower is in condos.

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  • 1 month later...

The first piece of the new facade went up on the Dunk side today. It was dark when I was walking home and saw it, so I can't really give an impression of it.

One thing I hadn't realized from the renderings is that they are making the windows smaller. Currently the windows run in a horizontal band across the front and back of the building. The smaller windows will give the building a more vertical orientation, making it look taller.

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A little before and after action:

HolidayHilton.jpg

You can really see how it goes from a horizontal to a vertical building. The different treatment in the center section also splits the building into thirds taking away more of the horizontalness. Me like!

Also check out this Providence Gallery I stumbled upon (looks like a Brown student's site). Scroll to the bottom set to see the views from the Dunk side. Nice view of Downcity!

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A little before and after action:

You know, I always thought the renovation images made the building look smaller... I'm surprised other have felt differently...

Also check out this Providence Gallery I stumbled upon (looks like a Brown student's site). Scroll to the bottom set to see the views from the Dunk side. Nice view of Downcity!

Yup, that's a view we don't often see... I really, really hate that Blue Cross/Blue Shield Building, perhaps more than any other downtown... It just is too suburban office park, too squat, and waaaay too short for that site. I'll take three G-Techs over that building...

- Garris

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I was downtown for lunch and looking at the new facade today. It's going to be really interesting. Seeing it in person definitely makes me think the building is going to look smaller as a result. It's really what they do to the North and South sides than the West/East facades that I think will really change the overall impact of the building.

- Garris

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Check out this pic of the roof of the Dunk as seen from the Holiday Inn.

I think someone mentioned this elsewhere earlier, and I think I poopooed it as too much of an engineering challenge, but... Imagine if there were public parkland on top of the Dunk? I still think the current engineering of the building couldn't handle it, but if a new flat roof were put on. A thin layer of soil for strategically placed lawns, some basketball courts or something...

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  • 3 weeks later...

That's funny, when I was in the Holiday Inn taking measurements for the renovations, I was thinking the exact same thing. I spent a little too much time looking out of the top floors-great views. What a place for a public park though, I bet that would bring about some press coverage for the city.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Procaccianti Group has updated their Hilton page, including replacing the tower rendering with the facade upgrades rendering:

hiltonrendering.jpg

The transition and renovation to a Hilton is scheduled to be complete in "early '06" and will include a Starbucks. Details are fuzzy on when this will happen, but they seem to still be planning to build a ballroom over Aborn Street between the Hilton and the Dunk, which should allow them to connect to the Dunk.

It says work on replacing the parking garage and building the residential tower and additional rooms above will commence "after the the transfer to the Hitlon is complete" and take 18-24 months.

So it seems they're sticking to their previously announced schedule. One would imagine they'd want to get to work on the garage pretty quick, since the current one is woefully inadequate, and an eyesore for the clientele the Hilton would try to draw.

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wow...this project is getting me almost as excited as the grant's block project! :yahoo:

ok im trying to figure out how many potential floors this new tower could have...

148 residential units....

no more than 10 to a floor

equals....around 15 (im rounding up) floors

+ a parking strucutre (not sure if this is going to be underground or in the building..

= WOW (any guesses as to how many floors this baby might be?

also, will the tower unit still be located in the circular parking lot across the street from the current Holiday Inn Hotel?

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It was previously said the tower would be 330feet, which is one foot taller than the existing Westin Tower for comparisons sake. The Hilton Tower is on land at a higher elevation than the Westin Tower though, so it has the potential to make a much great impact.

The tower would be above the existing parking garage which is immediately to the left (as looking at the front) of the existing hotel.

The "gas station" site is a totally seperate proposal, which unfortunately, seems to be on hold for the time being. Rumour has it, The Procaccianti Group will be involved in the redevelopment of the old Public Safety Complex site, which may have two towers.

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the westin site claimed that the current westin was just 300 feet.. or was it the news?

There seems to be some question about the height of a lot of buildings. If I get you a tape measure, will you measure it for me?

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I noticed briefly as I drove by yesterday that the new facade has started going up on the Atwell's side now. I wasn't able to look long enough to get a sense of how this is going.

What is the opinion of those who see this building frequently so far? Thumbs up or down? It looks like the new facade is more white colored than the cream color in the renders. I don't know if they'll paint it when done, but I don't love the current color...

- Garris

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