Providence Water Supply Board purchases Dupont Drive building for $10M

THE PROVIDENCE Water Supply Board recently bought this building at 125 Dupont Drive in Providence for $10.35 million; it plans to consolidate its offices here. / PBN PHOTO/MARK S. MURPHY
THE PROVIDENCE Water Supply Board recently bought this building at 125 Dupont Drive in Providence for $10.35 million; it plans to consolidate its offices here. / PBN PHOTO/MARK S. MURPHY

PROVIDENCE – The Providence Water Supply Board has purchased an office building in an industrial park at 125 Dupont Drive, and plans to consolidate its operations in the renovated facility.
The acquisition closed Dec. 28, according to Ricky Caruolo, general manager for the water utility.
The purchase price was $10.35 million and was financed through a low-interest loan provided through the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank. The rate was 1.75 percent, according to Caruolo.
Providence Water, the largest water utility in Rhode Island with 600,000 customers, plans to consolidate its 200 employees at the property by June 2017. It is now headquartered at 552 Academy Ave. in Providence, and also has offices in trailers in Cranston, where engineering, finance and support services employees are located.
The utility plans to sell the trailers in Cranston, but will retain the land as it is the location of a pump station. The Providence headquarters are owned by the city’s public building authority.
The need for larger and consolidated office space was expressed in a facilities need assessment conducted in 2007, Caruolo said in a telephone interview Tuesday. The relocation will allow the water utility to move from a residential area near LaSalle Academy to an industrial park that has convenient access to highways, including Route 10.
The two-level office building on Dupont Drive will need renovations, Caruolo said. The Water Supply Board plans to solicit bids for renovations in April, with anticipated completion in June 2017.
According to the Providence Assessor’s office, the building was constructed in 1972 and was previously owned by First States Investors 5200 LLC, of Irving, Texas. The building has 180,700 square feet of interior space, and sits on a 16.5-acre site. It was valued at $8.8 million in 2014, according to the assessment report.
It previously was occupied by Bank of America.

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