Hotel proposals coming before Providence City Plan Commission

PICTURED IS the proposed 91-room Holiday Inn Express and Suites at 371 Pine St. / COURTESY CITY OF PROVIDENCE CITY PLAN COMMISSION
PICTURED IS the proposed 91-room Holiday Inn Express and Suites at 371 Pine St. / COURTESY CITY OF PROVIDENCE CITY PLAN COMMISSION

PROVIDENCE – Proposals for two new hotels that would overlook Interstate 95 in Providence are expected before a city review panel Tuesday.

The Providence City Plan Commission is expected to address any final concerns with the 91-room Holiday Inn Express and Suites, proposed for a site at 371 Pine St., beside the service road that runs parallel to the highway, and next to Crossroads Rhode Island.

In addition, the commission is expected to review the preliminary plan, featuring an amended design, for the 76-room Best Western Glo hotel, at 322 Washington St.

The meeting begins at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday.

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The Holiday Inn project features a five-story hotel structure. The new construction would cover 55,110 square feet of new construction.

Sixty-five spaces would be created in the parking plan, which is less than what is required, but that adjustment has already gained approval from the commission. The applicant is Hotel Associates LLC. The site is in an overlay district for transit-oriented development.
According to a project description, the hotel site is now used for offices, but is located in an area that the city’s comprehensive plan has said should become mixed-use and neighborhood commercial.

The planning department’s overview of the hotel project indicates the hotel conforms with an objective in the comprehensive plan, in that it “promotes business expansion and retention.” In addition, the hotel would be located in a transitional site, acting as a buffer between the height and density of downtown buildings and lower-scale neighborhood structures.

The Best Western Glo is designed to be mid-priced, and aimed at millennials and business travelers. That project would be developed over an existing parking lot, across from the Providence Public Safety building. The design calls for a six-story structure.
The developer is Jay Patel, of Sarchi Group, a Weymouth, Mass.-based firm.

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