PROVIDENCE – Nine firms are competing for a chance to help plan the future of 19.2 acres of the city’s Jewelry District that are being freed up by the Iway project, the R.I. Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) said today.

A partnership to redevelop the property was announced in April by three entities intimately involved with the Interstate 195 relocation project: The RIEDC, the R.I. Department of Transportation (RIDOT) and the City of Providence. (READ MORE)

Officials have said they will focus on projects that might serve as a hub for high-wage job growth. In a June interview, Mayor David N. Cicilline said “I will very strongly advocate for density and height, particularly as you come off the water.” But he told Providence Business News that he hopes to restrict height on parcels close to the river, “to preserve view corridors.” (READ MORE)

“Partnering with the City of Providence and RIDOT on the I-195 relocation project is a key element of RIEDC’s Economic Growth Plan to create a stronger economy and grow new jobs,” Saul Kaplan, the RIEDC’s executive director, said in a statement today. “Outcomes from this assessment will help us optimize the value of the relocation property and achieve the economic development objectives of both the city and the state,”

The RIDOT will help cover costs associated with the production of the plan itself, his office said.

In June, the RIEDC issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking a vendor to perform a professional redevelopment and marketing analysis for the land. “The analysis will evaluate land-use solutions that maximize the economic and tax values of the relocation parcels and enhance the public use and enjoyment of the surrounding areas,” RIEDC spokesman Andy Cutler said in a statement this morning.

Submitting proposals before the July 31 deadline were:

• AKRF of New York City

• Basile Baumann Prost Cole and Associates of Annapolis, Md.

• Chan Krieger Sieniewicz of Cambridge, Mass.

• Colliers Meredith & Grew of Boston

• Costas Kondylis and Partners of New York City

• Economics Research Associates of New York City

• GLC Development Resources of Boston

• HR&A Advisors of New York City

• W-ZHA of Annapolis

Their RFPs will be weighed by a selection committee that includes representatives of each member of the state-city partnership: Kaplan, the leader of the RIEDC; Michael P. Lewis, executive director of the RIDOT; and Thomas E. Deller, director of planning for the City of Providence.

The final selection is to be made next month, the RIEDC said today.

“Years from now,” Kaplan said, “we will look at our capital city’s new skyline and see proof that the relocation plan was a game-changing opportunity for our economy.”

The R.I. Economic Development Corporation is a quasi-public agency established to promote business development, preservation and expansion in the state and undertake port projects in Rhode Island. Additional information, including the agency’s 2008 Growth Plan, is available at www.riedc.com.

News and information about the City of Providence and its Department of Planning and Development is available at www.ProvidencePlanning.org.