City promotes latest renderings of lifestyle center

PAWTUCKET – Phase one of the Carpionato Group’s “lifestyle center” at the Narragansett Park Plaza has commenced, say city officials, who are promising “great things to come.”

The plaza at 674 Beverage Hill Ave. in Pawtucket and 52 Narragansett Park Drive in East Providence, has become a bit of a ghost town over the years as tenants have cleared out.

A revised flyer on the Carpionato website, sent by the city to residents this week, touts its proximity to the heavily traveled Newport Avenue, the fact that 314,556 people are within a five-mile radius, and that 238,068 square feet of space is surrounded by a busy commercial corridor.

That flyer also mentions a planned new Planet Fitness location at the plaza.

Gregg Perry, spokesman for Carpionato said there won’t be a ton of action in this first phase of the project as the company seeks more approvals in the coming months. More buildings are set to be demolished this month and next.

Asked about rumors that Carpionato might be interested in other areas of Pawtucket for future development, Perry said the company is “always looking for potential sites for different projects,” but is “nowhere near ready to announce” anything definitive on that front.

Perry confirmed previous assertions by city officials that the chains currently employing people at remaining open stores in the Narragansett Park Plaza will ultimately be responsible for the future of those employees and where they go once remaining buildings are torn down.

The 25-acre Narragansett Park Plaza project, with 10.5 acres of it located on the Pawtucket side of the city line and another 14.4 acres on the East Providence side, is one of the largest for the city in many years. The mixed-use lifestyle center is being hailed as Pawtucket’s version of Carpionato’s Chapel View in Cranston.

The Breeze reported earlier this month that demolition of existing vacant restaurant buildings was to continue into this spring.

Owner and applicant Amalgamated Financial Group is due to submit its preliminary plan application to both the Pawtucket City Planning Commission and East Providence Planning Commission by May, according to a schedule from city planners.

Both cities approved conceptual plans for the project last year.

Carpionato is planning 118,770 square feet of office space, 72 residential units, 240,770 square feet of retail/restaurant space and one drive-through restaurant.

Carpionato hasn’t announced tenants, but is promising a mix of uses where residents can work, live and play all in the same plaza.