The Agenda

PROVIDENCE, September 10, 2006—For Sale: 12,500 square feet of Prime Studio Space – Only $175,000 – Easy financing! Affordable artist studio space – priced to sell!

Formerly for rent at $15* per sq. ft., you can now buy it for $175K! Located in an historic mill building in Eagle Square, this space has high ceilings, giant windows, yada-yada. Conveniently located within walking distance of Shaw’s Supermarket and the burial ground of Fort Thunder.

Seriously, though – I have been researching the success/failure of the Eagle Square Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan, which projected that Eagle Square would produce nearly $290,000 in “excess revenue” for the tax years ending June 2004 and 2005 combined. As of September 2006, none of this money has made it into the TIF’s “special fund” for infrastructure improvements, affordable housing, and economic development. The Providence Redevelopment Agency (PRA) says they expect the first payment this month.

In October 2001 the City Plan Commission (CPC) approved the Eagle Square Major Land Development plan. The legally binding approval specifically required that one full floor of either the Uncas or Crawford building be devoted to “affordable” artist studios. In June 2005, Thom Deller & Feldco signed an agreement which struck the old requirement from the original agreement and substituted a total payment of $175,000 ($17,500 every July for 10 years, starting last year). The new agreement was an amendment of the original agreement.

From what I have found so far, the only money relating to Eagle Square the PRA has ever received are two $17,500 payments as part of the “negotiated buyout” of the developer’s agreement.

Now, I remember reading in the Phoenix about the brouhaha in March 2005 when Feldco asked to buy their way out of the affordable artist space requirement because they couldn’t find any renters at the “affordable” price named by the Planning Department. I know that the item was removed from the CPC’s March 15, 2005 agenda at the developer’s request after the public outcry.

What I didn’t know was that less than three months later, the buyout went through, classified as a “minor change to a major land development project,” requiring only the approval of Thom Deller as the CPC’s Administrative Officer. To quote the Development Review Regulation 809.2, “[minor changes] may be authorized without additional public hearings at the discretion of the Administrative Officer” although “this provision shall not prohibit the Administrative Officer from requesting a recommendation from the Commission.” So it looks to me like the no-muss, no-fuss route was taken, and this buyout was not discussed at a public CPC meeting.

Now, I’m sure that those of you who are deeply into the artist space issue might have known about this negotiated buyout, but I certainly didn’t. It’s shocking! $175,000 is a pittance, a joke. Is that the way Cicilline’s future TIFs are going to go? The developers promise the moon and the stars in return for project approval and public financing, then sneakily buy their way out of their promises with pocket change?

Having attended a lot of these CPC meetings, I’ve heard rich developers say that it is absolutely impossible to produce one unit of “affordable” housing for less than $250,000! What is $175,000 supposed to accomplish in terms of studio space? Loft spaces are generally in the single-digit thousands, in terms of square footage. Will it pay for 12,500 sq. ft. of “affordable” artist space? The cheapest loft at Eagle Square sold for $198,500, and the average price was $230,000. For one loft. Clearly 12,500 sq. ft. could have accommodated at least twelve similarly sized spaces.

Thom Deller’s approval for this buyout, dated June 2, 2005, went up on the City Clerk’s bulletin board for 20 days, during which time you could have appealed. Now you are out of luck, as stated above, but I would suggest you keep this “minor change” in mind as you vote next week and in November. Thom Deller was hand-picked by David Cicilline to be the Director of Planning & Development. Also, Harrison Bilodeau’s term on the CPC ends in January. How about demanding that Cicilline appoint someone who will fight for affordable housing, preservation of industrial space, and real economic development? Send in your resumes. We can do better than this.

* $15 per sq. ft. figure taken from “Housing Crunch” by Robin Amer (Providence Phoenix, March 25-31, 2005). Was that per year? It couldn’t have been per month, could it?