Fane Project to Pay $249,000 in Penalties — Project's Closing Extended to June 2021
GoLocalProv Business Team
Fane Project to Pay $249,000 in Penalties — Project's Closing Extended to June 2021
On Wednesday night, the 195 Commission met almost entirely in closed session for nearly an hour outside of the public’s review and voted to allow the Fane project to continue and gave multiple critical extensions to the project.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Fane had requested of the Commission to “pause” the timeline and never received a response.
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Over the past few months, Fane has missed a number of deadlines during the pandemic for the project that was first proposed in November of 2016 — four years ago.
The Commission operating under Robert Davis' chairmanship returned from the closed session and with no debate passed a motion to trade a payment of $249,000 in penalties in exchange for an extension of two critical deadlines relating to design and another for the closing — and those extend the project’s development to June 30 of 2021.
In addition to the penalty payment due to be paid by end of day Friday, Fane must provide a letter of credit for $3.75 million to coincide with the design submission and approval.
These two financial provisions resolve the missed deadlines.
After the vote, the 195 Commission issued the following statement:
Fane Statement November 18, 2020
Regarding the I-195 Commission vote relative to an extension for the project
The project has been on an unofficial pause due to the pandemic. The Fane organization has been working closely with the I – 195 Commission discussing an official extension for the project. We are glad the major issues have been worked out with a few minor things to be resolved this week.
We are still waiting for the decision from the court on the zoning approval appeal. A decision on the zoning approval appeal remains as an impediment to the project.
Mr. Fane remains very committed to the project and will be moving forward with design and development activities incurring considerable expense in doing so.
Fane statement outline.
1.We were on unofficial pause due to the pandemic
2.We have worked closely with the I – 195 Commission to work out an extension for the project. We are happy to say the major issues have been resolved with a few minor things to be worked out this week
3.We are still waiting for the decision on the zoning appeal. This remains an impediment to the project.
4.We are still very committed to the project and will continue moving forward and incurring considerable expenses on design and development activities
As GoLocal last December reported:
Jason Fane’s project is alive and now moving forward. Documents submitted to the City of Providence in support of the project's requests for millions in tax breaks under the city’s tax stabilization program unveil the financial assumptions behind the development.
Fane’s team dropped off a non-returnable check to the city of Providence for $205,575.
Fane’s 46-story ambitious project is aggressively moving forward and has added an important strategic partner.
The documents for the cost estimates were prepared by Gilbane — one of the largest privately held, family-owned construction and real estate development firms in America.
The controversial project has repeatedly delayed by Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza and has drawn the ire of the Providence Preservation Society.
In contrast, trade unions have been strongly pushing for the tower, which is estimated to create more than 1,200 jobs over the course of the project.
Taller than Previously Proposed, Nearly 20% Increase in Units
In November of 2018, the Fane team provided GoLocal with detailed numbers to the project — specifically, the project a year ago was estimated to have 420 units "plus or minus" and would be 495 feet tall.
Documents submitted to the city on Tuesday unveil that the project is now 550 feet tall and has grown to 500 units -- a height difference of 55 feet.
This represents an 11 percent increase in height and nearly a 20 percent increase in the number of residential units.
“The Fane Tower will be approximately 550 feet tall and include about 500 residential apartments ranging from studios up to large four-bedroom family apartments and penthouses. Approximately 330 parking spaces are anticipated, though the specific number of units and precise apartment layouts have not yet been determined. It is expected that the building will have almost 14,000 square feet of street-level retail space on the ground floor, and more than 500,000 gross square feet in the residential tower,” according to Fane’s submission to the City.
The number of proposed parking spots would also increase from 300 to 330 spots.