Since the Carpionato Group purchased the 23.5-acre former Newport Casino more than six years ago, a lot has happened — a pandemic, a moratorium on North End development in the city of Newport. And it was followed by just months after Carpionato’s purchase of 29 former Bennys stores.
Carpionato had proposed a $100 million development modeled after its Cranston Chapel View property, a vibrant mix of retail, first-class office space, and exclusive high-end condominiums.
Besides the pandemic and moratorium, the Newport Casino property has been fraught with challenges, many of them environmental.
Still, Carpionato is “interested in moving forward,” said Newport Planning Director Patricia Reynolds. She said the Planning Department has reached out to the developer and they are “still working on design.”
They’ve been working on a redesign, according to reports, for at least three years, complying with zoning changes, residents’ concerns, and the environmental challenges.
Reynolds said Carpionato apparently is also still working on its “business plan” that would likely include some timeframe for the beginning of construction and expected completion.
Reynolds also said it’s not unusual for projects to take years, some of it based on how many projects with which they are involved, and that includes the former Bennys stores, many of which remain vacant.
Carpionato’s website includes the former casino property at 150 Admiral Kalbfus Road, Newport, among its many projects. It lists the property as 106,346 square feet; with 32,000 cars passing the project daily. It lists the population within a mile of the property at 13,903, with an estimated average household income of $109,445. Within five miles, however, it estimates the population at 51,520, with an average household income of $140,734.
The environmental challenges include:
- Elizabeth Brook, which runs under the property and flows towards Narragansett Bay. The brook is said to be the cause of flooding in the area.
- There is an old landfill that is beneath at least part of the parking lot.
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Carpionato now projects starting North End project in early 2023
Some city officials have become frustrated at the delays, even though much of the delay is the result of the city’s own actions.