Press Releases

Providence, RI and Baltimore, MD  -- Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, Inc. (SBE&R), headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and The Armory Revival Company, based in Providence, announce the $45 million renovation of the historic Rising Sun Mills complex. The development will serve as the northern anchor in the transformation of the River Valley, one of thirteen National Heritage Rivers. Upon completion in 2004, the complex will feature 151 market rate apartments, 100,000 square feet of offices and studios, and 14,000 square feet of retail space. Slated to generate more than 850 jobs, the 300,000 square foot mill complex is located on a 15.75 acre tract along the Woonasquatucket River. It was built in 1887 to house one of the country¹s largest textile mills the Saranac Mill and the National Worsted Mill.

 

"Rising Sun Mills offers a unique redevelopment opportunity to create fantastic residential and office opportunities, complemented with spaces that celebrate community gathering,” said B.J. Dupré, a partner at The Armory Revival Company. “This cluster of historic mill buildings lends to the creation of a dynamic live/work campus close to Providence's downtown yet with the appeal of a wooded, riverfront location. This is more than a renovation of an old mill complex...it is the transformation of a neighborhood."

 

The loft-style residences, ranging in size from 650 - 1,500+ square feet, offer studio, 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms with average rentals ranging from $700 -$1,400 per month. Each residence will have 12' high ceilings with 10' high windows, exposed original brick walls, maple hardwood floors and be fully wired for high-speed communication. Other amenities include a health club, a resident lounge with pool tables and a big-screen TV, an overlook at the scenic waterfall on the river and a kayak launch ramp.

 

Rising Sun Mill’s 70,000 square feet of office space will feature large floor plates, high ceilings, large windows, high speed communications, and on-site parking not offered in typical downtown locations. The unique campus-like setting will be marketed to "creative economy" firms that are drawn to the talent pool of Providence's top ranked colleges and universities.

 

"Rising Sun Mills is about creating a visible flagship of new economic activity in Providence," said Amy Bonitz, development director with SBE&R. "Companies are looking for amenities that help them compete in recruiting talented management and support staff. Urban campuses such as this serve as ideal settings for today’s workforce.”

 

The Rising Sun Mills is part of a larger redevelopment initiative being led by the City of Providence as part of its Three Cities Plan. The initiative aims to create long-term value by redeveloping 175 acres of vacant and underutilized industrial property for mixed-use development creating 10,000 new jobs, generating more than $20 million in real estate taxes and bringing more than 2,000 new residents into the City. The goal is to fully integrate new office space, homes, shops and restaurants with public open space along the Northwest Bikeway to create lively and successful in-city neighborhoods. This is the natural extension of the Federal Hill and Promenade Districts linking them to all of the good work that has taken place in the historic revitalization of Broadway and Westminster Street.

 

The developers are also working with the Woonasquatucket River Greenway Council and the RI Department of Transportation to restore the ecological integrity of the Woonasquatucket riverbank as part of the greenway plan to encourage public use of natural space around the dam located on the property. The State Department of Transportation is planning to extend the 5.3 mile Woonasquatucket River Greenway bike path along the restored riverbank.

 

The development team has nominated the complex for listing on the National Register of Historic Places as the renovation of the buildings within the complex will comply with the Department of the Interior's standards for historic rehabilitation. As such, it is eligibile for state and federal historic tax credits.

 

“We are excited about the opportunity to invest in Rhode Island. Providence is a fantastic college town with huge potential to capitalize on the creative and intellectual talent of its universities and incredible historic resources that have been largely untapped,” said Bill Struever, CEO of Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse.

 

"This is the first, major economic development project to be announced during my Administration, and it is a dramatic example of the opportunities we can bring to our neighborhoods. The Rising Sun Mills project will offer affordable housing, jobs' creation, and creative and environmentally minded reuse of an historic site," said Mayor David N. Cicilline. Rising Sun Mills is being redeveloped by a joint venture between Baltimore-based developer Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, Inc. and the Providence-based Armory Revival Company.

 

The project marks the first investment in Providence by Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse. Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, Inc. (SBE & R) is a 27-year old, nationally recognized development and construction firm specializing in historic preservation, brownfield redevelopment and mixed use. SBE&R has redeveloped more than six million square feet of former industrial space in Baltimore and is now actively developing projects in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. The company is credited with remaking the Baltimore Inner Harbor into one of the preeminent live / work areas in the country.

 

"We are pleased to be able to provide the financing for this historic and innovative project," said Susann G. Mark, director of Fannie Mae's Rhode Island Partnership Office. "We welcome the opportunity to play a role in the Providence renaissance."

 

The Rising Sun project will use federal and state historic tax credits that are critical to making projects like this happen. In addition, Fannie Mae's American Communities FundTM (ACF®) is an early investor in the project. ACF invests debt or equity in housing developments that support neighborhoods and community revitalization efforts. Fannie Mae is a New York Stock Exchange company and the largest non-bank financial services company in the world. It operates pursuant to a federal charter and is the nation's largest source of financing for home mortgages. Fannie Mae is working to shrink the nation's "homeownership gaps" through a $2 trillion "American Dream Commitment" to increase homeownership rates and serve 18 million -American families by the end of the decade. Since 1968, Fannie Mae has provided over $4 trillion of mortgage financing for 47 million families. More information about Fannie Mae can be found on the Internet at http://www.fanniemae.com.

 

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