Warwick Council OKs Lease Of 'Sawtooth Building' For City Offices

WARWICK, RI — The City Council on Monday gave its blessing to a plan presented by Mayor Frank Picozzi that would move most city offices to a portion of the historic "Sawtooth building" in Apponaug.

Picozzi proposed that the city execute a 15-year lease for about 32,000 square feet of the building with an option to buy the property from AAA Northeast. The auto club bought the building from the state in 2018 for $875,000 with plans to build a call center. However, those plans fell through, leaving plenty of unused space, reports John Howell at the Warwick Beacon.

At the same time, the city was looking for an opportunity to solve its office space problem.

The decrepit City Hall Annex was closed in early 2018 after a pipe burst. Offices were hastily moved to the vacant Greene School and to the Buttonwoods Community Center. When Picozzi took office, he looked at renovating the Annex, but learned that the building was structurally unsound and could not be insured. That building is now slated for demolition.

Picozzi has said that consolidating municipal offices to a location near City Hall is part of his vision for the city. In recent weeks, he presented his plan for the Sawtooth building to the City Council, folded half the cost of a first-year lease into his fiscal 2022 budget, and proactively asked the council to vote on the lease idea.

Council President Steve McAllister told the Beacon he was excited about the idea. City Planner Bruce Keiser said the financial aspects of the lease agreement were highly favorable. The city would pay around $8.1 million over 15 years. Other options were seen as far more expensive and problematic.

On Facebook today, Picozzi thanked the City Council and said once renovations are complete, the building should be ready in six to eight months. All city offices — excluding the mayor’s office, city clerk, board of canvassers and DPW — will then be located in new Class A office space right near City Hall.

"Our government will be far more efficient being housed in one location instead of being scattered throughout the city in makeshift offices, and we’ll have a modern facility for residents to conduct their business," Picozzi wrote.

"I’m comfortable saying that politics are no longer playing a role in governing Warwick. Everyone is working together to move this city forward," the mayor stated. "But there is much more work to be done. Stay tuned."

The Sawtooth mill was built around 1905 as an Apponaug Company textile mill. The Warwick Beacon has full details about the deal between the City of Warwick and AAA Northeast.