Thanks to Cotuit at SSP and the Boston skyscraper forum for these great renderings!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/Providence/110West.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/OneTenAerial001.jpg
One Ten Westminster (official website here (http://onetenprov.com/)): 32 stories, "luxury apartments," "magical rooftop garden," December 2005 start date, mid 2007 finish

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/Providence/waterplace003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/Providence/waterplace002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/Providence/waterplace001.jpg
Water Place/Intercontinental (official website here (http://www.intercontinental.net/investment_management/fund_iv.asp#)): 307,470 square feet to be built of mixed-use property including retail, residential, office and hospitality uses. The first phase will include two building complexes containing a total of 275 apartment units; one 19-story tower and one 16-story tower in addition to 480 underground garage spaces.
Construction Start Date: March 2005

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/PVDprojects/GTECH-001.jpg
GTECH world headquarters: already UC across from the southern half of the Providence Place Mall

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/PVDprojects/Hilton-001.jpg
Holiday Inn renovation: conditional on the purchase of the Westin from the state by a private developer, who will also add 200 more hotel rooms in the form of a new tower next to the existing Westin (no renderings of the new Westin tower, sorry).

Additionally, there's the Little Dig, the moving of I-195's interchange with I-95 about half a mile to the south, reconnecting parts of downtown with the waterfront and increasing available land for development.

Oh yeah, go Providence go. I was in the city for a short visit last fall and thought it was a very nice Northeast city. If all these projects come to fruition, it will take that next step to a great northeast city (even though it's not huge, I think the metro has about a million doesn't it?). Thanks for the renderings.

Damn this is good stuff! Nice to see another northeast city get some development! :)

These are some nice buildings... :)

The Westin sale was approved, so we should be seeing the plans for "The Power Block" begin to gel soon.

The Power Block will include the new Westin tower, renovation of the Holiday Inn into a Hilton with the addition of a 27 story condo tower, and 2 additional condo towers at about 27 stories each.

cool, nice stuff

Nice.

makes me wonder why this city is so out of the radar.

Asohn, Providence has a metro of 1.6 million. The problem is that the city center is 45 minutes south of the Boston city line, and about 1/3 of Rhode Island's workforce travels up I95 every morning to their jobs in SE Massachusetts/Boston. Providence suffers from the same proximity shadow that Philly does vis-a-vi New York. The difference is, Providence leaders understand the relationship between MA and RI and have started to form policy based around "riding Boston's coat tails for all it's worth." Honestly, as a resident of SE Mass, I think such a policy is smart; Providence is a less expensive alternative than SE Mass, and actually the commute from Providence to Boston takes less time than a commute from some places in Bristol County, MA to Boston.

It looks like a very clean and well managed city, there is no doubt it is a supporting city to Boston, which allows both to benefit.

Too bad Buddy Cianci was such a crook, because he did wonders for the city, didn't he?

Too bad Buddy Cianci was such a crook, because he did wonders for the city, didn't he?

No, not really, he was mostly just a crook.

It looks like a very clean and well managed city, there is no doubt it is a supporting city to Boston, which allows both to benefit.

It's a better managed city than it was, it still has a way to go. It's undoubtedly on the way up, but many more things need to improve. The business climate is still not good, that's why there is so much residential development and very little business development. Rhode Island and Providence in particular have a much deserved reputation for corruption, in Providence at least that is begining to change.

These residential developments will continue to draw more talented people to the city. At some point business will see this large, well skilled population that leaves the metro area every morning for work and realize that if they locate their businesses in Providence, they can capture this workforce. Also, many of these people moving to the city will be business owners and entrepreneurs who will bring their own companies to the city, or start new companies here. We are already begining to see newcomers start companies here.

A highly skilled, creative population will only serve to help Providence in the long run, even if most of them are commuting to Boston in the short term.

Way to go Pro!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/pdxstreetcar/provrender1.jpg

The newly-approved Westin addition, in a TV shot captured by pdxstreetcar at SSP from the Providence NBC's midday news yesterday. Now that's a nice looking tower!

Great news for Providence. Looks like the smaller cities are getting their fair share of play these days! Never been to Providence. Guess I should provide myself with a ticket up there.

It is long overdue that Downtown Providence should get some additional residential development. I was walking down Westminster a couple of weeks ago and was surprised at how much condo/loft development is taking place. Finally, the city may be getting some foot traffic downtown (besides J&W students).

Also, a well-known Federal Hill restaurant - L'Epicureo - has opened a location in a new boutique hotel called The Hotel Providence on Westminster. All of this is pretty extraordinary given the history of the Westminster "mall".

It's great to see this kind of development outside of the confines of the grotesquely overscaled Providence Place Mall.

Shawn:

I'm totally confused. Are you back home or in Tokyo. I doubt they have Channel 10 in Tokyo. ;)

Haha nope, still in Tokyo, a guy by the handle of pdxstreetcar on Sky Scraper Page captured that and posted it. I think it's a sharp looking tower.

The tower to the right is already in place. The one on the left is the new building. In case anyone didn't realize that.

Too bad Buddy Cianci was such a crook, because he did wonders for the city, didn't he?

Actually, you're right - though certainly not by himself. He did a great deal for the city, not the least of which is that he had the vision to re-imagine downtown. Proof of his influence is that - during the time between when he was first mayor and then re-elected - the Paolino administration did virtually nothing to keep going what Cianci started in the late 70s - early 80s. In fact, during the Paolino years in the mid-eighties, downtown Providence went into serious decline.

