Governor Gina Raimondo recently joined state and local officials, representatives from Wexford Science and Technology, Brown University, the Cambridge Innovation Center, Johnson & Johnson, and members of the public to break ground on the Wexford Innovation Complex. The projects, which are being constructed on former I-195 land in the heart of Providence’s Innovation and Design District, will generate approximately $100 million in additional revenues to the state over the next 20 years.
(l-r) Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse; Congressman Jim Langevin; Ron Simoneau, VP, New England Institutional, Shawmut Design and Construction; Sen. Jack Reed, Christina Paxson, president, Brown University.; James Berens, president, Wexford Science and Technology; Governor Gina Raimondo; R.I. Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor; Tim Rowe, founder and president, CIC; R.I. House Speaker Nicholas Mattielo; Joseph Azrack, chair of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission; Maureen Boudreau, director, Healthcare Technology Center, Johnson & Johnson; Peter McNally, executive director, I-195 Redevelopment District Commission; Les Hiscoe, CEO, Shawmut Design and Construction; Bonnie Nickerson, director of the Dept. of Planning and Development of Providence; Jesse Saglio, managing director, Head of Investments
(l-r) Governor Raimondo; Joseph Azrack, chair of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission; R.I. Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor; Bonnie Nickerson, director of the Department of Planning and Development of Providence; James Berens, president, Wexford Science and Technology; Tim Rowe, founder and president, CIC (formerly known as Cambridge Innovation Center); Christina Paxson, president, Brown University
In addition to the 66,000sf in the Innovation Complex, CIC is planning to locate an 8,000sf Innovation Hall and Venture Cafe-dedicated civic spaces that are modeled after CIC’s highly successful District Hall in the Seaport District of Boston, where the innovation community can gather and exchange ideas.
The total cost of the Providence Innovation Center is expected to amount to approximately $88 million. The project is receiving $18.8 million in incentives from the 195 Redevelopment Fund and $13.5 million in net Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credits. The Providence Innovation Center itself will create over 675 direct and indirect construction jobs and lead to over 800 direct and indirect ongoing jobs, according to Appleseed Inc, a third-party economic analysis firm.
