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RUMORED: Citizens Bank Tower (CBT)

billypc99

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billypc99 Whistle-Stop

billypc99

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This is in response to Mij's excellent investigative reporting done today.

Many (me included) have heard chatter about a new the citizens bank tower (CBT) for some time. To date, this the best evidence I have seen put forth on this board. We have been waiting and waiting for an announcement for some time now and I personally thought that it may come after the transition with Mellon was considered stable. Then there has been speculation that they are about to make another major acquistion, which I thought may delay the new CBT. So I have been thinking they were going to go after the new 195 land and that ground-breaking wouldnt commence until atleast 2008.

Where would be the best location for a new tower? One might think next to the current building, but then there were would be limitations on height, etc. Im sure some concessions would easily be made by the DRC, but only so much height will ever be allowed on that site.

What do you think the about the potential for the financial district? Too much congestion, not enough parking?

Perhaps they might plan to work with the DOT for the 195 land so that they can work on getting prime infrastrucure and location such as, on/off ramps, custom streets, etc.

Not sure were to put this, so it
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Frankie811 City

Frankie811

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This is in response to Mij's excellent investigative reporting done today.

Many (me included) have heard chatter about a new the citizens bank tower (CBT) for some time.  To date, this the best evidence I have seen put forth on this board.  We have been waiting and waiting for an announcement for some time now and I personally thought that it may come after the transition with Mellon was considered stable.  Then there has been speculation that they are about to make another major acquistion, which I thought may delay the new CBT.  So I have been thinking they were going to go after the new 195 land and that ground-breaking wouldnt commence until atleast 2008. 

Where would be the best location for a new tower?  One might think next to the current building, but then there were would be limitations on height, etc.  Im sure some concessions would easily be made by the DRC, but only so much height will ever be allowed on that site.

What do you think the about the potential for the financial district?  Too much congestion, not enough parking?

Perhaps they might plan to work with the DOT for the 195 land so that they can work on getting prime infrastrucure and location such as, on/off ramps, custom streets, etc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A spokesman for Citizen's once mentioned a possible waterfront campus, but a new tower downtown wasen't specificly said.

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Baines Hamlet

Baines

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A spokesman for Citizen's once mentioned a possible waterfront campus, but a new tower downtown wasen't specificly said.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"What do you think the about the potential for the financial district? Too much congestion, not enough parking?

Perhaps they might plan to work with the DOT for the 195 land so that they can work on getting prime infrastrucure and location such as, on/off ramps, custom streets, etc."

That is an open question , is it not? Any financial district building would have to be of significant scale for prestige purposes but it may have to move either south or west of the current building. So, the Rt 195 thought would be a bold but logical move. The problem is that it is 2-3 years away, right?

This is a story that warrants investigation.

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Garris Town

Garris

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I'd love to see them at the corner of Fountain and Eddy/Dorrance behind the Washington Street Parkade Garage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm not sure I would want to be there if I were them... For hundreds of workers a day, that area could be a tight fit.

If they are thinking about a "campus," maybe they covet some of the surface parking space along Memorial on the edge of the 195 land, which would give them expansion potential and is likely easier to access traffic-wise.

Again, I don't understand, with all the land adjacent to their current building, why they wouldn't build a second tower there. Are there height or view restrictions there?

- Garris

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mr2448 Whistle-Stop

mr2448

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A spokesman for Citizen's once mentioned a possible waterfront campus, but a new tower downtown wasen't specificly said.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A waterfront campus just to the west of the new 195 bridge would be excellent. What a great view it would provide of the upper bay. And how impressive it would be as you approached the City. It would greatly expand the downtown area and make commuter ferry service more feasible. I think the 2020 plan calls this Narragansett Landing. This area can then be tied into the Downcity area by Light Rail.

The old Citizen Bank building could then become the apartment building as it was depicted in "Doctor,Doctor". Actually I refer it to remain an office building.

Mark

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Mij Whistle-Stop

Mij

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Again, I don't understand, with all the land adjacent to their current building, why they wouldn't build a second tower there.  Are there height or view restrictions there?

- Garris

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Im not 100% positive, but i can say with a 90% gut feeling that it would interupt the Visual link that the East Siders have with the general Down Town Area. Im pretty sure that causes an issuse in city hall....

