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Warwick’s City Centre Hyatt Place Hotel Will Link to TF Green Parking, Interlink Trains

Hyatt Groundbreaking 2
[CREDIT: Mayor Avedisian’s Office] Local, state and Congressional officials celebrated the ground-breaking for Hyatt Place on Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick’s City Centre. From left: City Council President Joe Solomon, Sen. Jack Reed, Councilman Jeremy Rix, Gov. Gina Raimondo, Mayor Scott Avedisian, Mike D’Ambra, Sr., Stefan Pryor, RI Commerce Corp., Rep. Jim Langevin, Daria D’Amnra and David D’Ambra.
WARWICK, RI — Within the year, Warwick’s 18th hotel, Hyatt Place in Warwick’s City Centre, will open on Jefferson Boulevard, providing 125 rooms, direct access to TF Green Airport parking and Interlink trains, creating 145 construction jobs and about 30 permanent jobs upon its completion in May 2018.

Hyatt Place hotel will be the first hotel in Warwick to have direct access to the airport’s parking garage, and the first Hyatt hotel in the city.

Local, state and Congressional officials met Wednesday morning at the Jefferson Boulevard site with Mayor Scott Avedisian, Governor Gina Raimondo, and Michael D’Ambra, Sr., of D’Ambra Construction, which will be building the new hotel, for the $20 million project’s ground-breaking ceremony. Joining the three were U.S. Senator Jack Reed, U.S. Representative James Langevin, Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and the Rhode Island Airport Corporation.

The hotel is the first of multiple new construction projects planned for the old asphalt site.

“The successful re-use of these 8 acres of land are a critical component to the overall efforts that have been made to revitalize the old industrial site,” Avedisian said. “Mike D’Ambra and his team are known for creating attractive, modern and highly successful developments. I am confident the City’s 17th hotel will be just that.”

City Centre Warwick capitalizes on the multi-modal transportation options in the area with the intent of guiding mixed-use redevelopment and revitalization of more than 100 acres surrounding T.F. Green Airport and the InterLink station into “a commerce center supported by a vibrant, energized neighborhood in which to live and work,” according to Avedisian’s office.

“Today’s groundbreaking on a new Hyatt Place hotel in Warwick is another sign that Rhode Island is on the move,” Raimondo said. She noted the project is an important first step in City Centre’s development. “Together, we are building a better future for Rhode Island,” she added.

“Today is a great day for the City of Warwick,” said Langevin, a Warwick resident. “This new development will not only bring 145 construction jobs and 30 permanent jobs to Rhode Island, it will continue the revitalization of the land surrounding the airport.”

Reed commended Avedisian and Raimondo on their leadership on the project.

Reed, ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD), helped secure a $400,000 federal Transportation and Community Systems Preservation Program grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to launch City Centre Warwick.

“The investments we made in the airport have helped prime this area for growth and make it an attractive place to do business. Both T.F. Green and Warwick continue to elevate their offerings and that will help fuel economic growth and new developments here and throughout the state,” Reed said.

“This is a very exciting project, both for Warwick’s City Centre and for the state as a whole,” said R.I. Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor. “This hotel and its connectivity to the T.F. Green complex will strengthen our airport and the commerce arising from it. This project will create construction and permanent jobs related to the facility itself; it will also make it more attractive for national and international companies to do business in our state, leading to more job growth.”

The project will receive up to $3.5 million under the statewide tax-increment financing program, approximately $1.2 million in Rebuild Rhode Island tax credits and more than $300,000 in a sales-tax exemption on construction materials. Additionally, D’Ambra received approvals from the City for a tax stabilization agreement (TSA), which will freeze value of the property for taxation purposes at the pre-construction assessment for five years. HarborOne Bank is providing the financing for this project.

To be eligible for the City program, a project must be located within the 111-acre City Centre district and be at least $5 million in new development. While the state program does not require the repayment of incentives, D’Ambra offered to do just that. A repayment schedule will begin in the fifth year and, as part of the agreement, will be completed by the 12th year. Avedisian called the Hyatt Hotel “the next step” in making City Centre a reality.

“This project has been in the works since the late 1990s, when it was first proposed by the late Senator Chaffee to build a train station and people mover at T.F Green,” said Mike D’Ambra, Sr. “Now, more than a decade later, we are excited to build this hotel in the heart of City Centre. In addition to the convenience and access to the parking garage, the hotel’s proximity to Providence, our beaches and surrounding area attractions, it will give business and leisure travelers an additional lodging option when planning trips to Rhode Island.

Rob Borkowski
Author: Rob Borkowski

Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at [email protected] with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.

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