PROPOSED: OneEleven Fountain (Fogarty Bldg.)

[Frankie811]

And there is another hotel development rumor floating around. I've heard some folks mention that one section of the newly redeveloped Foundry mill complex (Brown and Sharpe) will be a boutique hotel instead of more condos... the section closest to the highway, across from the mall. Maybe the developer saw the need for hotel rooms and decided to diversify the building with long term and short term housing.

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As far as the overhead rail system is concerned, Mayor Cianci did proposed just that back in the '90s.

[ArtInRuins]

As far as the overhead rail system is concerned, Mayor Cianci did proposed just that back in the '90s.

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Cianci also proposed revisitng the early, early city plan (forgot the name) and creating a green way (think Blackstone Blvd) from downtown connecting all the way to Roger Williams park, and making a bridge extension between Atwells and Broadway for another park. So there have been a lot of good ideas floated, it just seems that we (the people) tend to get the less inspired ones.

[Cotuit]

As far as the overhead rail system is concerned, Mayor Cianci did proposed just that back in the '90s.

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I've seen a map of a Providence people-mover pod system out on the internets somewhere. I don't have the energy to search for it now.

[AriPVD]

Cotuit, if you find that map, please let me know. I could really use it for my thesis. Thanks!

[pdxstreetcar]

I'd love to see the map too. I tried searching the internet but didnt really know what to search for.

Was there ever the slightest chance of it being built?

[KRC]

Skywalks and bridges are important according to convention and meeting experts. Apparently convention planners prefer to have their attendees in hotels attached to a convention center. This is a plus for Providence.

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I agree that this can be a plus for Providence, no doubt. However, I worry about that to another degree. I think the skybridge between the Westin and Providence Place is great. It spans a space that is otherwise difficult to navigate on foot. Both ends of the bridge are destinations and the connection works well. It goes a long way to connecting Providence Place with the convention center and downcity.

However, I do worry about one aspect of skybridges. They work in Minneapolis where having them is just a plain necessity of life in January. A closer comparison for us would be Hartford, Connecticut. The civic center there went up along with skybridges gallor around almost every main exit/entry point to the surrounding area. It slowly drained the street life in that section of downtown Hartford. Granted, Hartford did have other issues at the time, such as Constitution Plaza and other urban renewal projects of the 1960's and 70's. But my point here is that the skybridges served as a conduit for activity off city streets. That's not good. Hartford is demolishing a few of their skybridges. I just question the need for one here when the street in question is relatively small. We need to direct activity onto the streets and then provide those individuals with reasons to be there as much as possible. I think better pedestrian crossings would be money better spend rather than a skybridge.

Then again, the market rules and I'm sure having larger conventions factors more heavily than this one issue.

[pdxstreetcar]

I saw the Unbuilt Providence exhibit at Brown last year and it appears that downtown Providence would have had a many skybridges under that plan, plus downtown would have been so awful too had the proposal gone thru. Kennedy Plaza, Burnside Park & Union Station would have been leveled and replaced with a large plaza surrounded by crappy bland 60s modern towers.

[Frankie811]

I saw the Unbuilt Providence exhibit at Brown last year and it appears that downtown Providence would have had a many skybridges under that plan, plus downtown would have been so awful too had the proposal gone thru.  Kennedy Plaza, Burnside Park & Union Station would have been leveled and replaced with a large plaza surrounded by crappy bland 60s modern towers.

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Is there another hotel on the way folks? Read all about it in Monday's Providence Business News. And of all places, on Allens Ave. The developer is Patrick Connely, whom I sure many of us may know. Just a possibility. For those few here who may feel that we have too many hotels in the works I say build more. Does Providence have more rooms than any other city in RI? NO!!!!!!!!!! We are 3rd. Newport is 1st, Warwick 2nd. I could never understand why over the last 7yrs the hotel projects proposed for those cities and others could get financing, but almost none of the Providence hotel plans could. Things that make you go Hmmmmmmm

[ArtInRuins]

As an intersting side note, Conley just redid the old Dunlop Tire building and a group called PCIS is subleasing it as artists WORK-ONLY space and non-profit office space. $6.00 a square foot. Could this be the beginning of an Allens Ave revival? Maybe Cheaters will be forced to move, and other forces (local developer and city) have been slowly putting pressure on the asphault plant to move out too. The Atlas warehouse buildings are ripe for redevelopment... and hell, all that land IS waterfront. There will be some new parcels up for grabs once the 195 project is done, even though the hospital will quickly snatch some of those up.

