Fane Tower Gets Design Approval - Victory for Ruggerio and Loss for Elorza

Fane Tower Gets Design Approval - Victory for Ruggerio and Loss for Elorza

For nearly three years, the proposed Fane Tower has been trapped in layers of regulatory review — caught between the overlapping city and state regulatory structures

The $300 million, 46-story project is the boldest and largest private investment in the City of Providence in more than 20 years, since the construction of the Providence Place Mall in the late 1990s.

Wednesday night, the 195 Commission took up the revised design.

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The project became a political football in the spring of this year as Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza’s administration worked to block the project. Those delays and efforts slowed the project, but led to State legislative leaders — sparked by Senate President Dominick Ruggerio to strip the city of many of its regulatory rights and shift them to the 195 Commission via a budget article.

In April, Ruggerio voiced his frustration with the City of Providence's delays.

"I think [the timeframe] had been a little lengthy, obviously -- this individual came in, he had half a billion dollars in his pocket to spend, and I don’t think he was treated as well as he should have been," said Ruggerio. 

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"What concerns me here is not just the Fane project, it’s the whole concept of when a developer comes into the state, I think they have to treat him a lot better — especially when we have a lot of land available for development," said Ruggerio. "So I was just not happy with the fact that it’s been three years [and] he spent about two million dollars on this project and he doesn’t have a shovel in the ground yet, so I don’t think that bodes very well for us as well as our economic developments."

195 Commission Vote

On Wednesday night, the 195 Commission considered revisions of the design of the project.  Prior to the meeting, nearly 100 members of local trade unions, including Local 51, were organized outside the meeting urging approval of the new design.

“We’d like to send the message to the developer that we understand it’s been a long process, a three year process to change the skyline of the city, to bring an influx of people into this city, to invest in this city, and that’s what we need to have,” said Tim Byrne, Vice President of the Rhode Island Building Trades Council.

“We also want to tell the [195] Commission this is a good project — it’s going to bring good construction jobs, good permanent jobs, and good residences and an influx [of] money into the city,” he added. 

Inside, many opponents organized by the non-profit Providence Preservation Society attended and spoke out against the project and the revised design.

Revised renderings were released by the developer of Wednesday afternoon which unveiled a new design for the streetscape view of the project.  The new design looks similar to the Wexford Innovation Center located directly across the street.

"Almost every apartment will have totally open panoramic views. We think it is what people want — and think it is for the happiness and convenience of people who live there," said the developer Jason Fane. 

"Over the last few years, I thank those who have supported us and I sincerely compliment those who disagree with us. A major philosophical difference we have, is that I give residents what they want, and for a better life. The future residents don’t have to way to voice their views. We advocate for the future," added Fane.

Ultimately, the Commission approved the design by a vote of 5-1.