Providence’s Capital Center Commission (CCC) will disband after nearly 45 years. The Commission was established in 1981 to develop the area between the State House, Union Station, and Downcity. The CCC led the development of the vast majority of the parcels in the area, and now municipal and state governments believe it is time to sunset the review board.
The CCC was created by both the City and the State, so legislative bodies at both levels have introduced legislation to eliminate the panel. City officials say that the CCC is redundant, given that the Downtown Design and Review Committee (DDRC) now covers much of the same land and similarly gives input and approval on projects built downtown, which includes the Capital Center area.
At the request of Mayor Brett Smiley, the commission supported a resolution to dissolve the body at its (possibly final) meeting on Feb. 19. Many commissioners, including CCC Chair Lisa Carnevale, recommended comparing CCC and DDRC regulations to ensure that similar standards carry over.
Concerns were raised about the legality and method of dissolution, and whether further state or municipal actions were required. Former CCC Chair Deming Sherman publicly testified about his concerns on the issue.
The CCC stewarded projects such as the conversion of the Masonic Temple into the Marriott Renaissance Hotel, the construction of the Amtrak station on Gaspee Street, and the Providence Place Mall. While the Commission was busy in its heyday, the 1980s and ’90s, today the pace has slowed down. In 2022, The Track 15 food hall (set to open this March)was one of the last large projects approved by the CCC.
“Now we’re in a state where there are just a handful of parcels left to develop… the Capital Center Commission did not meet once in 2024,” Deputy Director of Planning and Development Bob Azar said at the Feb. 19 meeting. “This creates a problem. If you get a project, you still have to meet, but if members are not used to the monthly payments of regular meetings, it can be really challenging to get a quorum.”
Additionally, the pace of moving through the CCC process and the fees associated can create a burden on developers. “The Capital Center’s fees are outrageously high… For a new construction project in downtown subject to the Downtown Design and Review Committee, the fee is $400,” Azar said. “For the Capital Center, the fees can be as high as $40,000.”
But throughout its existence, the CCC helped to transform the Capital Center, which was mostly comprised of parking lots at the Commission’s inception.
“Since then, the Capital Center has seen the construction of more than 1.2 million square feet of retail space, 1 million square feet of office space, more than 1,000 hotel rooms and guest suites, 765 residential units, 7,800 parking spaces, more than 6,900 permanent jobs, and more than $1 billion in private development,” Providence Business News reported.
Today, the 195 District Commission is jockeying to attract development projects in a different area of downtown, taking over this role from the CCC.
“I want to acknowledge the important role that this commission has played, all the members past and present — it has been a commission that was on the vanguard of development,” Azar said.
“I think that it’s also important to acknowledge that a body like this was created for a specific purpose,” he added. “It shouldn’t outlive that purpose.”
By Katy Pickens / Planning & Preservation Writer / kpickens@ppsri.org