[Cotuit]

I saw the Unbuilt Providence exhibit at Brown last year and it appears that downtown Providence would have had a many skybridges under that plan, plus downtown would have been so awful too had the proposal gone thru.  Kennedy Plaza, Burnside Park & Union Station would have been leveled and replaced with a large plaza surrounded by crappy bland 60s modern towers.

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[AriPVD]

Cotuit, not to bother, but have you found that proposed lightrail map?

[Cotuit]

Cotuit, if you find that map, please let me know.

[pdxstreetcar]

Eek!!!!!

[KRC]

Eek!!!!!

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[Cotuit]

Mesolella revives hotel

BY GREGORY SMITH Journal Staff Writer | March 15, 2005

PROVIDENCE -- Developer Vincent J. Mesolella Jr. and the city have reached agreement on his longstanding proposal to acquire and raze the vacant Fogarty Building and build a hotel.

The Providence Redevelopment Agency last week approved the agreement to sell the agency-owned site to Mesolella for $2.8 million so the developer can build a 250-room all-suites hotel across the street from the Rhode Island Convention Center.

Mesolella, a former Democratic power in the General Assembly, is rebounding from his failure to win millions of dollars in state financial assistance for the project, having been foiled by two successive Republican governors.

Waiting in the wings to help Mesolella rebound is the man who suddenly has become Rhode Island's most widely known hotelier, James Procaccianti. Procaccianti told city officials and state legislators that he has offered to help bankroll Mesolella's hotel.

...

Under the terms of Mesolella's agreement with the Redevelopment Agency, he would be obliged to move quickly, consummating a purchase by June 30 and commencing construction within 120 days of the closing. He would be required to complete the project within two years of beginning construction.

HIS PLAN closely resembles what was on the table in negotiations with state government last summer: a 13-story hotel between Sabin and Fountain streets with a full-service restaurant containing about 150 seats, a light-fare pub with about 75 seats, meeting rooms, a small ballroom, an indoor swimming pool, a fitness center and one level of underground parking.

Mesolella would like to have the hotel connected to the Convention Center by a pedestrian bridge to be built at state expense, to have parking spaces set aside in the Convention Center garage for hotel guests, and to book rooms for convention-goers -- all as originally proposed to the state.

He said the Convention Center Authority needs the bridge for business reasons more than he does. Convention and meeting sponsors prefer to book convention centers that have hotels under the same roof as their meeting place.

...

Mesolella had been pressing to build an Embassy Suites hotel for about $52 million, but he said that with inflation, the cost could rise to $57 million to $60 million. Embassy Suites remains interested in his project, but if he cannot secure its flag, he will line up another all-suites name, he said.

...

The state, the city and hoteliers would prosper together by achieving a critical mass of hotel rooms that would boost business at the Convention Center, especially helping to attract larger conventions that are more profitable for the authority and fill more hotel rooms, according to Mesolella, Deller and other officials.

Mesolella called it the concept of "induced demand." Hotels can prosper by clustering together just as fast-food restaurants and automotive service stations attract more customers by clustering together than they would if they were widely separated, he said.

The hotel he plans would offer accommodations at a lower price than the Westin, he said, with an average daily rate of about $179. For that price, a couple or a small family could occupy a suite and have a full breakfast and afternoon cocktails, too.

...

Continue reading at: ProJo.com

Read more about Mesolella's attempts to build a hotel at this site here.

