Amid the hurdles posed by higher interest rates and increased building costs, a spokesman for the owner of the Industrial Trust Building, aka the “Superman Building” in downtown Providence, said the project is moving ahead and the company has not requested additional public funds “to date.”
Bill Fischer, spokesman for David Sweetser of Massachusetts-based High Rock Development, said work to redevelop the Superman Building “is ongoing and an enormous amount of work has been achieved to date.” Fischer said High Rock Development is in the process of selecting a general contractor.
“Yes, interest rates, supply chain shortages and construction inflation have created challenges for this project and other like projects both regionally and nationally,” Fischer said in a statement. “We continue to evaluate and work through these challenges. To date, we have not sought additional support for the project.”
Plans to revitalize the Superman Building with 285 apartments, nine years after it was left vacant, were announced last April at the Statehouse.
At the time, this was how the financing for the $220 million project was described: Sweeter’s firm would provide up to $32 million in cash equity; $26.2 million will come from existing state economic and housing programs, with the biggest part of that ($15 million) from the Rebuild RI tax credit; $22 million in federal historic tax credits; $10 million in a low-interest loan and a $5 million direct contribution from Providence; and $2.1 million from the federal New Markets Tax Credit.
More recently, talk has circulated among insiders of a perceived gap between existing funding for the Superman project and the actual cost.
In a statement, state Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor — who helped negotiate the revitalization plan in his former role as state Commerce secretary, said the state is keeping an eye on the project.
“Many projects across the country are experiencing challenges due to the interest rate environment, supply chain complexity and inflation,” Pryor said.
The commission overseeing development of the 195 District in Providence announced last week that Fane tower, a residential high-rise first proposed in 2016, would not happen. That project faced longstanding questions about whether it would ever happen.
Fischer said select demolition for engineering and environmental analysis has been conducted at the Superman Building, and architectural plans have also been completed “to such specificity that they now show which direction every door will swing in the building.”
The building has been vacant since its last tenant, Bank of America, moved out.
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@ripr.org.