Leaders call press conference to talk up Superman redevelopment

A PRESS CONFERENCE will be held Thursday at the Superman building in Providence to discuss its future. / PBN FILE PHOTO
A PRESS CONFERENCE will be held Thursday at the Superman building in Providence to discuss its future. / PBN FILE PHOTO

PROVIDENCE – A host of business, labor and community leaders on Thursday are holding a press conference to talk about the redevelopment of the so-called Superman Building at 111 Westminster St., Providence, which has been vacant for about three years.

The 26-floor-tall building is the city’s tallest and is an iconic part of the Providence skyline. But it’s remained empty ever since Bank of America Corp. vacated the space in 2013. High Rock Westminster Street LLC, Cornish Associates and a government relations team are heading the building’s redevelopment effort. William Fischer, a spokesman on the project, told Providence Business News that the upcoming press conference would be an opportunity for interested parties to talk about the importance of re-purposing the building.

“This only gets worse with time,” Fischer told Providence Business News. “Construction costs and interest rates will continue to rise, and when you’re talking about a building that’s 380,000 square feet, it magnifies those two problems greatly.”

The greatest challenge facing the development team is financing, and Fischer says it’s going to take a collaborative effort from the city, state and private sectors to make it happen. The development team has been in discussions with the R.I. Commerce Corp. for the past four months, according to Fischer, and while he characterizes those meetings as productive, no finalized deal has emerged. The quasi-governmental agency to-date has committed about $24 million to seven other commercial projects through its Rebuild Rhode Island incentive program.

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Fischer declined to comment on how much money it would take to finance a redevelopment project, saying “I’m staying away from hard numbers because this discussion is ongoing and there are various proposals that have flexibility and there’s certainly costs differences in commercial versus residential development; residential certainly being more expensive.”

If the building was strictly redeveloped as residential it could host about 450 residents, but some type of mixed-use is a more likely option moving forward, Fischer added.

In 2013, a group of consultants estimated it would cost $130 million to transform the 1928 Art Deco office tower into an apartment building, and its owner asked for up to $85 million in public financing.

A year later, High Rock submitted a new plan for a mixed-use redevelopment that had the same overall price tag, if a different mix of public support.

Fischer would not comment on whether a specific plan would be coming out from Thursday’s press conference.

Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza is scheduled to speak at the event on Thursday, but absent from the list are House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello and Gov. Gina M. Raimondo. The governor on Tuesday told Providence Business News she hadn’t heard of any specific announcement regarding the building.

Located in the heart of downtown, the Superman Building has lost nearly half of its value over the past three years, according to the revaluation prepared for Providence by a commercial contractor.

The value of the building, known formerly as the Industrial Trust Building, has been set at $15.4 million, representing a 46.9 percent decline from $29 million 2013. High Rock principal David Sweetser has invested about $5 million into the building since 2013 to maintain its integrity.

Fischer says the timing of this press conference doesn’t have anything to do with the city’s recent revaluation, and pointed to Citizens Financial Group Inc. and its recent decision to build a new campus in Johnston instead of the Superman Building – which had been floated as an option – as one reason why a renewed push for redevelopment was materializing now.

“I think the timing [is] just right,” he said. “We lost a year because those negotiations failed to materialize a successful relocation of Citizens Bank to 111 Westminster Street.”

Others listed to speak on Thursday include Michael F. Sabitoni, president of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council; Neil D. Steinberg, CEO and president of the Rhode Island Foundation; Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce; Arnold “Buff” Chace Jr., managing general partner of Cornish and Associates; David Sweetser, principal of Highrock Development; R.I. Senate Majority Leader Dominick J. Ruggerio, D-Providence; R.I. Rep. John M. Carnevale, D-Providence; Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza; Brent Runyon, executive director of the Providence Preservation Society; and Rep. Kenneth A. Marshall, senior deputy majority leader, D-Bristol.

“People walk by this empty building every day and we cannot let it turn into a symbol of urban blight,” Fischer said.

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