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IN PROGRESS: The Residences at The Westin

Cotuit

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Airwaves Unincorporated Area

Airwaves

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Yes, 500 feet is too high for ladders.  :lol:

They've been painting over those garish colors at the escalator head house. Much better and fits in with the rest of the building.

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have not been over there...do you mean they are repainting the escalator structure from that weird purple or whatever it was?

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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have not been over there...do you mean they are repainting the escalator structure from that weird purple or whatever it was?

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Yes, it's a pale grey-green color which fits in better with the rest of the building, although last time I was there the maroon color was still there, but the bright blue is gone. They should really put a nice sign above the door that says "Skybridge" right now they have all sorts of signs on stands all over the place.

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Gusterfell Burg

Gusterfell

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Me too, can't wait to see the photos they took.

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If you can find a print copy of yesterday's Projo, the front page of the Business section had a small but gorgeous pic from the blimp at 300-ish feet, looking towards downcity and the bay. The views from those condos are going to be spectacular!

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EPBOY Whistle-Stop

EPBOY

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If you can find a print copy of yesterday's Projo, the front page of the Business section had a small but gorgeous pic from the blimp at 300-ish feet, looking towards downcity and the bay.  The views from those condos are going to be spectacular!

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I believe this would be the image:

(sorry it's so grainy, is a newspaper scan)

PVDSkyline.jpg

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Airwaves Unincorporated Area

Airwaves

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From Sunday's NY Times:

Sorry about the long link but within a day - you have to sign in as a member for the article.

September 4, 2005

More Hotels for a Comeback City

By ELIZABETH ABBOTT

PROVIDENCE, R.I.

FOR years, there were just a few hotels in this capital city. They took in visitors during the city's good times and bad, hanging on during its bleaker years like children on a roller coaster ride.

But times are no longer lean here. Flush with capital from investors who don't like the stock market's returns and who see Providence as an underserved market with a growing future, developers are racing to build new hotels in the city.

Five major hotel projects have been announced or recently opened, including the addition of a 31-story, 200-room tower to a Westin hotel, the conversion of a crumbling Masonic Temple into a 274-room Renaissance and construction of a downtown hotel with more than 200 rooms.

This year, an 80-room boutique hotel opened in the heart of the city's old retail district, a warren of narrow streets and historic buildings. Simply named Hotel Providence, it was created by combining two buildings, which were renovated and luxuriously furnished by Stanley Weiss, a Providence developer and antiques connoisseur.

An upgrade is also planned for the Holiday Inn, a stalwart in the city. It is to become a high-end Hilton with 40 additional rooms, under plans by the owner, the Procaccianti Group of Cranston, R.I., a hotel development and management company.

The hotel will be dressed up with new facades, a new roof design, a 10,000-square-foot ballroom and a three-story glass atrium. Next to the hotel, the developer plans to build a 17,000-square-foot fitness center as well as shops, restaurants and other attractions geared toward pedestrian traffic.

Still other projects are being discussed. Carpionato Properties Inc. of Johnston, R.I., may build a new Holiday Inn where the city's Farmers' Market once was, according to John Kokot, executive vice president for development. And Procaccianti recently bought controlling interest in two parcels in Providence that had been intended for hotel development by their previous owner.

The latter projects are not sure things. But add together the projects that are certain, and the city's tally of hotel rooms is climbing by 850.

Two important factors are driving the boom, developers and others said. One is the availability of financing for new hotels, a commodity that tends to be cyclical in nature. "You have a tremendous amount of money looking for real estate opportunities," said Michael McMahon, the director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.

Brad Robinette, a senior vice president at Sage Hospitality Resources of Denver, the developer behind the Masonic Temple project, said, "The capital markets are strong; you see it across the country." Sage is partially financing its project with state and federal tax credits for historic properties. The Hotel Providence also qualified for tax breaks.

The second factor behind the boom is a strong demand for hotel rooms. No hotels were built in the city during its nadir in the 1970's and 80's, when businesses fled downtown with the opening of suburban shopping malls and office parks. In that period, "nothing happened," recalled Thomas Deller, Providence's planning director.

The dry spell was broken with the opening of the state-financed Westin in the early 1990's, followed in 2000 by the opening of a Courtyard by Marriott, with 216 rooms. They joined three stalwarts: the Biltmore, the Holiday Inn and the Marriott. But demand continued to outpace supply as Providence's efforts to remake itself took off.

Providence's hotel occupancy rate in 2004 was 73 percent, about 10 percentage points higher than the national average, according to George Donnelly, vice president for marketing at the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Westin's room price can sometimes reach $380 a night.

