Category Archives: Development

Ugliness at Brown explained

Posted on August 25, 2022 by David Brussat

Brown University’s new performing arts center, in the form of a stunted square pillar with flutes squatting atop a rectangular glass lobby, is almost ready for its dedication. It will be called the Lindemann Performing Arts Center, named for a … Continue reading →

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No, MBS, it’s not the Pyramids

Posted on July 28, 2022 by David Brussat

Mohammed bin Salman, son of Saudi Arabia’s king and the nation’s de facto ruler, has declared that the kingdom will construct two buildings taller than the Empire State Building in a straight parallel line extending 75 miles from the Gulf … Continue reading →

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Dodge the I-195 fooddoggle

Posted on July 25, 2022 by David Brussat

Yesterday’s Sunday Journal describes the growing dispute between Providence restaurants and the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission, which wants to use state money to finance a food pavilion in the park at the west end of the Van Leesten Memorial Pedestrian … Continue reading →

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D.C.’s Union Station upgrade

Posted on June 30, 2022 by David Brussat

Last week the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the Federal Railroad Administration released images of a planned expansion of Washington’s Union Station, which sits just east of the U.S. Capitol grounds. The Beaux Arts station was designed by Chicago … Continue reading →

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The Fane tower: It’s baaack!

Posted on June 24, 2022 by David Brussat

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled that the Fane tower – a proposed 500-foot, 46-story luxury highrise in the Jewelry District of Providence – can go forward toward construction. The tower’s proposed height of five times the limit in … Continue reading →

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Still no basis to leave plaza

Posted on May 20, 2022 by David Brussat

Not much seems to have changed from last November when I first wrote about a new proposal to replace the Kennedy Plaza bus depot with a new, indoor facility at Dorrance and Clifford streets, four or five blocks south of … Continue reading →

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New life for Industrial Trust?

Posted on April 14, 2022 by David Brussat

On Tuesday, officials gathered in the State House to announce a plan to renovate the Industrial Trust Bank Building (ITBB), Rhode Island’s tallest tower, known also as the Superman Building. It has been vacant since 2013, and sits on the … Continue reading →

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More dishing on Brad Pitt

Posted on February 11, 2022 by David Brussat

Apparently, some media outlets have discovered the joy of dishing on celebrities who think they know best. Isn’t that all of them? At any rate, the Daily Kos and the (U.K.) Guardian both have new hit pieces out on Hollywood … Continue reading →

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Backsliding on 67 Williams

Posted on February 3, 2022 by David Brussat

The proposal for a new house on Williams Street where no house has ever been built has, in my mind, slid in status from buildable perhaps to buildable not. I refer to my own minimal support for the design as … Continue reading →

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Ellsworth testifies for NYC

Posted on January 24, 2022 by David Brussat

Lynn Ellsworth testified at last Thursday’s public hearing of the Empire State Development [ESD] Corporation. Ellsworth coordinates a group of organizations that opposes former Governor Cuomo’s (and now Governor Hochul’s) illegal plan to demolish the area of historic buildings around … Continue reading →

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