Website to help R.I. cities, towns market public real estate

OPPORTUNITYSPACE RI, a new website and database designed to help cities and towns in Rhode Island market their public real estate, has launched a beta site with information on more than 2,000 properties in Providence, Central Falls, Cumberland and Pawtucket.
OPPORTUNITYSPACE RI, a new website and database designed to help cities and towns in Rhode Island market their public real estate, has launched a beta site with information on more than 2,000 properties in Providence, Central Falls, Cumberland and Pawtucket.

PAWTUCKET – Four cities and towns have launched the Rhode Island beta of OpportunitySpace, an online database of public properties intended to promote transparency and community redevelopment.
The OpportunitySpace RI website, beta.opportunityspace.org, will feature maps, zoning data, key contacts and photos of more than 2,000 local, state, federal and quasi-government-owned properties in Providence, Central Falls, Cumberland and Pawtucket.
“Regional partnerships make perfect sense in a state our size. This database makes it easy for businesses to find properties that meet their needs,” said Neil D. Steinberg, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, which contributed $7,000 to fund the initiative.
Other funding included $1,500 apiece from Central Falls and Cumberland, $1,500 from Pawtucket through the Pawtucket Foundation, $4,000 from Providence and $10,000 from the Sunlight Foundation.
Additional support was provided by the Counselors of Real Estate Foundation to support research and the Ocean State Charities Trust to support community engagement efforts.
OpportunitySpace, a technology company based in Boston at the Harvard Innovation Lab, developed the website and database. OpportunitySpace currently operates databases in Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Texas and Washington, in addition to beta sites in Rhode Island and Kentucky.
Mayors Angel Taveras of Providence, James A. Diossa of Central Falls, and Donald R. Grebien of Pawtucket said cooperation among the four communities will help the cities and towns market their assets.
“Having an open and transparent online clearinghouse of publicly owned parcels will allow for town officials to have quicker and more efficient interactions with developers about possible investments and economic development opportunities that may have been overlooked in the past,” added Cumberland Mayor Dan McKee.
For free access to the database, register at beta.opportunityspace.org.

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