NORTH PROVIDENCE – The two sides in the ongoing standoff over what to do with the town’s old public safety complex property are in talks on a potential compromise where everyone could walk away happy.
Nick Durgarian, of Douglas Construction, the company with an active purchase and sale agreement on the property, said the sides are proactively looking for a joint solution that would benefit all parties involved.
Talks are ongoing, he said, emphasizing that he and his company are not giving up on the property or their plans to redevelop it.
Durgarian said his legal representatives have been in touch with council members and discussions are under way on a “collaborative development and augmentations to the purchase to make it a win for the community and the developer,” he said.
They haven’t given up anything in this matter, he said, and details of what might be developed at 1967 Mineral Spring Ave. are “100 percent in flux.”
Town Council members have for years opposed Durgarian’s original plan, reached with Mayor Charles Lombardi, for a pair of commercial buildings fronting on Mineral Spring Avenue and a self-storage facility in the area behind them. He said this week that no uses have been taken off the table.
Lombardi said the administration sent a letter to the developer after an Oct. 6 meeting where Councilor Ron Baccala made a successful motion to put the property back on the market, and his understanding was that Durgarian’s representatives were reviewing options. He reiterated that the town has lost out on some $500,000 in tax money as the property has languished due to opposition from the council.
There are more than 200 apartments and a group home in the immediate area, he said, which is why he was fine with a storage facility originally instead of more housing, which Durgarian could easily proceed with.
Council members voted unanimously at the Oct. 6 meeting to put the property back on the market.
Council President Dino Autiello previously said there was no way they would agree to a revised plan to build some 96 housing units on the property that served as home to police and fire operations for decades before a new one opened up the road in 2019.
Council members have maintained that the purchase and sale agreement originally signed between Douglas Construction and Lombardi is invalid because they didn’t approve it, but officials have continued to negotiate with Durgarian through the years.
Officials contend that the project is important to the future of North Providence’s tax base, as properties of this size don’t come around often.
