150-room hotel proposed for Waites Wharf on Newport waterfront
By Sean Flynn
Daily News staff writer
NEWPORT — The owner of Waites Wharf is proposing to construct a 150-room hotel with two buildings on the wharf, one to the north of the right-of-way where the Riptides and Dockside bars now are, and one to the south where the @The Deck restaurant is now.
“We anticipate filing plans with the city very soon,” said attorney J. Russell Jackson, who represents Thomas Abruzese of Yonkers, New York, the wharf owner.
That will be the extent of any comment by the owner or the engineers involved in the project until those plans are filed, Jackson said Tuesday.
However, Narragansett Engineering Inc., of Portsmouth, prepared comprehensive plans for the project and submitted them in February to the state Coastal Resources Management Council with a request for a “preliminary determination.” This is not a request for approval, but instead asks the agency staff whether the project is feasible and if anything else is required.
Both buildings would be raised, with parking underneath the buildings. The north building would have four floors, while the south building would have three floors, according to schematic plans on file at CRMC offices in Wakefield.
CRMC staff in the office said Tuesday that the review of the plans has not been completed yet.
The request of information was filed on behalf of Abruzese by Neal Hingorany, president of Narragansett Engineering, and Liam Donovan, an environmental technician at the firm. Abruzese owns five separate lots on Waites Wharf that would be merged in preparation for the project.
“Once the lots are successfully merged, the main project goal is to construct one hotel comprised of two buildings, one to the north of the Waites Wharf right-of-way and one to the south, with a total occupancy of 150 bedrooms,” says the Narragansett application.
The largest of the five lots, Lot 55, is the site of Dockside and Riptides and is valued at $6.02 million, according to city assessor’s records. This would be the site of the hotel’s north building.
The second largest of the lots, Lot 268, is the site of the restaurant and is valued at $3.76 million, according to the assessor. This would be the site of the hotel’s south building.
These are the two lots closest to the water. The West Wind Marina at the end of the wharf, also owned by Abruzese, would remain where it is.
“The goal of the project is to place the buildings as close to the water as feasible and possible to maintain views, marina facilities and site configuration,” says the application.
Lot 267 has frontage on West Extension Street to the north of the project and is valued at $1.31 million. Lot 272 is just south of the Waites Wharf right-of-way and is valued at $835,900. Lot 293, with frontage on Coddington Wharf to the south of the project is valued at $524,300.
These three smaller lots would all be used for parking. With the parking under the hotels and on the adjacent lots, a total of 248 parking spaces would be created, according to the plans. There would be 142 spaces north of the Waites Wharf right-of-way and 106 spaces would be south of it.
“In addition to maintaining the CRMC coastal access public right-of-way, we have proposed a 10-foot wide public harbor walkway around the site,” the application says. “The proposed harbor walk will increase green space across the site while promoting coastal access areas.”
Along the shore front are sheet piles that hold back the land, which is in a flood zone. The plan calls for the sheet piles to be raised three feet, so that two to three feet of “nonstructural fill” and capping soil can be spread across the site.
“This will raise the base elevation of the ground surface while minimizing any future contaminants to affect any natural features around the site,” the application says.
“If possible, can we use more than 2-3 feet of non-structural fill to minimize nuisance flooding?” the application asks.
Waites Wharf was acquired in 1995 by Harbour Realty LLC, a company at the time co-owned by New York businessmen Thomas Abruzese and Orlando Papaleo. The City Council in February 2009 approved Papaleo’s transfer of his 50 percent ownership share to Abruzese.
The owners and residents of the 30 condominiums of Coddington Landing, which is adjacent to Waites Wharf on the wharf’s south side, have had a years-long running dispute with Abruzese and his managers over noise levels from the bars and restaurant.
The maximum noise level was set at 65 decibels until 2017, when the council allowed an increase to 75 decibels because that level is generally allowed at businesses in a waterfront business district.
The management of @The Deck restaurant this month requested an expansion of its indoor entertainment license from midnight to 1 a.m., a request strongly opposed by condo residents. The council approved the request on first reading June 12, with the stipulation that all doors and windows remain closed. The expansion request is set to come up for a second and final vote in the council chamber of City Hall on Jan. 26, during a meeting set to begin at 6:30 p.m.