Category Archives: Development

Need sigs vs. Fane today!

Posted on May 28, 2018 by David Brussat

On behalf of all Providence communities, the Providence Preservation Society and Building Bridges are calling on people to get local voter signatures on the attached lists by tomorrow to force the Ordinance Committee of City Council to hold a meeting … Continue reading →

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Put Fane tower downtown

Posted on May 21, 2018 by David Brussat

In 2005, Mayor Cicilline permitted a developer from Boston to demolish the dear old Providence National Bank (1929, addition 1950), near the Arcade downtown, before the developer had its financing sewn up. Even before the 2008 recession pulled the rug … Continue reading →

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The Journal’s angry editorial

Posted on May 17, 2018 by David Brussat

The Providence Journal today published an editorial, “Saying no to a bold future,” that castigates opponents of the proposed Fane tower as “insiders,” a term usually applied to those who manipulate the system to benefit the few at the expense … Continue reading →

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Not over till fat lady sings

Posted on May 16, 2018 by David Brussat

High-fives aplenty greeted last night’s vote by the City Plan Commission to urge the city council to reject the Fane tower. The commission wisely ignored its staff’s argument that a 600-foot tower in a 100-foot zone is consistent with the … Continue reading →

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I-195 eastern front heats up

Posted on May 10, 2018 by David Brussat

The I-195 Redevelopment District Commission hosted the latest skirmish in the war among three developers to win the commission’s approval to build on the east bank of the Providence River. I arrived at the public hearing but had to leave … Continue reading →

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Why 15 CPW makes moola

Posted on May 2, 2018 by David Brussat

“Why Copies of 15 Central Park West Are Taking Over Manhattan,” by James Tarmy in Bloomberg Businessweek, exaggerates the phenomenon of a “takeover” and doesn’t even answer his own question. The answer is obvious: 15 Central Park West, designed by … Continue reading →

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Fane’s Copycat Point Tower

Posted on April 25, 2018 by David Brussat

The new design for Jason Fane’s Hope Point Tower might be separated at birth from MAD Architects’ Absolute Towers, outside Toronto. But it’s not really a separated-at-birth shot but a before-and-after shot – two buildings in a heightened state of … Continue reading →

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Don’t make it blight, Brad!

Posted on April 22, 2018 by David Brussat

Actor Brad Pitt’s Make It Right foundation erected several score of goofy homes in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans – poor, depopulated and hardest hit by Katrina in 2005. Pitt brought in squads of modern architects to teach the … Continue reading →

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Video: Restored in Frankfurt

Posted on April 19, 2018 by David Brussat

Leon Krier has sent a brief video, 57 seconds in all, of the recently completed restoration, in Frankfurt, Germany, of that city’s Huhner Markt area, Almost as pleasing as what the video reveals is what it replaces – in Krier’s … Continue reading →

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Hand-to-hand fight for 195

Posted on April 12, 2018 by David Brussat

The Battle of I-195 East did not erupt last night but the night before. The I-195 Redevelopment District Commission planned to hear two new proposals vying for land up for grabs east of the Providence River. But the meeting was … Continue reading →

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