When Carpionato Group purchased the former Newport Grand property nearly six years ago, there was excitement at what the developer promised would be an intriguing mixed-use development.
Retail, housing, hotels, all meant to anchor a resurgence of Newport’s North End.
Six years later, the old casino building sits as a decaying monument to unrealized expectations. The parking lot, with spectacular views of the Pell Bridge, is now an aging blacktop with weeds and grass growing out of the pavement’s crevices.
The future of the project seems as uncertain today as that day in 2014 when Newport voters rejected expanding the casino to include table games.
Carpionato swooped in and purchased the property for $10.1 million and within a year unveiled a plan for a $100 million mixed-use development that would have included two hotels, two six-story apartment buildings, and 164,000 square feet of what the Carpionato Group described as “innovative research and office space, as well as medical, retail and restaurants.”
The future of that proposal or any other is now clouded in environmental concerns, whether the plan or something similar fits into Newport’s vision for the North End, and the expectation that the bridge realignment will free 25 to 60 acres for development.
Mayor Xaykham (Xay) Khamsyvoravong likens the 25 to 60 acres to the Route 195 realignment that yielded 19 acres for development in Providence. He calls it an “incredible opportunity for Newport.” He says it’s expected the bridge realignment will be complete in a year.
Meanwhile, the mayor says the future of the casino property is uncertain and the original proposal is “not the right fit … we don’t want it to feel like it’s a series of retail stores … what does it look like, what does it feel like?”
Compounding concerns are environmental issues. Some officials question the impact of the existence of an old landfill beneath at least part of the parking lot, and whether it can support the kind of development that has been proposed.
An even greater concern is Elizabeth Brook which runs beneath the property. Mayor Khamsyvoravong calls it a “substantial challenge.”
The city’s North End Urban Plan calls for the construction of a “tide gate,” Neighborhoods have experienced flooding that officials attribute to the brook. Sometimes, officials say, the water floods the railroad corridor and nearby neighborhoods.
The North End plan says, “to withstand even greater expected future sea level rise, a flood gate near the outfall of Elizabeth Brook (at 3rd Street) could protect against extreme storm events.”
One proposal also calls for uncovering and landscaping around the brook, which flows through the casino site towards Narragansett Bay.
Meanwhile, officials look to not only the former casino project but to the North End with considerable promise. Besides the former casino and bridge realignment, there are other prospects, including the Naval hospital site.
