Cranston, RI – Garden City Center, Rhode Island’s premier outdoor shopping venue, detailed a multi-phased strategy to expand, reconfigure and redevelop the historic shopping center.
Construction of a new 20,000sf building begins an extension of the iconic Village that will eventually turn former large format retail space into a mix of mid-size and smaller specialty stores. Later phases include construction of several new restaurant spaces and improved traffic and pedestrian links to the Whole Foods Market section of the center.
The multi-million dollar project will employ a sophisticated contemporary design leveraging Garden City Center’s New England village concept and utilizing the traditional New England elements and materials already found throughout the center.
Phase I extends Garden City’s “Village” to the south with the addition of the new 20,000 sf building immediately adjacent to Papa Razzi. The new space will be home to two premier national retailers. At the same time, the iconic Garden City gazebo will be transformed from the end-cap of the Village into the new focal point for the center. Construction is anticipated to break ground in late Spring with delivery of the space to retailers in late 2012.
Phase II will see the conversion of previously occupied large format stores, located in the area that is now called the Commons, into smaller 3,000 to 10,000sf stores and restaurants. I
t is anticipated the Phase II construction will be complete by early 2013. Further phases will include the addition of new restaurants and redesigned connections to the Whole Foods Market section of the center.
Located on Route 2 in Cranston, Garden City Center has 500,000 sf of retail and office space. It was one of the first centers of its kind in the country and generations have fond memories of GCC shopping excursions. The center is currently home to 55 shops, services, and eateries