NEWS

With Commerce RI board approval Monday of about $5.2 million in state incentives for construction of a 120-room Hyatt Hotel, Mayor Scott Avedisian is hopeful of two and possibly three additional projects eligible for the program in City Centre Warwick. The hotel, which would be the first of several developments on the eight-acre D’Ambra Construction headquarters and former asphalt plant site on Jefferson Boulevard, gained city approvals eight years ago. President Michael D’Ambra envisioned the development as comprising the hotel at the north end of a block of office buildings also containing some retail space. But the Great Recession and the state’s slow recovery put a damper on the plan, as it has on other projects within City Centre. “The whole process got started when the economy was humming,” D’Ambra said yesterday, “and then we got approvals when the economy tanked.” The six-story hotel with a swimming pool, exercise room, and four to five meeting rooms is designed to serve the business traveler. D’Ambra imagines it will be used for smaller business meetings and conferences. But it’s not likely to have gotten off the drawing boards at this time without state and city incentives. “It would not have been a financially viable project,” D’Ambra said. D’Ambra hopes to break ground by the end of this year and to have the hotel open by May 2018. He expects his company will be involved in construction of the project, which he projected costing slightly less than $24 million. D’Ambra said his existing corporate headquarters would be relocated with the expectation of returning to Warwick once proposed office buildings on the site take shape. Under the state plan, the hotel project would receive up to $3.5 million under the statewide tax-increment financing program, approximately $1.4 million in Rebuild Rhode Island tax credits, and more than $300,000 in a sales-tax exemption on construction materials. In addition, D’Ambra is applying for a city tax stabilization agreement, or TSA, that would freeze value of the property for taxation purposes at the pre-construction assessment for five years. After that period, the new and higher assessment would be phased in over 10 years. To be eligible for the city program, the project must be located within 111-acre City Centre district and be at least $5 million in new development. While the state program does not require the repayment of incentives, D’Ambra offered to do that, and a repayment schedule starting in the fifth year and being completed by the 12th year is part of the agreement. Avedisian called the Hyatt Hotel “the next step” in making City Centre a reality. He said developers Michael Integlia who acquired the former Leviton Manufacturing property and Joseph Piscopio, who built the Hilton Garden Inns and Iron Works Tavern are considering projects that could be eligible for both the state and city incentives. He said there could be more projects, meaning after decades of talk about a surge in construction around the confluence of Green Airport, a railroad station and Route 95, City Centre could experience a building boom. So far, the city hasn’t approved a TSA. “Our TSA was implemented to have independent verification that the cost of the project is accurate. The TSA should be in addition to what the state incentives are. We worked closely with Commerce RI to make sure the playing field was level for all,” Avedisian said in an email. In an interview Tuesday, Gov. Gina Raimondo thought the Hyatt, which would be accessible to the Sundlun Terminal at Green Airport via the interlink, would make for a great amenity for business travelers and help Rhode Island as a destination for business conferences. She noted that in addition to incentives for new construction, legislators approved $1.5 million in the budget to help subsidize new airline service from Green. “We need more flights, more routes, non-stop service to Texas,” she said. Raimondo noted other airports have successfully used similar programs to stimulate air service and that with ongoing airport improvements, including the lengthening of Runway 5 to 8,700 feet, the airport will have the infrastructure to accommodate non-stop services to additional destinations. In a statement issued following board approval, R.I. Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor said: “Through use of our economic development tools we are now able to compete with other states in the Northeast and provide in-state businesses with targeted incentives that help them choose to expand in Rhode Island. We’re also pleased to be supporting the growth of our T.F. Green airport district through the development of a new hotel.” The Commerce RI board also approved Monday incentives for Ocean State Job Lot to create new jobs. House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello said in a statement: “I am pleased that the incentive programs funded by the General Assembly for the Commerce Corporation will enable Ocean State Job Lot to expand its workforce by 125 jobs in our state.” He went on to say: “It is also good news that these incentives will assist with the commercial development of a new hotel in Warwick. There is a strong demand for hotel rooms and these incentives will create good-paying constructions jobs, followed by permanent hotel employment. The combination of these two announcements is further evidence that our economy is moving in the right direction.”