WBNA's Community Development Committee (CDC) welcomes presentations from organizations, developers, businesses, or individuals proposing projects in our neighborhood. Since 1990 the committee has reviewed many projects. We are pleased to share an update on two current projects the CDC has reviewed. Check out the exciting progress they have made!
Big Nazo Labs is Bringing the Space Transformation Station to Westminster Street
Don't be surprised if you see an alien or robot wandering around Federal Hill or the West End next year! Our neighborhood will soon be welcoming artist Erminio Pinque and his iconic creature factory Big Nazo Labs. Big Nazo is building a new headquarters, reviewed by WBNA's CDC in 2019, on Westminster Street between Dexter and Parade. They recently shared this update on how the work is going:
Construction is ongoing during the project's Phase ll. The roof will be put on in the next few weeks and the installment of a 2nd floor & mezzanine, stairs, and a new first floor slab, will begin after that. Creative approaches in construction have been employed to respond to the challenge of being in such close proximity to neighbors on three sides of the building. Despite the limits of activity on any given day, the project is making steady progress. Everyone involved is excited to add to the vibrant developments in the neighborhood!
We're thrilled to have Big Nazo in the neighborhood and to support their new home. You can go to the CDC page to see pictures of the construction in progress and view more details about the project.
1492 Westminster to Host a New Neighborhood Pub and Energy Efficient Apartments
Construction at 1492 Westminster Street, between Sycamore and Parade, is slated to conclude next month. Once completed, the ground floor will house "Lucky Enough," a new neighborhood bar and restaurant! The owners of Lucky Enough have previously worked at Durk's, The Eddy, The Dorrance, and other PVD favorites. They plan to bring this experience as well as their own signature flare to the Westminster establishment. The bar will have a full lunch and dinner menu as well as craft beer and cocktails.
The upper floors will contain seven one bedroom apartments which will be the first certified "Passive House" apartments in the state of Rhode Island. Passive Houses use advanced insulation and air flow design to significantly minimize the need for carbon-intensive heating and cooling. We hope to see this eco-friendly engineering used more widely in the future, both in our neighborhood and throughout Rhode Island.
Visit the new Community Development Committee homepage to track the progress of CDC-reviewed projects and learn what's new in the neighborhood. You can also read more about the members of the CDC and the Committee's goals, see dates for upcoming meetings, and even start the process of submitting a project for CDC review!