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Magellan98 Whistle-Stop

Magellan98

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Im not 100% positive, but i can say with a 90% gut feeling that it would interupt the Visual link that the East Siders have with the general Down Town Area. Im pretty sure that causes an issuse in city hall....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If they intend on making a statement with a new building, its going to have to be taller, standing out from what's already in the city and what's coming soon. They can't do that in Capital Center with height restrictions. However, there are plenty of parking lots just south of Westminster that could do the job without having to wait for all of the old I-195 to come down. I think a very smart move would be for Citizens to team up with a developer interested in bringing more condos or hotel rooms into the city. That could make a taller building even more feasible. Perhaps 20 floors of office space and another 10 to 20 of condos or hotel - similar to Bloomberg's new tower in NYC or the venerable Hancock in Chicago. As I'm sure more and more bank executives will be coming to RI from abroad and other states such as PA and OH, this would make sense. Also, I'm sure Larry Fish would love a Penthouse space for when he can't make the long drive back to Chestnut Hill.

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Mij Whistle-Stop

Mij

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I think a very smart move would be for Citizens to team up with a developer interested in bringing more condos or hotel rooms into the city. That could make a taller building even more feasible. Perhaps 20 floors of office space and another 10 to 20 of condos or hotel - similar to Bloomberg's new tower in NYC or the venerable Hancock in Chicago.

This is a very intresting idea, i would hope that some of the brains in and around the city would have thought to at least pitch this... Along with this where would you propose they would build, witch parking lot per say...?

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Magellan98 Whistle-Stop

Magellan98

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Did anyone notice the article in Sunday's print Projo discussing Citizen's need for more space. The article was focusing on a recognition gathering where employees came to HQ from all over the the country. Apparently the space in HQ is no longer big enough for the meeting, given all of the recent acquisitions. Larry Fish, quipped that they'd need to find a bigger space next year. I'm probably reading more into this than is warranted but it sounds like foreshadowing of a new building announcement....

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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I'm probably reading more into this than is warranted but it sounds like foreshadowing of a new building announcement....

You're reading into it exactly what everyone in the city has been reading into it for a year. Citizens has come right out and said they are consolidating people to Providence, and they will need more space.

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CtownMikey Burg

CtownMikey

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Citizens has been acquiring banks,insurance companies, etc. throughout the years with its last acquisition being ---->

"On September 8, 2004, Citizens expanded its credit card products division with the purchase of Lynk Systems, Inc., an electronic payment processing firm headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. "

or so says Citizens' website.

Is it a possibility that a company like Wachovia could acquire Citizens???

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Liamlunchtray Burg

Liamlunchtray

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It's always a possiblity that Citizens could be bought out. But it is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, and it seems that RBS likes owning it.

Given that Citizens is generally a Cash Cow for the RBS and that RBS has enormous capital, I would be quite surprised if Citizens got bought out anytime soon. Also, unless it has changed recently, I dont beleive Citizens is publically traded - they are owned by RBS outright. From what I see, they are trying to build it into a retail banking giant that can play with the big boys nationally. Due to the large number of other banks named Citizens, I wouldnt be surprised if they changed names to operate under the RBS umbrella at some point, but they are midway through a branding update with new Logos/Fonts now, so it doesnt look like that is planned anytime soon. I just hope that they have done significant work in the back of the house from when I worked there. The IT infrastructure was always creaking under the weight of these really agressive buyouts.

Liam

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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I wouldnt be surprised if they changed names to operate under the RBS umbrella at some point, but they are midway through a branding update with new Logos/Fonts now, so it doesnt look like that is planned anytime soon.

That's RBSs logo.

Citizens.gif

CitizensRBS.gif

just to educate Mikey for a second ;) do acquisitions only go through if the company is willing to be acquired, like Gtech may be considering? Or are there situations where the company may have no choice?

I don't really know the ins and outs of corporate law, but public companies are more at risk of buy-out than private companies.

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cms821 Unincorporated Area

cms821

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I would really like to see citizens build a 550-700 foot tower somewhere in the city where the Capitol is not an issue, but not jammed next to 110/BOA/OFP. Maybe where I-195 Exit 1 stands now. Just a thought, but it would be great to have a 40-60 story building on the skyline.

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Frankie811 City

Frankie811

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I would really like to see citizens build a 550-700 foot tower somewhere in the city where the Capitol is not an issue, but not jammed next to 110/BOA/OFP. Maybe where I-195 Exit 1 stands now. Just a thought, but it would be great to have a 40-60 story building on the skyline.

I'm still not so positive on seeing this happen as Citizen's continues to expand their East Providence operations center and Cranston call center.

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cms821 Unincorporated Area

cms821

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Something that tall would be nice, but I'd actually prefer to see it in the existing cluster of skyscrapers. Having the city's tallest so removed from the bulk of the skyline would look strange to me, particularly if it is that much taller than everything else.

I dont think, from the main viewing points of the skyline that 5-6 blocks would look that far away. Look at the Westin from Federal Hill... it dosent look that far away...

Please share your thoughts- this is an interesting topic

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