Arnold B. ‘Buff’ Chace Jr.

Arnold B. “Buff” Chace Jr. sees places not for what they are, but what they can be after creative collaboration, strategic investment and thoughtful development.

As head of property development company Cornish Associates, Chace combines his vision for a 21st-century city with a deep passion of place.

Chace’s grandfather, Oliver Chace, owned textile mills in the region, including what became Berkshire Fine Spinning Co. in Valley Falls. That was sold to investment expert Warren Buffet, who turned it into Berkshire Hathaway investments, which now owns brands that include GEICO and Dairy Queen.

Buff Chace tried filmmaking for a while, but returned to the Ocean State in 1985. When he created Cape Cod’s Mashpee Commons, a mixed-use town center, on family land, an important interest in New Urbanism took hold.

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In the mid-2000s, Chace was part of a group looking to redevelop Providence blight with environmental, historic and community considerations, not just profits. As a result, the city bus depot and nearby parks continue to be transformed into an active, outdoor cultural center – Kennedy Plaza – with new life and economic draws.

Westminster Street neighborhood renovations continue, creating housing, retail and office space, and parking. And Cornish participated in buying the Providence Journal building on Fountain Street, with plans to revitalize the former newspaper printing facility and attendant parking lots into new, mixed-use buildings.

As he brings these visions to life, Chace sees people coming back into the city after flights to suburbia, a validation of what he saw all along. •

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