BUT how many hotel rooms are enough? In Providence, no one seems to know the magic number. "I wouldn't be so cavalier to say it doesn't concern us," Mr. Kokot said.

The location of Carpionato's new hotel - in a downtown site, two blocks from the new Providence Place Mall, the centerpiece of an intense economic revival effort - should, however, guarantee its success, he said.

Carpionato's plan calls for a 15- to 20-story tower with stores and restaurants at ground level, parking on Levels 2 through 7, some 200 to 250 hotel rooms above the parking, and condominiums on top. The hotel's brand has not yet been determined, but Intercontinental has expressed interest, Mr. Kokot said.

Sage has liked the Providence market for some time and is confident about its future, Mr. Robinette said. It expects to draw 100,000 tourists a year to the Renaissance, a high-end member of the Marriott family, with packages that feature performances at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, which is next door, and arts institutions.

State and city officials acknowledge that there could be a challenge in filling all the rooms." I think there's a lot of pressure, but it's good pressure," said James P. McCarvill, executive director of the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, a quasi-governmental agency responsible for booking conventions, trade shows and other events into the Rhode Island Convention Center, next to the Westin.

For years, the authority has clamored for more hotel rooms in Providence, saying a lack of accommodations was preventing it from booking large conventions and shows. It did not have a big-enough block of rooms within walking distance of the convention center, Mr. McCarvill said.

To address this problem, the authority decided to sell the Westin, which was built with money from the state to complement the convention center. There was one condition: the new owner had to add 200 rooms. The highest bidder was Procaccianti, which already owned the Holiday Inn. It agreed this year to pay $95.5 million for the property.

With more than 30 hotels nationwide, Procaccianti specializes in renovating and expanding hotels. Its purchase of the Westin is part of a larger plan to spruce up a single downtown block. The Westin is at one end of that block, and the Holiday Inn at the other.

To further that goal, the company recently bought a controlling interest in the former Providence police and fire station, opposite the Holiday Inn, and the Fogarty Building down the street. Although city officials have suggested that turning them into hotels may not be wise at this point, David Preston, a spokesman for the Procaccianti Group, said Procaccianti would consider a number of uses - including hotels.

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Frankie811 City

Frankie811

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ProJo article about Westin construction:

http://www.projo.com/business/content/proj...st.daac2e6.html

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Do I have this right. There is to be BOTH a 32 & 14 story building built, or are they talking about the smaller tower that's already there?

The Procaccianti Group is getting ready to build a 32-story high-rise hotel and condo tower and a second 14-story hotel addition on a site that's about 20,000 square feet.

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Recchia Town

Recchia

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UP2005-0826-Westin002.jpg

Wow, this photo really brings out the worst in the old Westin tower. I'm I the only one who thinks that it looks like a slightly better Center Place stretched tall?

center place:

10712pic4.jpg

Here's hoping the new tower can somehow redeem the old.

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How come you don't like Center Place? Granted it needs other buildings around it so it doesnt look like an office park building but once Capitol Cove and Waterplace are built and something goes up in that damn Citizens parking lot, I think it'll look even better.

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BBascule Whistle-Stop

BBascule

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How come you don't like Center Place?  Granted it needs other buildings around it so it doesnt look like an office park building but once Capitol Cove and Waterplace are built and something goes up in that damn Citizens parking lot, I think it'll look even better.

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I think you summed it up for me. It always reminded me of an office park building - something generic you'd see off of 128 in Boston. I think it has something to do with the materials: that nondescript brick and dryvit (or whatever it is) combo. Also the windows and the brick areas around the windows remind me of an elementary school or a public building on a budget. I guess the size and shape of it doesn't help it any, either.

I think you're right, though. Buildings around it will help a lot.

10712pic2.jpg

487247_w.jpg

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Recchia Town

Recchia

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Also the windows and the brick areas around the windows remind me of an elementary school or a public building on a budget. I guess the size and shape of it doesn't help it any, either.

I think you're right, though. Buildings around it will help a lot.

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:rofl: I can see that. I like the rounded edges of it on Exchange St.:

DSCF0129.jpg

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MikeycPVD Unincorporated Area

MikeycPVD

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Taken from today's Projo re: sale of the Fogarty building.

The former public safety building is the latest high-profile real-estate deal in Providence by The Procaccianti Group this year. In April, the company purchased the Westin Providence from the state for $95.5 million. Proaccianti plans to break ground on a new 200-room hotel tower addition to the Westin next month. The company is also turning the Holiday Inn Providence at the other end of Sabin Street into a high-end Hilton Hotel.

I thought we broke on Westin II this week?

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