NEWS

By John Howell In 1999, what 22 Hillsgrove South homeowners did was viewed as the wave of the future. The homeowners came together to sell their collective properties for $5 million to Urban Growth Property Trust of Chicago, and it was assumed the 6.5-acre site would become home for a major development. It was thought it wouldn’t be long before additional residential areas across from the airport would be bought out and construction cranes would stud the horizon. The homes of Hillsgrove South – wedged between the Airport Connector, Post Road, Amtrak and Legal Seafoods – were demolished, and the land became an airport parking lot with the premise that was a temporary use. Once the Interlink was built, once the station was open, it was imagined, the site would be developed. But that didn’t happen. Rather, Preflight Parking sold the lot to Laz Fly parking, and now the Rhode Island Airport Corporation has voted to exercise its option to buy the property for $3 million. That will take the land off the city tax rolls and would seemingly scrap visions for office buildings or a hotel. Not so, says RIAC interim president and CEO Peter Frazier. In an interview earlier this week, Frazier said RIAC’s interest in the parcel is eliminating its use as off-airport parking. The goal is to resell the site with deed restrictions that it not be used for airport parking. He acknowledged the purchase would take the land off the tax rolls, but with its resale the objective is to see a development complementary to the airport and adjoining Warwick City Centre. “There would be a short-term tax loss and a long-term gain for the city,” he said. It’s a concept Mayor Scott Avedisian embraces. “We’ve been talking about this,” the mayor said. “This would be an excellent site for a hotel with its proximity to the airport and the station.” The mayor said he understands the goal to consolidate airport parking on airport property, and he believes the site would be more aesthetically pleasing if developed than as a field of parked cars. He sees a development as complementing City Centre. Avedisian said there is “a lot of interest” from developers since the City Council approved a tax stabilization agreement (TSA) for the Intermodal Zone that makes up City Centre. Under a TSA, which would be eligible for new developments of at least $5 million, taxes would be based on the assessment of the property prior to development for the first five years. The assessment of the developed site would then be phased in over 10 years at 10 percent per year. This amounts to a savings of $1.5 million on $5 million of new development over 15 years at the current commercial tax rate. Hillsgrove South is outside the Intermodal Zone in the adjoining Gateway Zone and part of City Centre. Avedisian is excited RIAC has kept the city in the loop and is actively seeking to put land it doesn’t plan on using back on the tax rolls. He noted as recently as five years ago the relationship between RIAC and the city was practically adversarial and that, while the city would have attended something like Southwest’s announcement of new service to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, it wouldn’t have been with the same sense of enthusiasm and partnership. Frazier said Hillsgove South would be marketed for the same price RIAC would be purchasing the property. Its resale would preclude its use as off-airport parking. http://warwickonline.com/stories/riac-to-buy-resell-laz-parking-for-private-development,113223