Warren Gateway tentatively moves forward

By Ethan Hartley
Posted 11/12/21

Financial details remain blurry, but the Warren Town Council voiced overall approval for a 1.4-acre development that could transform the entrance to Warren from Barrington.

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Warren Gateway tentatively moves forward

Posted

Negotiations between local developer Giovanni Cicione and the Town of Warren simultaneously moved forward and hit another roadblock following a community meeting held on Monday night to discuss updates to the proposed development known as the Warren Gateway, a 1.4-acre site that sits at the foot of the Warren Bridge and directly next to the sprawling Tourister Mill complex.

A more focused vision of the project was discussed, which includes a cafe moving into the historic National Grid building that exists on the site and the construction of a new, 55-foot-tall building on an existing foundation that would house Twelve Guns Brewery, a restaurant, and a boutique hotel with as many as 40 rooms.

A large expanse of open green space for public use, public restrooms, a connection to the existing river boardwalk and a possible connection to the East Bay Bike Path were also part of the updated proposal.

The snag didn’t come from any widespread disapproval of the project regarding its size, traffic impact or projected use, though some comments and concerns on those issues were raised, but due to the fundamental financial details that serve as the foundation for the project’s viability.

It should be noted that nothing official has been approved at this point. The town owns the land, which it purchased for around $550,000, and is negotiating this development concept through a memorandum of understanding with Cicione, a process which has now been ongoing for about 20 months.

The town and Cicione ultimately agreed to meet with financial advisors and lenders to continue moving the process forward, but questions regarding any projected timeline of construction beginning or being completed, as of this writing, are too preliminary to answer.

A tiff about TIF
Specifically discussed last night was the town’s responsibility to serve as the guaranteer of a tax-incremental funding (TIF) bond to finance structural renovations on the site (raising existing and future buildings up in elevation to mitigate flooding risks), which served as a point of contention between Cicione and town officials, including Warren’s Director of Planning and Community Development, Bob Rulli, and Town Solicitor Anthony DeSisto.

Such a bond would be necessary for Cicione to complete the site work that would serve as the foundation for the development as a whole, but whether that bond would amount to $1 million, $1.6 million or as much as $2.5 million as Cicione contended was still up for debate as of Monday night. As was the amount of money that the town would pay back into the bond versus how much it would use to bolster its own coffers.

In theory, the TIF bond would be repaid by tax revenue generated from the activity on the site, not by any additional tax burden on residents. However, Rulli said on Monday night and reiterated on Tuesday morning that the primary concern the town needs to have addressed is whether or not the economic viability of the development will generate enough revenue to make those payments without relying on taxpayers.

“I’m in favor of the project, I just need to be comfortable we’re not going to run into a problem,” Rulli said. “I can’t sit here and say we’re going to just get it done. I have a fiduciary responsibility to the council and the residents to vet this and make sure we know what we’re getting into. If it all works, great, we’re heroes. If it doesn’t work, we’re goats.”

Rulli said he was uncomfortable with the large number of assumptions being made by Cicione in his presentation, such as the assumption that the town would allocate 60 percent of the revenue generated from the development back towards the bond, and how a boutique hotel would be able to make sufficient money relative to the costs.

Cicione mentioned a niche idea where a hotel could potentially lease out individual rooms — a kind of cross between a hotel and a condo, with similarities to a time share. But Rulli said if that doesn’t materialize, it could have serious financial ramifications on the revenue generated by a hotel.

“These numbers, if they change, that changes your whole financial structure,” Rulli said. “It seems to me there’s a lot of risk baked into this.”

Cicione said on Tuesday morning that he was reassured that the Town Council was in favor of the overall development, and that he can now feel comfortable committing to a design plan, and was happy to move forward with the council’s request to sit down with financial advisors and lending institutions to hammer out more specific financial details.

“I certainly understand they want to see the financing package as well and that’s the step we’re going to take,” Cicione said. “I needed to get their buy-in, which we received. Now that they’ve said they’re supportive of it, now we can give real pricing. Let’s get rid of some of the assumptions and start coming up with some real numbers.”

As it currently stands, Cicione estimated Tuesday morning that the total project cost hovers between $10-12 million, comprised of the aforementioned TIF bond, around $5 million from the Industrial Recreational Bond Authority (IRBA), a loan program within Commerce RI, and another estimate of around $3.5 million for the hotel buildout. Cicione said he and his investors were anticipating utilizing somewhere between $700,000 and $1.2 million of private capital for the development.

“The council and the town is doing their due diligence and asking the right questions,” Cicione said.

Development vision becomes clearer
The impetus for the financial details to be sorted out became especially apparent in light of the presentation given by Cicione and Paul Attemann, a Warren resident and a Senior Associate for the architectural firm Union Studio, who walked the council and public through updated site plans and renderings that showed what the development could ultimately look like if all things go to plan.

“The point was to make this a very unique development that not only reflected well on the town of Warren but would serve as an attraction to people…and be an economic development driver and access point for the town,” Cicione said.

A site map showed how the raised elevation of the proposed site would enable the construction of a creatively-designed development that comprised a cafe within the existing National Grid building and a raised deck that encircled the proposed four-story building, which would house the hotel, brewery, restaurant, and 12 total public bathroom stalls.

A large lawn would also be available for public use, and Cicione said that opportunities for public art displays and events such as music festivals would abound, which pleased members of the council and public alike.

Parking availability was another point of contention, which Attemann addressed through the concept of a covered parking area for hotel guests underneath the public deck above. Through this machination, the development was able to find room for 48 total spaces, some of which would be required to be available for the public to utilize the river walk and access the water. This prompted the council to recognize that a 40-room hotel might not be viable with such limited parking, to which Cicione agreed.

Another important point that must be addressed by Cicione is the attainment of a proposed easement from the owners of the Tourister Mill site to utilize their existing entrance and exit site at the junction of 114 and Crescent Street. Cicione said that was a top priority, as the existing curb cut providing access to the Gateway site, which sits right near the end of a heavily-trafficked curve in the road of 114 at the terminus of the Warren Bridge, would not be ideal for public safety.

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