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« Janitors at Providence College ratify new contract | Today | Satellite debris unlikely, but EMA ready just in case » February 19, 2008Demolition making room for mid-price downtown hotelPROVIDENCE -- Demolition is underway downtown at the future site of a Hotel Sierra, a mid-price hotel whose Kansas developers are banking can fill a gap in Providence’s stratified hotel market. The hotel, formerly known as a Sierra Suites, would be erected between Washington Street and Fountain Street downtown, tying in with the parking garage next door. It is one of several moderately-priced hotel projects now in various stages of completion or development in Providence, where luxury hotels dominate the marketplace. To build the 11-story, 162-room hotel, the developer, Kansas’ Lodgeworks, needs to knock down two buildings: 149-157 Washington St., a three-story building that once housed the restaurants Cuban Revolution and New Japan, and the bar Talk of the Town, and 132-134 Fountain St., the former site of a McDonald’s restaurant. The demolition contractor, Coventry Wrecking Co., began tearing the back out of the Washington Street building Monday, and continued today. Demolition is expected to take roughly a month, said Matthew T. Marcello, one of the partners in the deal. The project is a partnership between Lodgeworks and Civic Center Parking Associates, a consortium of several local developers and lawyers which owns the site and the Civic Center Parking Garage next door. The project was first proposed two full years ago, but it has taken several redesigns and the granting of a series of zoning variances to get the project to this point. Now, it has all its approvals, and the project is ready to obtain a building permit and go forward, said atty. David Barricelli of Providence’s Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, representing Lodgeworks. -- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi The developers are still pricing the project, Barricelli said, and looking to hire a general contractor to oversee it. “We’re ready to go,” Barricelli said. “We anticipate starting this construction season,” meaning this spring or summer. LodgeWorks is the owner of more than a dozen Hotel Sierras and Summerfield Suites Hotels along the East and West coasts. Their Sierra Suites sites were rebranded to Hotel Sierras last year. They envision that the Hotel Sierra will be a good fit for extended-stay travelers because of its proximity to business and convention center activity. Extended-stay travelers are defined as hotel guests who stay longer than four days. The Civic Center Parking Associates own the property that the proposed hotel would be built on. The company has operated the parking garage for 20 years, in addition to developing other properties in the city. Civic Center Associates also owns the Mercantile Block next door, and plans to sell that to local arts collaborative AS220, which will renovate the building into artists space and lease to commercial sites on the first floor, according to Matthew T. Marcello III, one of the principals in the Civic Center Associates. The principals of the Parking Associates are Joseph DiBattista, Marcello, Ed Ritchie, and the Bliss family, which owns Warwick Mall. Posted by Andrea Panciera CommentsTony P | February 19, 2008 7:19 PM link Post a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
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ProJo 9 to 5 News Blog
Oct 2005 - March 2006
And what will become of that disgusting grey ghost Fogarty building? That's an eyesore.