Town makes agreement with local developer for Arctic Village - West Warwick, Rhode Island
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The town of West Warwick, Rhode Island, worked on an ordinance to provide tax incentives to local real estate developers, specifically between the Arctic Redevelopment Agency and Nicholas Combio for the Post Office at 1190 Main St, vacant since 2002.
Waymark Code: WM10TKJ
Location: Rhode Island, United States
Date Posted: 06/22/2019
Views: 4
The town of West Warwick, Rhode Island, worked on an ordinance to provide tax incentives to local real estate developers, specifically between the Arctic Redevelopment Agency and Nicholas Combio for the Post Office at 1190 Main Street, vacant since around 2002. The article begins:
Town makes agreement with local developer for Arctic Village
Kendra Lolio -- Feb 6, 2017
WEST WARWICK — In an effort to revive the once vibrant Arctic Village, the town is drafting an ordinance that will allow them to enter a tax stabilization agreement to entice potential property developers to come to West Warwick. The ordinance will set the foundation for an agreement between the Arctic Redevelopment Agency and local developer Nicholas Cambio, and other developers in the future, by providing a tax incentive. Pending final approval, Cambio plans to develop the old post office building at 1190 Main Street as well as one other undecided property in Arctic in a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) program. The redevelopment agency plans to use the more general terms in the ordinance to negotiate with potential developers.
Cambio and his brother, Vincent, are the owners of Universal Property Group, LLC. The company has been working on local developments since the 1960s. Their work includes Bald Hill Commons on Route 2 in Warwick as well as the Warwick Centre directly across the street among others.
James Marsh of the redevelopment agency implored the council to implement some type of ordinance giving them the means to negotiate, noting that the committee does not currently have anything to bring to the table as an incentive when propositioning businesses to set up shop in town.
“We need a tool,” Marsh said. “They’re going to ask us what we have. We need something in our hands or we’re going to keep spinning our wheels. I implore you, we need to act on something quickly.”
Upon purchasing a property the agreement would allow Cambio to make a lump sum tax payment to the town up front as a replacement for an annual tax payment. The developer proposed a 20-year time frame for this particular project, but the terms of the ordinance will be more general and will be based on individual projects. The town would then be able to collect a commission, in this case a proposed 7.5 percent, on any increase in value in the property based on the developer’s work, but would no longer receive yearly tax revenue from the property. A percentage of the funds would go to police, fire and the senior center.
Cambio drafted an agreement in the form of an ordinance which he proposed to the Arctic Redevelopment Agency over a year ago. After many revisions, the agency brought it to the town council this week for consideration...
This Post Office appears to have been built between 1921 and 1932, based on a cast bronze plaque -- mounted to the southwest corner of the building and obscured by an overgrown shrubbery -- which reads:
A.W. MELLON
SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
JAMES A. WETMORE
ACTING SUPERVISING ARCHITECT
Andrew William [A.W.] Mellon was the 49th United States Secretary of the Treasury and served under Presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover during the years listed above. (SOURCE:
Wikipedia - Andrew Mellon.
As of this Waymark posting (June 2019), the building remained vacant, minimally maintained, and deteriorating. (See photo gallery.) A real estate agency's large red "AVAILABLE" sign stood at the property's West/front border.