NEWS

Commerce RI approves $13M in incentives for Ocean State Job Lot expansion, new hotel in Warwick PROVIDENCE — Ocean State Job Lot will receive $7.8 million in state assistance to expand its distribution and logistics center at Quonset Business Park, if it moves ahead with the planned $49.1 million facility and creates more than 100 new jobs. The state incentive package, approved by the R.I. Commerce Corp. board Monday, includes $3.1 million in Rebuild Rhode Island tax credits for construction of the facility, as well as what is expected to be $1.5 million in exempted sales tax for construction materials. In addition, the state has agreed to provide up to $3.2 million in state Qualified Jobs Incentive Act credits if the company hires 125 new individuals, as planned, over a 10-year period. In total, the package would supply the North Kingstown-based discount retailer with $7.8 million over a 10-year period. In other business on Monday, the board authorized up to $1.4 million in Rebuild Rhode Island tax credits, and a sales tax exemption of up to $350,000, as well as tax increment financing for up to $3.5 million to help facilitate the development of a new hotel near T.F. Green Airport in Warwick. The project, pursued by D’Ambra Warwick Hotel LLC, will replace what had been an asphalt plant operated by D’Ambra Construction, a manufacturer of asphalt and concrete. The upscale hotel will be operated as a Hyatt Place and will include 120 rooms marketed to business travelers. The development, which could break ground by December, is part of the City Centre Warwick footprint in Warwick, a mixed-use zone that city leaders have tried to develop for several years. After the approval, D’Ambra President Michael V. D’Ambra said he was thankful and pleased the development would move forward. He initially started plans for it in 2008, he said. The hotel will eventually become part of a larger, mixed-use development of office and retail buildings, as well as a structured parking deck, he said, all within easy access to the InterLink rail and bus station. He started initial conversations with Commerce RI three to four years ago, which were expedited when the new state incentive programs were launched under Gov. Gina M. Raimondo. “I always felt it would happen, it was just a question of when,” D’Ambra said, after the meeting. http://pbn.com/Commerce-RI-approves-13M-in-incentives-for-Ocean-State-Jo...