For the past couple months, we, the citizens of Hopkinton, have heard no official word about the fate of the ill-conceived movie studio. Yesterday, the Providence Journal published an article indicating that the deafening sound of silence we have heard from the Town Council and the developers was indeed the death knell of said studio. I say good riddance to bad rubbish.
Hopkinton Loses Shot to Be Little Hollywood
By Maria Armental, Journal Staff Writer
HOPKINTON –– A proposal to build a film studio and hotel near Route 95 at Exit 2 in Hopkinton is officially off the table, town and state officials have confirmed.
Supporters of the movie studio proposal blamed the state’s annual $15-million cap on movie production tax credits –– which the project’s lead sponsor, Rep. Brian Patrick Kennedy, D-Hopkinton, called the “death knell for the project” –– for derailing the proposal, which hinged on a 20-percent transferable tax credit on construction costs, or roughly $15 million.
The developers did not comment, but a property owner whose land was under option and a real estate broker who worked with the developers confirmed last week that most of the options had expired in May and June. The developers did not exercise their right to renew the options for another year.
Dorothy Reynolds, whose family owns and operates the Brook Knoll Farm, where some land had been optioned, said the family’s lawyer had tried unsuccessfully to get official word from the developers.
Under the one-year agreement that has since expired, she said, the family was allowed to continue using the land until construction began.
The options were never recorded in town.
Georgia Ure, a Hope Valley real estate broker, said some of the options are still active, but declined to comment on specifics, citing confidentiality.
Kevin R. Gould, of Advocacy Solutions, the project’s public relations firm, said last week he did not know the status of the options and did not comment on the status of the project.
As originally presented –– plans were never filed –– a development consortium backed by Pacifica Ventures of Santa Monica, Calif., proposed to build a $75-million studio with eight sound stages totaling 155,000 to 225,000 square feet; about 75,000 square feet of production offices; 10,000 square feet of executive offices; about 75,000 square feet of mill and welding space for set and sound-stage creation; a back lot for outdoor sets, trailers and parking; and buildings for cafeterias and storage. The proposal also called for a 150-room hotel.
The developers –– Hal Katersky of Pacifica Ventures in Santa Monica, Calif., along with Ralph Palumbo and Anthony DelVicario of Halden Acquisition Group in Providence –– had stressed the potential economic stimulus and job creation, based on their experience with a similar studio Katersky built in Albuquerque, N.M.
Kennedy, one of the sponsors of legislation that would have provided tax credits for the creation of film studios, said he hadn’t heard anything official from the developers but assumed the deal was off given the tax credit cap, the failure to approve tax credits for the creation of a film studio, and talk of other movie studios in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
“All of the incentives to create a project of this kind have disappeared,” Kennedy said, adding, “Our loss will be some other state’s gain.”
“I’m disappointed because I think this would have been a great project for Hopkinton and for the state of Rhode Island. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough progressive-thinking legislators.”
Katersky is moving forward on plans to build an $85-million studio in Chester Township, Pa.
I am hoping Kennedy will be one less “progressive-thinking” legislator sitting up in Providence come November 5th. And what the hell does that even mean? How does giving a giant corporation public welfare amount to a single progressive ideal? Please explain further because it seems anything but a progressive mentality.
Oh, and American Kuhne is opening up this week, right? Or is it next week? Can anyone tell me how many NEW JOBS that created? Considering it just moved from Norwich to Hopkinton, I am betting that the number is precious few. Maybe 2 secretaries?
August 25, 2008 at 3:20 am
I received a nasty comment commenting that “I complain when they are too big and I complain when they are too small”. I have chosen not to post the comment because it was pretty nasty, but I will respond to the comment.
My personal feeling is that the movie studio was a crock. The developers thought they could make oodles of money off the State of Rhode Island using our badly conceived movie studio credits. When they did not get the credits they were expecting, they disappeared. And we knew they would. There is no real demand for the services they planned to offer through this studio. It was unsustainable. It was a flash in the pan. They were riding the bandwagon. And we are the suckers they chose to target.
As far as development in general, it doesn’t make much sense to put much of anything in Hopkinton. No matter what the enterprise, there is plenty of vacant property from West Warwick to Lincoln that is just sitting there, waiting for someone to occupy it. Or Groton. Or New London. Or the whole stretch of I-95 running into New York. The reason people want to come here is because of the municipal tax incentives. If they did not exist, there would be no development at Exit 1. I like Hopkinton as it is. If you want lower taxes, go move to Warwick. You’ll get more services, more conveniences and pay less taxes. But if you you want to live in one of the most serene places in Southern New England, stop trying to solve our tax issues by paving the place over. It is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Yes, I complain that American Kuhne is too small. And that is because Vincenzo Cordone and his lot claimed that it would bring new jobs and new taxes and help us all out. Well, there are no new jobs (apparently they hired an engineer and were looking for some other miscellaneous position) and there will not be any substantial new taxes for a while. Most of the people working there already live in Westerly and Stonington. So basically, it looks like the Town Council (Cordone) lied and we, the citizens, got stiffed. It’s not that I think it is too small. I’m not happy it is there at all. But I am less happy because the promises made by Cordone have all but evaporated and we get to look at a new industrial park.
My complaint is development in general. It is made worse by the fact that people have to be bribed to come here. And the cherry on top is that Cordone’s promises are hollow.
Is that any clearer?