Providence approves initial plans for 5-story, 1,400-unit self-storage complex

PROVIDENCE − A plan for a hulking 1,400-unit, five-story self-storage complex off Branch Avenue received initial approval from the City Plan Commission on Tuesday night, drawing praise for maintaining the brick façade of the building.

Attorney Joseph Brennan said the site, 50 Branch Ave., was chosen by developer Trunk Space LLC of Quincy, Massachusetts, because of the location. The biggest neighbors are the North Burial Ground, the Dryden Mill strip mall and other businesses. No one lives nearby. The location also means high visibility on Branch Avenue and Route 95.

Planning Director Bob Azar said the initial plans for the self-storage complex would have razed the entire existing structure, but planning staff asked the developer to try to maintain the façade. New, taller designs, presented to the commissioners, kept the front of the building.

When the city's historic districts were being revised several years ago, city officials reached out to the state to see if it would be willing to put the building into a historic district, but the state declined, he said.

"It does have a presence on the street," Azar said.

How 50 Branch Ave. went from being the elections headquarters to private ownership

The state sold the brick building at 50 Branch Ave. in 2020 after the Board of Elections decamped for a larger new home in an industrial park in suburban Cranston.

The buyer is listed as RAB Properties, a real estate holding company whose listed address is the North Main Street law offices of Thomas Badway. Former state Sen. Christopher Maselli is RAB's registered agent.

RAB paid the state $1.6 million for the building, according to the Department of Administration.

Neither opposition voiced nor votes cast against

No one from the public commented on the proposed project.

Brennan said it was "rare" for no neighbors to show up to a proposed self-storage development, especially since it was the subject of a Providence Journal article before the meeting.

Feb. 16, 2023:Company plans self-storage facility at site of former state elections HQ

Brennan said they needed to go higher because they could not build above the front of the old building, which would remain. Because the land behind the façade loses elevation, the actual height would vary between 58 and 73 feet. Under the first set of plans, where the elections building would have been demolished, the building would probably not have topped 50 feet, the area limit.

Providence's zoning allows a maximum of four stories or 50 feet only in its general commercial and heavy commercial districts.

Commission Vice Chair Nicole Verdi said it appeared most of the variance requests were a result of the plans being reconfigured to maintain the façade of the former elections headquarters.

All four of the commissioners present, including Harrison Bilodeau, voted to approve the master plan and the variances, including a decrease of required parking spaces from 28 to 16.

College Hill housing:City approves 5-story College Hill apartments despite complaints about noisy students

Earlier in the same meeting, Bilodeau voted against an 8-foot height variance for a proposed apartment complex in College Hill, opposed by neighbors over fears that noisy college students would menace the neighborhood with rooftop parties. The apartment building was subject to the same 50-foot height restriction as the self storage complex.

The self-storage complex plans will need to come back before the Plan Commission up to two more times.

The nearest residents to the proposed self-storage warehouse are across the North Burial Ground and North Main Street, at Abbott, Cypress and Royal streets. The view of the site from those streets is mostly blocked.

Commissioner Noel Sanchez said the Store Space Self Storage, across Route 95 at 145 Corliss St., "is a wall" when viewed from the highway. The building, six stories high, is clearly visible from the residential streets nearest the new proposed building.

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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: Providence 5-story self storage complex on Branch Ave. gets initial OK