PROVIDENCE, R.I. — An entrepreneur whose Rhode Island-based ad agency lost, to a New York agency, a contract to "put Rhode Island on the map," has decided to promote a city-owned asset worldwide, for his own interests.

Michael Mota, chief executive officer and founder of Atom Media Group, which counts among its clients Benrus, Benjamin Moore and the Smithsonian Institution, wants to open a wedding and event venue at 1 Finance Way, overlooking Waterplace Basin.

Called Skyline at Waterplace, Mota said he would promote it globally as a site for destination weddings complete with gondolas and possibly timed to coincide with a showing of WaterFire.

He and his investment partners submitted a bid, as MM Asset Mgnt. & Delpidio Group, to pay the city roughly $1 million over 10 years to rent the building. Known as Waterplace Park Pavilion, it is managed by the Providence Parks Department.

The bid, under which Mota would spend about $1 million more to improve the property, was accepted by the city, but the lease is still being worked out.

Wendy Nilsson, Parks Department superintendent, said the city had been looking for ideas for that building. Since it opened in 1997, it has been leased to three restaurants: the Boat House restaurant until 2000, Bella Vista until 2007 and Waterplace Restaurant, which was also a nightclub. It closed last year.

"Restaurants had not been successful there," Nilsson said Tuesday. "The last tenant had merged it into a nightclub. We didn't want that. We wanted to see what would enhance the quality of life downtown."

Mota, 35, of Lincoln, who grew up in North Providence and operated a wedding videography business for 11 years, has put together a team that includes Rhodes on the Pawtuxet caterer Russell Morin Fine Catering, former Biltmore event coordinator Scott Connery and developer A. Ricci & Sons.

The food would be cooked off-site, he said, and finished in the building's two kitchens. Renovations would include restoring the use of both floors to allow separate events to take place simultaneously, and opening up the interior by raising ceilings and installing larger windows.

He envisions chandeliers in a white interior, with views of the water and the city skyline from every table.

Besides weddings, the venue could be booked for birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and business meetings, he said, and it could be open to the public during concerts and WaterFire, as well as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and New Year's Eve.

—dnaylor@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7411

On Twitter: @donita22