[Mij]

hmmmm.... it seems like all the hotels that are going up are trying to serve to a different type of need. While it seems like the Procaccianti group is trying to serveice the need for more rooms for conventions, the Mesolella campaign will try to run with the coat tails of Procaccianti power block. And why not? This could quickly become the mid-town manhatten of providence. I look forward to seeing the Mesolella v. Providence issue work it self out. After reading in the projo that there are deadlines nearing, it will be intresting to see if the other rfp that could come in..... with that thought, i would not be surprised to the Procaccianti "Power Block" crab another slice of that area.... to be continued.....

[Cotuit]

This all-suites proposal is the kind of rooms that GTECH was looking to build when it proposed a hotel at the Union Station Complex. Mesolella could try to shake some financing out of them.

[Mij]

This all-suites proposal is the kind of rooms that GTECH was looking to build when it proposed a hotel at the Union Station Complex. Mesolella could try to shake some financing out of them.

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Is it me or does the Mesolella redering in todays projo look like a better fit in the Union Station Complex?

[BBascule]

Providence is becoming the city of hotels and skybridges.

...not a big fan of skybridges. I hope Providence doesn't become a Habitrail city. In my opinion, the charm of the city is best experienced in its streetscapes.

It's like conceding that the streets are too dangerous for pedestrians. Why not just make the streets safer for bicyclists and walkers?

[Soren]

...not a big fan of skybridges. I hope Providence doesn't become a Habitrail city. In my opinion, the charm of the city is best experienced in its streetscapes.

It's like conceding that the streets are too dangerous for pedestrians. Why not just make the streets safer for bicyclists and walkers?

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I agree, except in this case, where large numbers of convention goers are directly across a well-trafficked street from the convention center. For both safety, and convenience in bad weather, I think this is not a bad idea.

I do hope that any skybridges connecting to the convention center are deemed "public ways" and open to everyone. I know the Westin ran into problems when it tried to block the general public from using the skybridge (and rightly so).

[Cotuit]

Is it me or does the Mesolella redering in todays projo look like a better fit in the Union Station Complex?

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Is that in the print edition? I don't see a rendering online, if you do could you post a link?

[Cotuit]

...not a big fan of skybridges. I hope Providence doesn't become a Habitrail city. In my opinion, the charm of the city is best experienced in its streetscapes.

It's like conceding that the streets are too dangerous for pedestrians. Why not just make the streets safer for bicyclists and walkers?

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I'm not a huge fan of them either, but I think there is enough in Providence to entice the conventioneers out of their climate controlled comfort. The realities of the convention market is that people want this. As retail picks up Downcity, the conventioneers will certainly be attracted to it. They are also going to leave the skybridges to attend shows at PPAC and Trinity, dine on Federal Hill, shop on the East Side... If we force people out into the snow and through puddles and rain, we'll lose their business.

And with the winter we've had, I wouldn't mind being able to walk from the Holiday Inn to the State House without going outside.

The city does have to make the streetscape safer for pedestrians and cyclists though, no doubt.

By the way, welcome to UP!

[Cotuit]

Is that in the print edition? I don't see a rendering online, if you do could you post a link?

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I went next store and stole the front page of the Journal. I'll scan it tonight. The building looks too horizontal. I like the brick, the "Power Block" is actually going to need some brick, it's one part of the city we're we don't have much of it.

I can say one thing, I can't wait to take some pictures of the Fogarty Buidling coming down!

[Garris]

Is that in the print edition? I don't see a rendering online, if you do could you post a link?

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It is in the print edition, on the bottom of the cover, actually. I have to say, it's pretty unimpressive. It could be in any city, or any suburban office park for that matter. Disappointing... I was initially worried reading the article that it was going to be a long-stay suite establishment. Has anyone ever seen one of those places be of any architectural interest at all? At least we'll have the new Westin tower to fawn over...

- Garris

[Mij]

Is that in the print edition? I don't see a rendering online, if you do could you post a link?

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yes on the front page, or a7