*Rendering courtesy of Truth Box Architects
Happy (belated) New Year!
We've been so busy, we can't believe it's already February! I'm sure some of you have gone by the future site of Urban Greens and noticed it's been pretty quiet over there. While it may seem still, we've been working overtime on all the details required to break ground this spring.
Over the last year, a lot has happened for Urban Greens: In partnership with Truth Box Architects and D+P Realty, the overall development was awarded a Rebuild RI tax credit, helping make sure the project moves forward. And since May, Urban Greens has raised nearly $400,000 towards store opening costs! Due to some planning changes to the overall project (to both the housing aspect and our store) we were not able to break ground before winter, but we are ready to go this spring!
Project Changes & Timeline
As you can see from the updated rendering above, the project has undergone a significant change. After reviewing several options, our partners in the development, Truth Box Architects and D+P Realty, felt it made more sense to keep Urban Greens as a standalone building, moving housing from above the store to next door. This standalone store will have even more visibility, and give us more flexibility in our store design. While changes like this mean some extra planning time, we’re very excited about the new design!
It’s important to note that this will push the store’s opening by a few months. Urban Greens had a goal of opening by the end of 2017, and because of the schedule change upfront, we now plan to open in early 2018. We understand this has been a long project, but we’re committed to seeing this through—and we want members and supporters to know how committed we are to this project.
We’ll be planning a groundbreaking event for this spring, as well as our annual member meeting, and we’ll be sending out emails soon with even more specifics.
We've hit the ground running in 2017
Here are just a few things we're working on that you can look forward to seeing and hearing about over the next few months:
- We're hiring a General Manager! We're working with a national recruiter to find us the best possible leader of our store operations.
- We're formalizing our branding: we're in the process of hiring a branding designer who will work with the Store Planning Task Force to put in place design systems that reflect the community both inside the store and out.
- The store layout and fixture plan is complete! We've gone through several iterations of the layout and are so excited with the final version.
The reality is there are just too many things we do to move this project forward to list.
Want to learn more about what we're up to and get involved? We're always happy to talk:
- Come to a board meeting: the third Wednesday of each month, 6:30pm at SEG (10 Davol Sq, Providence)
- Visit us when we table at farmers markets
