City Still Looking For Sheffield School Tenants

NEWPORT, RI—The Innovation Center, which is expected to open next January in the retrofitted Sheffield School on Broadway, is looking for tenants. So far, the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, which is a partner in the project, is the only one to commit. According to Scott Gibbs, of the Economic Development Foundation of Rhode Island, the letter of intent with the Chamber is still being finalized.

Gibbs maintains there are a lot of prospective tenants, but the names and financial details are not available yet. When Patch asked last May about the Chamber's lease, Gibbs explained the price had not yet been established.

"No price negotiated or finalized yet," he said last May. "Simply a conceptual understanding that the NCCC would be moving into the building."

Patch asked for financial details. Gibbs, whose foundation is handling all the leasing, said that wasn't so important as the effort to attract tenants.

"The Chamber announced their decision to move into Innovate Newport," he said last May. "That’s positive and everyone should be excited. As I’ve previously stated, there is no negotiated lease or agreed upon terms. We will begin the process of looking where the Chamber will be situated in the building in context of other prospects we are working with. We will also be finalizing the management structure and operating pro-forma, which will drive final lease parameters (as I previously stated)."

He went on to say the City was looking at $21 per square foot as the price, but that's not definite.

"The preliminary pro-forma prepared by EDFRI was based on a gross lease rate of $21/sf. EDFRI feels this number is fair, but ultimately the market defines that. Our pro-forma also assumes a rate of $300/month for the co-work space, which is consistent with other co-work facilities to our north. Again, the market is the ultimate deciding factor. The co-work market in Rhode Island (i.e. comparables) is very thin, so Innovate Newport will effectively set the market."

That was in May, and the lease was supposed to be drafted in 30 days. The latest is this:

"We are currently preparing the Letter-of-Intent for the Chamber, and have additional LOI’s out to other prospects. We’ve been hyper-busy managing some construction issues. Now that the Chamber/City has selected the “Evangelist” position, branding, marketing and network building have been launched."

He did not immediately explain the meaning of the “Evangelist” position.

Patch will update this story.

Staff Photo/ Margo Sullivan