The Pawtucket City Council is set to meet on Friday to vote on a tentative lease agreement that was negotiated by Mayor Donald Grebien’s administration and Fortuitous Partners LLC. This vote which is scheduled for 5:30 pm is for the City-owned land along the Seekonk River that is apart of a $400 million Downtown Pawtucket project that is called Tidewater Landing.
This news comes a day after the City Council voted to amend a city ordinance in order to allow for leases exceeding 10-years in relation to the city-owned properties.
Plat: Lot: Site Description:
54 827 Tidewater – North Site
23 673 Division Street Site 1
23 672 Division Street Site 2
23 599 Division Street Site 3
The terms of the deal are $1.00 per year for each year of the length of the lease. The initial term of the lease is 50 years effective from the signing date but has extension terms in it that will allow Fortuitous to extend the lease by two successive twenty-five year periods. In total, the agreement could last up to 100 years. So in essence, $50 for the initial term and up to $100 if it hits 100 years. Well below market value but that is very much expected in a redevelopment project on underutilized land. In terms of City revenue, the city will not impose a real estate tax on the land itself but can tax the buildings and other improvements that are made to the site itself and will also see incremental revenue from the traffic the development is expected to create.
Prior to this vote there are a number of hoops that must be jumped through. For starters Site 672 is owned by the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency which will meet this Thursday. The meeting which will be conducted via zoom is the meetings only new business listed on the agenda. The other hoop is the legal counsel of the City Council which has until Thursday at 5:30 pm to review the lease agreement and provide their findings to the City Council.
At this point, all indicators are pointing towards a smooth passing on Friday as the Tidewater Landing project checks off a critical box. The next steps following the vote will be a land lease agreement with National Grid on the property they own and a Tax Increment Financing plan that will involve Fortuiotous Partners, the City of Pawtucket, and the State Of Rhode Island, zoning altercations, and master development plan.
Friday’s vote will be live-streamed on the City of Pawtucket’s website and a public input period will kick-off the meeting.
