Struever Brothers, Eccles & Rouse, a Baltimore-based development company that specializes in rehabbing old buildings and areas, is ready to move forward with the second phase in the huge ALCO project in The Valley neighborhood of downtown Providence.
An aerial rendering of the ALCO project in Providence.
ALCO, named after the American Locomotive Company (a prominent company that used to be located in some of the abandoned factories), is a $300 million revival of a series of abandoned facotries and warehouses in The Valley neighborhood. Until the mid 1900s, this area had several major industrial companies located there, including ALCO and US Rubber. After US Rubber left in the ’70s, the are became a ghostown.
Struever Brothers completed phase one of the redevelopment last year, after five buildings in the eastern portion of complex were converted into 200,000 square feet of office and retail space. Approximately forty to fifty percent of the available space has been leased, and the remaining is being marketed to companies looking for 20,000 square feet, a size that is rare in the city.
The project is now ready for phase two, a process that will take place on the other side of the complex. Phase two will be smaller than the first phase, only rehabbing two buildings. The end result will be 126 rental units and another 55,000 square feet of commercial space. At least 20 percent of those units will be considered ‘work-force housing,’ or housing dedicated to those that make between 80 and 120 percent of Providence’s median income.
Overall, the project is planned to be completed in six stages. Once all six stages are complete, the once abandoned factory neighborhood will sport 500 condos and rental units, and 2 million square feet of commercial and retail space. Other improvements besides renovating existing structures includes a parking garage and a new bridge crossing the Woonasquatucket River (Struever Brothers, Eccles & Rouse has plans to renovate another site across the river).
Source: Providence Journal
Filed under: ALCO, History, Providence, Redevelopment, Rhode Island, Under Construction
