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Proof-Variation7005 t1_j46pxif wrote

Reply to comment by PigpenMcKernan in Share your opinion about Fane Tower by quinntronix

It's prime property but it's been available for over a decade and it's been almost seven years since the first proposal for 3 towers there. Have there been any serious suitors with funding and a development plan that have expressed interest for this land?

If it's that desirable, surely, there'd be other interest, right?

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Kiyranti91 t1_j47a0oj wrote

That's a big part of my feelings on this - while I'd prefer the city find other investors and ways of making some big moves, it's been some 30 years since the last BIG move and the city is crawling forward. I love this city enough to want to see it have some progress without kicking this away and waiting (who knows how many more) years for another OFFER to come (years more away from that coming to fruition). They need to do something, and waiting several more years or decades for the perfect thing to fall in our lap just isn't practical.

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Proof-Variation7005 t1_j47dqlj wrote

Totally. I'd get not wanting to just jump at the first offer but the idea that this is some supremely desired parcel of land we're underselling? It just doesn't line up with what's happened.

I would hope that whatever purchase price for the land has at least adjusted to account for the real estate bubble market correction we've had since 2016 but I'm not going to pretend I know enough to say what is or isn't a good deal on that beyond two things

  1. Right now, it's wasted space. Parks are cool. This is still wasted space. It was never meant to be permanent green space.

  2. It sorta seems like there's only one interested buyer that isn't Brown University. I don't even know if they have interest, I'm just assuming they would and they're the one entity you can not do.

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Dextrous456 t1_j4b3m08 wrote

Fane locked it and the adjacent parcel down just as things were starting to happen in the area. Since then, many things have been built and this parcel just sits there. Partially because of the fight about it, but also because it's not affordable. I predict we'll see Fane asking for another $25M from the state to help get it started. And costs will be cut in construction. It never was and still isn't feasible. If Fane had never proposed something so ludricrous, those two parcels would already be built out and we'd have some nice amenities for the park.

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beta_vulgaris t1_j48cl8o wrote

Almost every single plot of 195 land has buildings in the planning stages or already completed. Several buildings were proposed, funded, and built on the 195 land since this building was first proposed. The developer has owned the parcel for years and has had the green light to build for years. He doesn’t have the funding. As building costs & interests rates rise, he just keeps dumbing down the design and pretending he will somehow be able to fund this next version. The developer is unreliable and the 195 commission should put the parcel back on the market so someone with a serious proposal can build there.

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Proof-Variation7005 t1_j48ew54 wrote

>The developer has owned the parcel for years and has had the green light to build for years.

This sentence is great because it has two lies in it. Neither of those things are remotely true. Just pure unadulterated fiction.

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beta_vulgaris t1_j48hq9v wrote

He’s had the option to buy the land since 2018, I can’t confirm he ever closed the deal, so fair point, maybe he doesn’t actually own it yet but the land has been set aside for him & only him to buy for years.

The last official hurdle at the RI Supreme Court was cleared last year to start construction

At this point, the ball is in his court. Build the building or let someone who is serious about building buy it.

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Proof-Variation7005 t1_j48kzke wrote

He's never had the option to buy until the project was fully approved. A legal battle over zoning was started like 5 years ago and took until last Summer to be resolved. It's worth noting that suit was financed by competing property owners.

By that point, yes, a fuckton has changed about the cost of literally everything, so they went for a redesign that still needs formal approval before the sale happens.

At no point has there ever been a point where construction could have started and there's really nothing to suggest funding the project is a hurdle beyond the developer not wanting to go above the 300ish million price tag.

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Dextrous456 t1_j4b3r7c wrote

Which competing property owners? Do you have proof of that?

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