Just my opinion having grown up there: Providence has benefited - more than anything - by having RISD in the city. The influence of RISD has consistently given Providence an "artsy edge" and sophistication lacking in other cities its size. Add to that the relatively recent culinary boost given by Johnson & Wales (though I HATE to admit it - talk about institutions with questionable ethics), and Providence's peers (i.e., Hartford, New Haven, Worcester, Springfield) can't come close to it. That is particularly the case with Worcester which - arguably - has more intellectual capital in the number of highly-respected colleges/universities (Clark, WPI, Holy Cross) than Providence (Brown).

prov really looks like a mini boston from that big overhead shot

I just visited Providence about a month ago and have to say that it's a decent city. Though I wouldn't give it high ranks.

I wasn't impressed with the skyline since all the buildings are rather small, but a friend of mine who lives in RI said that the city officials have never permitted large buildings.

I wasn't a fan of the "river" that runs through the city and under Providence Place Mall. However, I loved the fact that such a large city can have a mall in the downtown. It's fantastic.

I was able to see the development of GTech and the new apartment complex.

I wasn't thrilled by a harbor-front park located near 95. We had to take a pedestrian bridge to the park. The park is in serious ruins and the bridge crossing 95 was just as terrible. And the views from the park were gross!

Federal Hill is a nice place as is Thames Street (I think that's right?).

One of the best things about Providence is knowing how old the city is and how much history comes along with that.

I see great things for Providence, but as others have pointed out, it's location to Boston really hinders it's ability to grow. The metro is HUGE, but I don't ever see the city limits population growing in astronomical numbers.

All of that said.....I love some of the other small cities around Providence. Newport, Middletown, the South County area - all great places! Not so much a fan of Cranston and Warwick though. Urban sprawl at it's worst I think.

I wasn't thrilled by a harbor-front park located near 95. We had to take a pedestrian bridge to the park. The park is in serious ruins and the bridge crossing 95 was just as terrible. And the views from the park were gross!

Sounds like your friend took you to India Point Park, which is pretty amazing given that it is truly gross, and hasn't seen any real development since it was created in the mid-seventies.

Federal Hill is a nice place as is Thames Street (I think that's right?).

Federal Hill is nice; I'm not sure what other street you're referring to, given that Thames Street is in Newport.

I see great things for Providence, but as others have pointed out, it's location to Boston really hinders it's ability to grow. The metro is HUGE, but I don't ever see the city limits population growing in astronomical numbers.

There are quite a few of us who'd like nothing more than to see Boston and Providence stop growing, thanks. Especially if growth is synonymous with sprawl. Southern New England is in danger of losing precisely the kind of rural/small town character that has given it a unique quality for almost 400 years. The McMansionization of RI and eastern MA is particularly galling given that the population has grown very little in the last 30 years.

Not so much a fan of Cranston and Warwick though. Urban sprawl at it's worst I think.

I guess you didn't see Smithfield, Cumberland, Franklin, etc. - see comments above. At least Warwick was mostly developed many years ago. But I agree with you completely.

PghBoy83, did you mean Thayer Street? Near Brown? Kinda like a funky, less-upright Newbury?

That's great news! :)

Some updates:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/GTECH/2005-0912-gtech001.jpg
The first pieces of glass have been placed on the GTECH facade, though there is still a low-rise portion close to the river that has yet to see any steel.

Ground has been broken on the second Westin tower:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/2ndWestinTower/UP2005-0826-Westin001.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/2ndWestinTower/WestinSecondTowerProcGrp.jpg

Work is underway at WaterPlace:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Parcel2/2005-0818-WaterPlace0002.jpg

The Providence Renaissance Hotel is being built within the shell of the Masonic Temple:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y191/worourke/Masonic%20Temple/MT91105D.jpg

Work has begun on converting the Holiday Inn into a high-end Hilton:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/Hilton/2005-0826-HiltonRendering.jpg

OneTen Westminster will now be Rhode Island's new tallest building at 520feet, work is set to begin in November:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/OneTenWest/OneTen-2005-0810-Rendering.jpg

We're also waiting on details on several recent announcements, incuding new construction at the Old Public Safety Complex, a new condo tower at Grant's Block Downcity, a new building at the Fogarty Building site, an InterContinental Hotel at Parcel 12 in Capital Center, and a hotel, condo, museum project at Heritage Harbor, among others.

Amazing how all things come together at once !

The small area the projects cover is pretty amazing too. These projects pretty much all merge into each other.

Wow this is cool stuff!

One of my favorite cities! :)

I was wondering when I was going to hear of some developments in Providence. They all look pretty awsome.

By the way, it's also one of my favorite cities too.

Providence is a great little city that is going places. I love it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/OneTenWest/OneTen-2005-0810-Rendering.jpg

very nice. :)

OTW looks well over 600 ft. with the spire.

OTW looks well over 600 ft. with the spire.

It's 520 with the spire.

Here it is from the other side, glassy building, left center.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/cotuit/UrbanPlanet/OneTenWest/NewAerial.jpg

Stunning, and exciting

ya, Johnson & wales alum. most of the projects going up about 10 years ago was J & W expanding.. I have not been back to providence since 97 or so..

the projects look nice but for me.it's still way too tiny of a city heck so is Boston.