The Route 195 Redevelopment District Commission says it will be the last postponement, and pointedly questions the lack of cost estimate for the project. Fane's spokesman replies that the developer is pouring years of his life into a project "that will move the city and state forward" and should not be called on the carpet publicly over "bureaucratic red tape."

PROVIDENCE — Developer Jason Fane has received another extension of the deadline to seek a city property-tax treaty for his proposed 46-story apartment tower in downtown Providence, but the state panel that controls the land warned Thursday that no further extensions will be granted and raised new questions about the project.

In a letter to Fane, 195 Redevelopment District Commission Chairman Robert Davis agreed to push back Thursday's deadline for the Fane Organization to apply for a city tax treaty until Dec. 1. The deadline, one of the requirements in Fane's purchase and sale agreement with the commission for the proposed construction site, had already been postponed from last month.

But Davis wrote that Fane's latest request for an extension, which suggests that the developer doesn't yet have construction cost estimates for the project, "gives us pause."

"It has been our experience that from early in the pre-development process developers establish a cost estimate for their projects and carefully monitor whether their preliminary project design fits within that estimate," Davis wrote. "We were surprised to learn that in your case you seem to have submitted a design and entertained modifications to that design without such a consideration. It concerns us that you seem to be pursuing a major project without the kind of pro forma that would ordinarily be expected."

In bold text, Davis wrote that "we must advise you that there will be no further extension" of the tax treaty deadline beyond Dec. 1.

Fane is also required to submit a "pre-development schedule" to the commission by Nov. 1.

In an email response Thursday, Fane spokesman Dante Bellini criticized the 195 Commission for discussing the process publicly in writing.

"Jason Fane came to Providence to build a great project that will move the city and state forward, not to fight with the 195 Commission over bureaucratic red tape," Bellini wrote. "He has committed several years of his time and energy as well as a significant amount of resources to constructing this iconic residential tower. But it is unfortunate that Chairman Davis chose to send a public letter, rather than picking up the phone and working through a simple deadline issue that is misplaced to begin with."

He went on to say that the deadline for a tax treaty application should have been set later in the process, but did not address the concerns about having no construction cost estimate or why the project appears to have bogged down.

"We have been in touch with Secretary Pryor and Chairman Davis and will hope to work out this detail shortly in a positive and collegial manner," Bellini said.