#MiddletownRI officials announce a 99-year ground lease for "Middletown Center" Monday, a public-private partnership that will pay the community more than $1 million a year and transform 15 underutilized acres at 600-740 West Main Road.
“MIDDLETOWN CENTER” MOVING FORWARD
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (OCTOBER 7, 2024) – There’s an agreement in place for the “Middletown Center” project.
On Monday night, the Town Council announced the town had completed a 99-year lease on 600-740 West Main Road with a trio of local developers — Chris Bicho, James Karam and Rocky Kempenaar.
The news means plans to transform the underutilized 15 acres into a mixed residential, office, retail and recreational space in the heart of the community have cleared their most significant hurdle.
Importantly, the deal will generate much needed housing — including up to 15 affordable units — jobs, a playground and recreational space as well as new revenues for the town.
Under terms of the deal, the lease and related taxes will bring in at least $1 million annually to the town, money that can be used to fund education, road repairs and other work.
“By any measure, this is good news for the town,” council President Paul Rodrigues said. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time and I can’t tell you how excited I am to see ‘Middletown Center’ come to fruition, especially the affordable housing component. It’s one of the main issues in Middletown and we’re working to address it."
Council Vice President Thomas Welch III said the announcement was the latest in a long list of positive accomplishments for Middletown over the past two years. Whether it was the new middle-high school, purchase of the Hoogendoorn site, the new library, getting the school finances squared away or more, Welch said the town was making positive steps forward.
“(Councilor) Chris Logan hit the nail on the head when he said every time he drives by the site, it’s like he’s throwing his wallet out the window,” Welch said. “We need to do more with this property and every day, we’re losing taxes. People talk about the town needing to come up with new ways to create revenues for the town. Well, this is one way we’re doing it in a place where such development is appropriate.”
There was not an estimated start date this week on construction for any of “Middletown Center.”
One reason is the project still needs permitting from the town’s Planning and Zoning boards and other public review bodies, a process that’s expected to begin in coming weeks.
From the intersection of Coddington Highway and West Main Road north, the site is home to the former Navy Lodge, West Main Road Recreational Complex, Middletown Public Library and former Kennedy School.
Other than the library, the land sits dormant and basically unused in the heart of the town’s commercial district. Town officials have said the property hasn’t collected a nickel in taxes since the World War II era.
The vision for “Middletown Center” crystalized in March 2008, when Navy officials announced after a private meeting at Newport City Hall they planned on making 350 acres of defense property available across Aquidneck Island.
One of those sites was the Navy Lodge, an off base motel for visiting personnel that had been closed and demolished years before. The town bought the lodge land in January 2018 and it sits vacant today at the corner of Coddington and West Main.
After a national search for a suitable developer, the town selected the Bicho, Karam and Kempenaar team in 2022 to partner with to redo the site following a competitive process.
Bicho owns The Landings neighborhood next door as well as other properties across the island and Karam and Kempenaar have a long track record of successfully building hotels in town.
When the partnership was announced, town leaders talked about the trio’s deep roots in the community as one of the major selling points. Another was the concept they promoted, which included affordable housing, mixed retail-commercial growth and other amenities.
Since then, the town has marched steadily and quietly to reach Monday’s announcement.
While those involved acknowledged they would have loved to have made the announcement earlier, that wasn’t possible due to the complexity of the negotiations. And because of their sensitivity, terms of the deal could not be disclosed until today. To view the completed agreement, visit https://www.middletownri.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16464/Executed_Middletown-Development-Agreement_10032024 online.
For example on the town side, there were questions about how to take care of the public- benefit conveyance accompanying the West Main Recreational portion of the property.
That’s because under the terms of the decades old agreement with the Navy to take over that property, the town had to make sure that land stayed in recreation or open space. They said that will be satisfied by the creation of parks and play spaces on part of the parcel once home to the Kennedy School.
Originally, that area was envisioned as the new home for the Middletown Public Library. But town officials balked at the location and price tag for that project when a better location at 110 Enterprise Center opened up.
Town officials said they understood the concerns of neighbors about the potential impacts of “Middletown Center” and everything would be done to mitigate any issues.
In April 2023, the Middletown Center Citizens Advisory Committee made up of local residents met to offer input on what they’d like to see with the project. The volunteer group’s input was greeted enthusiastically by the council. To check out the group’s 59-page report, go to https://mdl.town/MCCAC online.
“There’s an unbelievable level of complexity with an agreement of this nature,” Town Administrator Shawn J. Brown said. “We wanted to make sure we considered every contingency and possibility, so we’re protecting the town’s interests. All of that takes time, but I know everyone is extremely excited about this announcement. It’s been close to two decades in the making.”
Document Link: https://mdl.town/NYCU-MC
About Middletown
The Town of Middletown is a vibrant municipality located on Aquidneck Island, known for its scenic beauty, historic landmarks, diverse economy and strong sense of community. For more information about all we have to offer, visit MiddletownRI.gov online.
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