New ideas urged for ‘Superman’ reuse

A SINGLE BOUND? In 2013, conversations about High Rock’s $114.7 million renovation plan to create the city’s largest residential structure at the so-called “Superman Building” stalled on the request for $39 million in direct state assistance. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
A SINGLE BOUND? In 2013, conversations about High Rock’s $114.7 million renovation plan to create the city’s largest residential structure at the so-called “Superman Building” stalled on the request for $39 million in direct state assistance. / PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

(Corrected, March 10, 12 p.m.)

The stains and chips in the façade of Providence’s “Superman Building” become more noticeable with each year of deferred maintenance and emptiness.
One year after former tenant Bank of America’s departure, Rhode Island’s tallest building, formerly known as the Industrial Trust building, at 111 Westminster St., appears no closer to the major overhaul it needs.
The building’s owner, High Rock Development, and local development partner Cornish Associates have not given up their push for public help to renovate a building many observers see as an economic liability rather than an asset.
Last month, High Rock began a new lobbying and marketing plan to generate public support for a residential conversion. It included a 111 Westminster St. website and blog, plus tours of the building for prospective tenants with bedroom furniture where desks and photocopiers once stood.
In 2013, conversations about High Rock’s $114.7 million renovation plan to create the city’s largest residential structure stalled on the request for $39 million in direct state assistance, in addition to a city property tax treaty and federal historic tax credits.
Neither Mayor Angel Taveras, nor any state political leaders have said they would consider investing that level of public resources in a private residential real estate deal, even if it involved the most visible address in the state.
High Rock is working on details of a new public-private-partnership proposal that could be made public as early as this week. Cornish Managing General Partner Arnold “Buff” Chase said last week the renovation “cannot take place” without public assistance but that he was “very sensitive to the concerns from the state” about that need.
Unlike last year, High Rock is offering to “guarantee completion” of the redevelopment and help fund an endowment for the improvement of Kennedy Plaza. And last week as part of the building tour, rents in a renovated Superman Building were set between $1,100 per month for a studio and $2,700 per month for two-bedrooms. So what might make prospects for a public-private partnership better this year than last year?
“We are starting earlier this year,” Chase said. “There is another year of it being a vacant hole in the city. Evan Granoff at the Arcade is particularly outspoken about getting this taken care of – his investment could definitely benefit.”
This year, lobbying for the Superman Building has focused on getting community leaders to the table and finding out what financial assistance may be possible.
Last year, Chase said, he couldn’t get the city and state leaders to sit down with High Rock to discuss a solution.
“Hopefully we can get all the players in the same room figuring it all out together,” Chase said. “Local institutions could also be a player. The Rhode Island Foundation has a Downcity partnership that has done second mortgages on projects we worked on.”
Of course just getting the government leaders with the power to make something happen together could be a tough task in an election year.
Taveras, who is running for governor, has been silent on the Superman Building in 2014.
It wasn’t mentioned in his State of the City address, and calls to his campaign for comment on the building were not immediately returned.
As the bulk of public assistance could come at the state level, the next governor may have the most impact on the project.
On the Democratic side, Clay Pell’s campaign manager, William Fischer, is also employed as a spokesman for High Rock on Superman Building issues. Fischer did not immediately return calls for comment.
General Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo implicates Taveras in allowing the building to fall vacant, though, if elected, she would be wary of a large public investment to save it.
“An empty Superman Building didn’t happen overnight,” said Raimondo Campaign Manager Eric Hyers in an email. “Now that it sits empty, there is a hurry to remedy it, but Gina believes that it is certainly not the time to rush to a tax break or sweetheart deal just to fill the building.” Matthew Schweich, a spokesman for Republican candidate for governor Ken Block, said Block “has taken a position against deals in the past. … It’s rather unlikely he would support spending state money on something like that, but until someone puts forward a full proposal, he can’t rule out anything completely.”
In a statement, Cranston Mayor Alan Fung, another GOP gubernatorial candidate, said he supports public-private partnerships, but “I do not favor in general a system of tax credits being given to one company over another.”
Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce President Laurie White said, “Superman reuse is going to be a very challenging issue. Based on my conversation with the legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle, there is little enthusiasm for state public subsidies beyond qualifying for historic tax credits,” she said. “My own view is that this is too significant an icon for the community to be content to let it crumble.”
So if the direct state investment that High Rock has been looking for is unlikely to happen, what options are there to prevent the building from remaining empty, deteriorating further and ultimately costing more to renovate in the long run?
White suggested looking at less-conventional solutions, including “working/incubator space” for young professionals and creative mixed-use plans.
In addition to state and local leaders, she also suggested bringing the federal government into the mix.
“The congressional delegation must also be brought into the process to identify other types of federal incentives and credits,” White said. “I understand that the conundrum is that residential is what’s most financially viable, but as an economic-development catalyst, the project may need more elements.” Joseph Paolino Jr., the former mayor and managing director of Paolino Properties, which just invested more than $60 million in three Westminster Street properties near the Superman Building, also suggested High Rock look beyond direct state assistance to more creative options.
Paolino said his first choice for the building would be to see it eventually taken over by Brown University or Rhode Island School of Design, to use as either housing, offices or academic space.
Although it may not get High Rock the return on investment they were initially looking for, donating the tower to a college would provide a substantial tax write-off, offsetting a good portion of the 2006 $33 million purchase price, Paolino said.
He added that the city should offer whomever takes over the building a tax stabilization that keeps the tax bill for the property at its current level and doesn’t penalize them for making improvements.
In its current state, the Superman Building is unattractive as a private investment and is bringing down the value of the Financial District around it, Paolino said, including his recent acquisition at 100 Westminster St.
“I don’t think anyone can speculate [on] that building and you can’t get any banks to finance it,” Paolino said. “It’s absolutely a problem for the city.”
Directly across the street from the Superman Building, Granoff said the Arcade had traditionally operated as a kind of “lobby” for 111 Westminster, but his redevelopment plan focused on making it a destination in its own right that wouldn’t depend on nearby office workers.
Granoff joined other property owners in calling for a tax and incentive structure that encouraged investment in downtown.
“The [Superman Building] is the most pressing need, but overall we need a structure to grow out of this,” he said. •

The original version of this story incorrectly identified Ken Block spokesman Matthew Schweich as Matthew Scheich.

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1 COMMENT

  1. My fear is that if turned entirely into apartments, it will become just another dorm a la Capital Cove, Regency Plaza, etc.

    Mixed use is the only way to go. Top of the Hub style restaurant, public observation decks, banking hall kiosks and cafes, residences and hotel, etc.