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ToadScoper OP t1_j80d7bf wrote

The 195 commission has got to be the most delusional entity in the entire state; the commission is absolutely clueless and does not understand the immediate needs or priorities for new Providence developments. Going purely "commercial" is exceedingly misguided and ignores the immediate need for more equitable housing and mixed-use developments that the parcels should have been designated for ten years ago. And yes, you CAN have service industries in mix-use neighborhoods... just look at Boston or any other city...

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PigpenMcKernan t1_j80g98s wrote

Build mixed use on the land, like every freaking study they’ve paid for has recommended.

That said, they should keep the current height and zoning restrictions (also recommended by the studies they’ve paid for) unless there is a compelling reason for an exemption. And axe Fanes stupid tower, he doesn’t have the experience to execute a project of that scale. Give someone who knows what they are doing a shot at that parcel.

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AhChingados t1_j81ercz wrote

I don’t think they are clueless, I think they know exactly what they are doing and for whose benefit

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TheSausageFattener t1_j82bl5h wrote

Mixed use is how this should have been from the start. There’s no good reason why the TJ’s couldnt have been built like that. Its this issue of “better than nothing I guess” that keeps creeping up. Commercial real estate will be good for Downtown Providence, especially the tax base, but the new BankRI HQ probably won’t do much for the state on the aggregate versus say a new corp for the state. The current HQ is already in Lincoln, and I use HQ loosely because they’re actually owned by a Boston-based umbrella corp.

A good strategy would have at least been getting these RI companies out of the more outlying suburbs and into downtown. Amica, Citizens, CVS, and Hasbro are major employers that don’t generate a lot of “spillovers” in their local area.

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