Superman Building Deal Approved by Providence City Council Committee - Now Goes to Full Council

Superman Building Deal Approved by Providence City Council Committee - Now Goes to Full Council

The mega-subsidy by the City of Providence for the vacant Superman building won a major approval by the Providence City Council's finance committee on Monday night.

After a two-hour public hearing and testimony from interest groups and citizens, the City Council finance committee approved a 30-year tax stabilization agreement (TSA) ordinance between the city and High Rock Westminster Street LLC, the owner of 111 Westminster Street, aka, the Superman building.

The thirty-year agreement is divided into three ten-year segments, as it pertains to taxes: 

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"The City has determined the stabilized amount of taxes to be paid by the Property Owner with respect to the Property, notwithstanding the valuation of the Property or the then-current rate of tax as follows:  

For tax years 2023 through and including tax year 2033, the Property Owner shall make a tax payment equal to the taxes due and owing for the December 31, 2022 assessment value multiplied by the then current Tax Year tax rate (hereinafter the “Base Assessment Tax”). For following ten (10) tax years thereafter, the Property Owner will pay the Base Assessment Tax plus Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00).  

For the final ten tax years, the Property Owner will pay the Base Assessment Tax plus a percentage of the difference between the Base Assessment Tax on the Property and the taxes due and owing on the then-current assessed value of the Property multiplied by the then-current rate."

See the TSA HERE. 

 

 

The building has been vacant for more than eight years.

The thirty-year TSA is unprecedented and is the third of three major taxpayer-funded incentives the Mayor Jorge Elorza’s administration committed to -- the city is providing the developers a $10 million loan at a 1% interest rate and a $5 million grant.

Combined with other federal and state subsidies and tax credits - taxpayers are underwriting approximately $80 million of the deal.

“We heard from many members of the community tonight on this proposal to redevelop the Superman building, a massive skyscraper that has laid dormant and dark for nearly ten years. There’s no question the property has become a black eye in the center of the capital city,” said Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan (Ward 5), Chairwoman of the finance committee.

The project that claims a $223 million budget has many questions -- specifically, how a building of this size and scope and vacant for nearly nine years could be rehabbed at a per square foot cost of less than $400 when similar projects in other cities cost more than $600 to $1,000 per square foot.

The proposed project calls for 285 residential apartments, with 20% of the units deed restricted as affordable.

The building owner has committed to a mix of retail and community space in the Grand Banking Hall, opening the building’s doors to all. A “Buy Providence” initiative is also included in the TSA, where the owner will use "good faith efforts" to buy construction materials, use equipment and services from city vendors.

The ordinance now moves before the full City Council and requires two passages.