PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Providence’s finance committee has voted to halt a deal that would have extended tax benefits to a developer who planned to build a hotel in two historic buildings.
The Providence Journal reports the city’s Finance Committee members voted 3-to-2 Tuesday to not move forward with the deal for a Washington, D.C.-based developer.
The vote was greeted with cheers and applause from union members who were worried there wasn’t a way to ensure the developer followed through with promises he’d made to secure tax benefits.
The $39-million Hotel Hive project was proposed by developer Jim Abdo along with a request for a 20-year tax-stabilization agreement that would save him around $2.7 million over the course of the project.
Abdo had purchased the land for the hotel in downtown Providence in 2018 for $4.3 million.
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