WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Vacant lots and empty buildings have been eyesores surrounding the airport area of Warwick for years.
12 News has learned there are a number of new plans on the table for new homes and businesses in the city, specifically along Post Road and Jefferson Boulevard.
Rhode Islanders are known for giving “old school” directions and in Warwick, you may have heard, “go past the old Ann and Hope,” or, “turn by the old Carvel Ice Cream,” but that might not be for much longer.
The city has a number of plans in various stages of approval to put new life into some of the old spaces over the next one to three years, including the old Ann and Hope on Post Road.
“It’s just been sitting there, and we are going to put the new U-Haul in there and we are going to do something out front,” Mayor Frank Picozzi explained.
The project involves the rental of equipment, vehicles and self-storage service, according to City Planning Director Tom Kravitz. It will also come with enhanced landscaping along the entire front of the building.
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Down the road, at the corner of Airport Road, there used to be an old abandoned Mobil station which has turned into a Neon Marketplace.
Across the street, Carvel Ice Cream has already been torn down but will soon be replaced with a bank. Kravitz says the city is wrapping up planning permits over the winter for work to hopefully begin next year.
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“The Sheraton Hotel on Post Road has just been sitting there falling apart for years, and that’s going to become workforce housing and apartments,” Picozzi added.
Kravitz says it will be a 238-unit studio and one-bedroom apartment project. It currently has a building permit and is set to begin work any day.
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A short distance away on Jefferson Boulevard, a self-storage building has received a master plan approval and is awaiting permitting.
Kravitz hopes construction will begin next year.
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At the Skye City Centre, the city wants to include 243 housing units, a restaurant and a coffee shop that will anchor City Centre Warwick and the intermodal zoning district if it’s approved.
Kravitz says it will be located directly across from the train station interlink — if you’re driving south along Jefferson Boulevard, it’s just past the Ironworks and the Hilton Garden Inn.
“This is kind of the gateway to Rhode Island, coming out of the airport all you saw were abandoned buildings,” Picozzi said. “But we are marching right up and down Post Road improving it.”
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Elsewhere in the city, John Wickes and Randall Holden elementary schools have been sold, paving the way for a proposed development of 61 new single-family, first-time homebuyer-type units between both schools.
“We are using lots and old buildings that have been sitting there derelict for years,” Picozzi said. “These school buildings especially, we don’t even have to pay to tear them down now. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to tear them down and now the developers are doing it.”
The former School Administration building has also been sold.
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“We were projected to get $4.1 million on the sale of those schools and we already have that with two more to sell, so we are excited about it,” Kravitz added. “We bring in more homes and more tax revenue.”
The Woodspring Suites Hotel on Post Road has also received final approval.
