College Hill Hotel Developer Is Back With a Revised Design and 25% Smaller
GoLocalProv Business Team
College Hill Hotel Developer Is Back With a Revised Design and 25% Smaller
Ed Small of the Smart Hotels Group is back. For ten years the President of the Ohio-based company has been looking to build a hotel on Providence’s College Hill near Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design.
In November of 2019, his effort to build a boutique hotel on College Hill was rejected by the City of Providence. The College Hill Neighborhood Association and Providence Preservation Society raised numerous concerns about what was then a proposed 126 room hotel slated for the corner of Angell and Brooks streets, across from Wheeler School and in the middle of Brown's footprint.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThis project is rare in that it is not asking for city or state subsidies or incentives. Hotel projects across the city have received tens of millions in Rebuild RI funding from Commerce RI and reduced taxes from the City of Providence through tax stabilization agreements. GoLocal contributor Ray Rickman has called for the College Hill project to move forward.
New Vision
Now, Small and his team have revamped the project again - fewer rooms, trimmed to five floors from six, and additional changes in materials.
Maybe most importantly, the building mass has been reduced by 25 percent. The interior has been significantly redesigned and the number of rooms has been reduced to 118.
“We have taken the feedback from the neighborhood and the city and dramatically reduced the impact,” said Small in an interview with GoLocal on Thursday.
“The rooms are more efficient and we have reduced the impact,” Small added.
Three houses are slated to be torn down as part of this hotel project, including 209, 211 and 217 Angell Street. The three properties are controlled by East Side developer and realtor Ed Bishop. The grandest of the three homes is the 1890 structure at 209 which is accessed by the City of Providence for $922,500. The three structures combined are assessed at a value in excess of over $2 million.
Architectural critic Will Morgan wrote last fall, "Smart Hotels' Small claims to be a preservationist and that he is a proponent of adaptive reuse. If so, he should consider saving the three houses and imaginatively developing them as the centerpiece of hotel that really would enhance his chain's reputation and be a worthy addition to College Hill."
Why Build a Hotel in this Economic Environment?
Small said that the area is perfect for a small hotel and that the industry will return over time.
“We are rebuilding for the long-term trend, not the short-term impact,” said Small. In addition, Small says his company has enhanced the project by committing to local hiring, free public transportation for hotel workers, and to augment the limited parking onsite with parking off-site.
The proposal will be heard next Tuesday by the City Plan Commission.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Mr. Small was identified as the CEO. He is the President of Smart Hotels.