Development

Overview

In June 2000, Mayor Vincent Cianci, Jr. presented a grandiose plan to transform more than 250 acres of land along the city’s industrial waterfront into “an elegant new residential, business and recreational district, which will stretch more than a mile along the Providence waterfront.” Narragansett Landing, as it is called, envisions the creation of four million square feet of new office space for commercial and institutional users, employing more than 16,000 residents and housing more than 6,500. The Master Plan, created by Sasaki Associates, is based in part on a market analysis conducted by Economics Research Associates (“ERA”) that found viable the development of a mixed-use community along the waterfront containing, among other elements, office, residential, hotel, restaurant, entertainment and specialty retail along with a marina, festival grounds and a waterpark. The ERA study concluded that the Allens Avenue waterfront, with its proximity to the airport, Downtown Providence and the Interstate highway system, made it “one of the top five redevelopment areas in New England.” Further analysis by Sasaki Associates and Mayor David Cicilline have refined the vision to include a more compact and more feasible area stretching from the Hurricane Barrier south toward Thurbers Avenue — approximately one mile of waterfront.

Public hearings have been concluded on the “Vision for Providence 2020” and the Mayor formally endorsed the plan at his State of the city Address in February 2006. Efforts are underway to amend the city’s Comprehensive Plan and zoning ordinance to coincide with the this vision for the waterfront. Providence Piers is the first new development initiative within this proposal Bayfront project area.

“The ERA study concluded that the Allens Avenue waterfront, with its proximity to the state’s airport, the Downtown and Interstate highway system, makes it ‘one of the top five redevelopment areas in New England’”
Economics Research Associates

“Our goal is to have the ability to walk along the water’s edge from the Providence line with Johnston and North Providence all the way to the Cranston line…”
Thomas E. Deller, Director of Planning, City of Providence