Also, developer tells state Finance Committee that Pawtucket's leaders are more motivated than those in Providence.

BRISTOL, R.I. — Thursday night, the state’s Senate Finance Committee asked Pawtucket commerce director Jeanne Boyle if the city is willing to consider different ways to finance a new PawSox stadium, and they asked private developer Colin P. Kane how Pawtucket’s development opportunities compare with the 195 land in Providence, whose development he oversaw for several years.

Boyle said yes about financing options, and Kane said there are many similarities in the two cities but Pawtucket’s municipal leadership is stronger than Providence’s.

Both exchanges demonstrate that the senators are grappling with the many issues they’ve explored in five lengthy hearings in recent weeks to gather testimony from those who have crafted a stadium-financing proposal.

They have also heard from the public about whether Rhode Island and the City of Pawtucket should help pay to build a new $83-million stadium at the Apex department store site in downtown Pawtucket.

Sen. James A. Seveney, D-Portsmouth referred to Wednesday’s testimony from executive director Jeff Diehl of the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank and General Treasurer Seth Magaziner, who each suggested bonds could be issued at potentially lower interest rates if the Infrastructure Bank or the state’s Commerce Corporation handled the transaction.

The deal that requires General Assembly approval now suggests that the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency would issue bonds so the state, city and Triple A ball club could borrow $71 million to pay for a new stadium.

Magaziner said the total amount issued in bonds could be as high as $84 million, so that money could be set aside for early interest and other payments before development around a ballpark generates the revenue that proponents of the deal say would be used to pay off the bonds over 30 years.

Seveney asked Boyle and Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency chairman Roger Lemoie whether they had spoken with Magaziner or Diehl. When Lemoie said no, Seveney said, “Well, you should, because apparently there’s some fairly significant money that could be saved.”

Senate Finance Chairman William J. Conley Jr. stepped in, explaining the Senate Committee had invited Diehl to speak. Boyle told senators she has a meeting scheduled with him and that she was “intrigued” by the Wednesday testimony.

“We’re open to any suggestions and any way of making this a more cost-effective financing," Boyle said.

Both the 195 land and Pawtucket offer riverfront property along a beautiful river, Kane told the committee. But Pawtucket holds one distinct advantage, said Kane, who is a principal of the East Providence-based Peregrine Group and was the first chairman of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission in Providence.

“I’ll be very blunt. I think the leadership in Pawtucket is better at the municipal level,” Kane said. “The Providence leadership has been a significant barrier” to attracting investors from around the country.

Kane told senators that investors would likely commit quickly to surrounding development projects if the stadium wins legislative approval. But, he said, it could take three years before new construction would be completed — and 8 to 10 years before enough development could generate about $1 million needed in additional tax revenue.

The city has chosen Peregrine as the preferred developer for a mixed-use project on the nearby Division Street property — which Kane said the firm began pursuing before the PawSox stadium idea for Pawtucket developed.

Kane said the Apex site is “indeed blighted,” and Pawtucket needs a spark to jump-start development in its downtown and turn around the declining city. Recent, smaller developments such as new restaurants and the Pet Food Experts headquarters that Peregrine helped bring downtown aren’t enough, Kane said.

Pawtucket needs more — whether it’s the new proposed ballpark or Amazon’s HQ2: “Absent something like that, nothing is going to happen,” Kane said. "That death spiral I describe will continue.”

To senators’ questions about what another recession would mean for potential ancillary development, Kane replied, “I can’t kid you. Recessions are very hard.”

But he said developers like him have persevered through recessions — in large part by investing for the long haul, not expecting to make returns on investments and sell in one economic cycle, before another recession hits.

“We’re not single-cycle players,” Kane said. “You can’t be if you’re in Rhode Island, or Boston.”

Lemoie also told senators that the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency had voted Thursday in support of the proposed legislation.

Part of Lemoie’s testimony intrigued Conley, who asked follow-up questions after Lemoie said the redevelopment agency had acquired the Apex property originally in the late 1960s and conveyed it to the Apex properties group for retail uses. He didn’t state it, but the city had taken the property then by eminent domain.

Conley wanted to know how much the agency had sold the Apex property for: $240,000, Lemoie said after consulting with Boyle.

Testimony continues next Thursday at Bryant University, scheduled for 6 p.m., although that time may change, Conley said.

— kbramson@providencejournal.com

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