The luxury apartment complex, aptly named the Promenade Apartments, was completed in 2005. Boasting 220 loft apartments totaling 278,000 square feet, it was one of Rhode Island’s biggest historic renovation projects — and the result is simply sublime.
The high-end apartment building was constructed as part of the wider Foundry Complex by RGB, a diversified project management, architecture, and interior design firm, managed by David DeQuattro. By the end of the project, the company had completed $80 million in work throughout numerous phases and buildings, equating to over a whopping 25 acres.
A History of the Building
Those who reside in the Promenade Apartments of today may be unaware of the building’s rich history. Paying homage to the property’s utilization over the many years, the living areas retain the exposed red brick walls that hold many stories within them.
Between 1865 and 1957, the Brown and Sharpe Manufacturing Company crafted machine tools on the site of the now Promenade Apartments. But since 1967, the Guerra family has toiled to renovate the buildings.
As mentioned above, the wider project is the Foundry Complex, which boasts everything from residential suites to office blocks to entertainment quarters. And, perhaps without realizing it at the time, it set the national bar for adaptive mixed-use properties in a historical setting.
The Promenade is The Foundry’s Biggest Project to Date
Promenade Apartments is monumental for the Foundry Complex, marking its largest project. The 220 luxury apartments include studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments with beautiful exposed red brick walls, eight-foot-high thermally glazed windows, ceilings as tall as 17 feet, granite countertops in the kitchens, and panoramic views of Providence.
And if the architectural spectacle wasn’t enough for potential residents, the building boasts a range of amenities for its inhabitants to utilize. Perhaps the most notable include the following:
- A huge fitness center complete with exercise bikes, ellipticals, treadmills, TVs, and resistance machines (to name a few)
- An indoor swimming pool featuring a retractable roof and a hot tub
- An event room exclusively for residents
- A business center with high-speed internet connectivity, copiers, and faxes
- A freight elevator for easy lifting
- Two covered loading docks
- A media area with a large projection screen
A Historic Project with a Modern Feel
The National Park Service certified the Promenade Apartments as a Historic Renovation, with the sale of the historic tax credits allowing its development to become a rental project rather than a complex of condominiums.
According to the architectural and interior design service providers for the project, RGB, more than one million square feet of major renovation and window replacements were acquired through the Historic Commission.
But despite the historic renovation status, the apartments manage to elicit a modern feel in the best way. The expert architects on this project were able to retain the essence of the age-old building while affording residents exuberantly updated touches.
And the luxuriously high ceilings, state-of-the-art appliances, and color schemes only add to the open-plan nature of the apartments.