Brown University buys 10 Jewelry District properties in bid to build new lab
Just two days before buying the properties, Brown released a draft plan for growing its research capabilities with up to $800 million in renovation and new construction.
PROVIDENCE — Brown University bought 10 properties in the Jewelry District from the Care New England health care system for more than $16 million this week, and it plans to build a new laboratory in the area.
Although Brown did not disclose the purchase price, state property records put the land deal at $16.4 million. The plots were all Women & Infants Hospital properties, according to property records.
With the purchase of the 10 lots, Brown will own all but four lots in that block of the Jewelry District, bounded by Ship and Elm streets and Richmond, Elbow and Chestnut streets. The university also owns multiple adjacent and nearby buildings, including the Point Street apartment complex and the Laboratories for Molecular Medicine across the street at 70 Ship St.
The purchases include the 30,000-square-foot Kilguss Institute, at 200 Chestnut St., which Women & Infants Hospital describes on its website as a 30,000-square-foot facility with 15 laboratories, which it rents out. The lab space focuses on advanced microscopy, live cell imaging and molecular biology.
More: Brown buys Jewelry District apartments for $75 million
Care New England will continue to use the Kilguss lab, as well as a multi-story building at 70 Elm Street, which houses the Women & Infants Division of Cytopathology, after signing a lease with Brown. Two other buildings on Richmond Street purchased from Care New England will be vacated as the university finds a use for them, University Spokesman Brian Clark wrote in a news release.
Talks to buy the properties started in July 2021, he wrote.
In all, Brown purchased the following properties:
70 Elm St., $4.8 million
261 Richmond St., $513,000
297, 300, 324, 317, 307 Richmond St. and 61 South St., $6.15 million
200 Chestnut St., $4.9 million
Women & Infants public relations director Raina Smith did not respond to requests for comment on how the purchase would affect the hospital.
Brown plans to build new lab in Jewelry District
The purchase came a day after Brown announced on Tuesday that it planned to build a lab in the Jewelry District next to other properties the university owned there.
The university is in the process of selecting an architect, although the exact site of the proposed building, if one has been picked, is not clear. Choosing an architect will take three to six months, according to a news release.
Brown will now begin to figure out how much space it needs, site requirements and the scale of the project.
The new building was identified in Brown's 10-year plan launched in 2014.
The university's other medical research facilities are on College Hill and the Laboratories for Molecular Medicine, across from the newly purchased properties.
The new lab will likely include wet and dry lab space, an "animal care facility" and space for researchers from different Brown departments, according to a draft plan released by the university.
Brown wants to increase research capacity, with up to $800 million in infrastructure spending
Just two days before the land purchases were made official, Brown released a draft plan for growing its research capabilities, which will require $700 million to $800 million in renovation and new building. According to the plan, the university wants to add several hundred thousand square feet of research space.
Brown leaders want to "redouble" their research efforts, which include construction of new buildings on and off College Hill.
The university is also in talks with Lifespan and Care New England to "integrate" research work done by Brown's medical faculty into the university's "research enterprise," according to the plan.
That could bring an additional $100 million in grant-funded research to Brown, a 50% increase in its federally funded research, according to the plan.
The proposed buildings include the new lab in the Jewelry District – a way to consolidate the School of Public Health into one building – new construction on College Hill for the Carney Institute for Brain Science and renovation of the Biomedical Center.
Will Brown start paying taxes on the new buildings?
Brown's position is that it won't have to pay property taxes on the new buildings because they bought them from the tax-exempt Care New England health system.
"Brown expects that tax-exempt status to remain in place" because the university will use the properties for research and educational purposes, Clark wrote in the news release.
Tax more: Bills would tax properties, endowments of RI colleges, universities
During the last legislative session, lawmakers proposed taxing private colleges and universities, as well as their endowments.
Brown already bought an apartment complex on Point Street for $75 million
In July 2021, Brown purchased the nearby "River House" apartment building for $75 million, which it is planning to convert to student housing. The 174-unit building is covered by a tax deal with the city.
Brown was a central player in the redevelopment of the old power station next door to River House into the South Street Landing complex, which hosts university offices and nursing education centers for the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College.
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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brown University expands downtown footprint with $16 million purchase
