Project Information

Bid Title

Sale of City Property Known As The Rochambeau Fire Station. 280 Rochambeau Avenue, Providence, RI Feasibility Study RWU 2018

Issuing Agency

City of Providence

Location

Rhode Island

Published Date

Apr 21, 2026

Closing Date

Jun 29, 2026

Government Level

State & Local

Status

Closed

Original Source

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Bid Documents

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Project Description

Sale of City Property Known As The Rochambeau Fire Station. 280 Rochambeau Avenue, Providence, RI Feasibility Study RWU 2018

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Rochambeau Avenue Fire Station Adaptive Reuse

Feasibility Study

Prepared for:

Providence Redevelopment Agency

Providence, RI

Prepared by:

Roger Williams University

School of Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation

HP 525: Preservation Economics Course

Spring 2018

Contents

Introduction​

1

Executive Summary​

2

1.0​ Objectives​

3

2.0​ Property History and Significance Analysis​

4

2.1​ Historical Background​

4

2.2​ Property Description and Character Defining Features​

5

2.2.1 Exterior​

5

2.2.2 Interior​

9

3.0 Community and Political Factors​

17

3.1​ Neighborhood Profile​

17

3.2 Rochambeau Fire Station Open House, September 2017​

18

3.3. Political Factors​

18

3.4​ Analysis​

19

4.0 Legal Limitations​

20

4.1 Ownership & Deed Restrictions:​

20

4.2​ Land Use​

20

4.2.1​ Comprehensive Plan​

20

4.2.2​ Zoning​

21

4.2.3​ Building Codes​

22

4.2.4 Historic District​

23

5.0 Local and Regional Market Factors​

24

5.1​ Market Area Demographics​

24

5.2​ Business and Retail Analysis​

26

5.3​ Residential Real Estate​

26

5.4​ Commercial Real Estate​

27

6.0​ Target Market​

29

7.0 Intervention Tools​

30

8.0 Proposed Uses​

31

8.1.​ Building Code Considerations for Proposed Uses​

31

8.1.1​ Americans with Disabilities Act​

31

8.1.2​ International Building/Fire Codes​

32

8.2​ Parking Considerations for Proposed Uses​

32

9.0​ Conceptual Design​

33

9.1​ Concept 1: Mixed-Use Multi-Family Residential and Office​

33

9.2​ Concept 2: Mixed-Use Multi-Family Residential and Community Use​

34

10.0​ Financial Synthesis​

35

10.1 Concept 1: Mixed-Use Multi-Family Residential and Office​

35

10.2​ Concept 2: Mixed-Use Multi-Family Residential and Community Use​

37

11.0​ Conclusion​

39

Sources Consulted​

40

Introduction

This feasibility study for the reuse of the historic Rochambeau Fire Station at 280 Rochambeau

Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island was conducted by students in the 2018 Preservation

Economics course in the School of Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation at Roger

Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. The study took place in partnership with the

Providence Redevelopment Agency and was facilitated by the Roger Williams University

Community Partnership Center.

The purpose of this study is to identify and examine feasible and historically appropriate

rehabilitation and reuse scenarios for Rochambeau Fire Station. Erected in 1929, the

Rochambeau Fire Station is one of the finer examples of early-twentieth-century municipal

architecture in the city and is a contributing resource in the Elmgrove Gardens Historic District

The facility served the citizens of the surrounding neighborhoods for nearly 90 years. Following

a consolidation of fire safety services in 2016, the City of Providence closed the Rochambeau

Fire Station in January 2017. The Providence Redevelopment Agency is charged with the

deaccessioning the vacant fire station from city ownership.

Students in the Preservation Economics class conducted architectural investigations to

determine character-defining features of the fire station, examined property planning and use

constraint, studied local real estate and commercial market factors, selected feasible reuse

scenarios based on property and market research designed concept schemes for feasible reuse

scenarios, calculated cost estimates based on price per square foot for use schemes, assessed

potential financial intervention tools available for rehabilitation and reuse, and prepared a

financial synthesis for residential and mixed residential and office uses.

The feasibility study team included graduate students Marjorie Drew Matthew McCarty, Alan

Pool, and Emeline Young and undergraduate students Lydia Costello, Diana Figueroa, Rosa

Ramirez, and Gabrielle Riley. Students were supervised by Assistant Professor Elaine Stiles

and advised and assisted by City of Providence preservation planner Jason Martin and principal

planner David Everett, and deputy director and general counsel of the Providence

Redevelopment Agency, Samuel Budway.

1

Executive Summary

This study was conducted to assess the feasibility of reuse scenarios for the Rochambeau Fire

Station at 280 Rochambeau Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island, a contributing resource in the

Elmgrove Gardens National Register Historic District. The study process identified and analyzed

potential uses that would preserve character-defining features of the historic building, contribute

to the community, and be financially feasible.

After analyzing the building, legal and planning limitations, community and political factors, and

local real estate and commercial market factors, the feasibility study team identified two

potentially feasible reuse scenarios:

●​ Concept 1: Mixed-use multi-family residential and office

●​ Concept 2: Mixed-use multi-family residential and community space

The team completed conceptual design schemes and financial synthesis for both uses and

determined that both were likely feasible. The costs for Concept 1 and Concept 2 were

comparable, however Concept 1, Mixed-Use Multi-Family Residential and Office, created a

significantly larger cash flow. Concept 2, Use Multi-Family Residential and Community Use,

however, more closely meets community objectives for the project. Furthermore, a nonprofit

community organization or developer would likely have access to incentives unavailable to a

for-profit developer which may improve the cost basis of the project.

One of the challenges with reusing Providence Rochambeau Fire Station is the lack of

preservation-related incentives available to the property. It does not fall within the areas of

intervention for the Providence Revolving Fund or qualify for low-interest financing from the

Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission’s Historic Preservation Loan

Fund. Reuse and rehabilitation projects for the property would also be unlikely to meet the

substantial rehabilitation standards for the federal historic preservation tax credit program or the

Rebuild Rhode Island tax credit program. A project would therefore likely be dependent on

developer equity and public or market-rate financing and housing and business incentives

unrelated to historic preservation.

2

Commodity Codes

• NAICS 236220Commercial and Institutional Building Construction
• NAICS 541330Engineering Services

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