Roger Williams University to Lease One Empire Plaza, Double its Providence Footprint

PROVIDENCE, RI – In a move that will nearly double its footprint in downtown Providence and allow more students – law students, adult learners and undergraduates – access to enhanced learning and community engagement opportunities in the capital city, Roger Williams University has agreed to lease 76,566 square feet of space at One Empire Plaza from property owner Berkeley Investments, Inc.

RWU President Donald J. Farish, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and Berkeley Investments Vice President Barbara Smith-Bacon joined other city, state and community officials for an event at One Empire Plaza to announce the University’s expansion in Providence.

When the University’s new space opens in May 2016 following a complete renovation, it will replace its existing Metro Center at 150 Washington Street. It will provide expanded space for RWU’s School of Law, School of Continuing Studies and growing array of outreach and engagement programs, including the Latino Policy Institute, HousingWorks RI and the Community Partnerships Center. With community-focused, project-based learning having emerged as a defining element of an RWU education, Farish says a larger, more geographically central presence in the heart of the state and city is essential.

“This puts students at the center of the action and will translate to more real-world opportunities, which equip graduates with the practical skills that open doors in the employment world,” Farish said. “And for our community partners – the state of Rhode Island, the city of Providence and a great number of other municipalities and nonprofits in the region – this allows us to collaborate and to contribute faculty and student expertise on a greater scale, from a central location, on quality-of-life issues that affect Rhode Islanders.”

The move serves as a long-term investment by the University in the city of Providence, its surrounding communities and local businesses and residents. With a 12-year lease beginning in May 2016, rent will total nearly $23 million dollars into 2028; that follows a renovation by Berkeley Investments that will total nearly $11 million before RWU takes occupancy. With much of the building’s activity to continue late into the evening, the expanded student presence will also benefit local businesses well beyond busy daytime commuter hours.

“We are excited to have Roger Williams University expand its presence here in Providence and welcome RWU students, faculty and staff as they breathe new life into One Empire Plaza,” Mayor Taveras said. “This expansion will benefit local businesses, bringing more people downtown and showing them what our city has to offer. Furthermore, RWU’s increased presence downtown and its proximity to surrounding communities will provide more students with the opportunity to gain the practical skills and knowledge so valuable to rounding out their educational experience.”

Berkeley Investments President Young K. Park noted the significance of the agreement with RWU: “With this long-term lease, Roger Williams University is the perfect partner for us at One Empire Plaza,” he said. “We are delighted that RWU selected One Empire for its growing array of law, continuing studies and graduate programs, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship with the University.”

The University’s presence in the six-story building will comprise the entirety of the first four floors and a portion of the fifth floor; the 76,566 square feet leased by Roger Williams represents approximately 75 percent of the building’s available office and retail space.

A total of 18 classrooms with capacities ranging from 30 to 50 seats will be included on floors two, three and four. More than 100 conference rooms, meeting spaces and offices will be located throughout the building. A welcome area and gallery will invite visitors into the space and serve as a venue for special events. On the second floor, a satellite location of the Roger Williams University bookstore will be installed along with a grab-and-go café.

With the University’s emphasis on immersing students in community-based projects, much of the space – and the technology to be installed before occupancy – is designed to allow students, faculty and community partners to collaborate effectively in group settings. The fifth floor, for example, will house the Community Partnerships Center, the Latino Policy Institute and HousingWorks RI – three key components in the Division of University Outreach and Engagement at Roger Williams. In addition to offices, a reception entry, flexible spaces, breakout rooms, research areas and meeting venues will allow for such work.

The RWU Law space on the fourth floor will more fully integrate the law school’s clinical offerings and amplify its connection to the region’s legal community. There will be space for the Criminal Defense, Immigration and Community Economic Development clinics, along with classrooms and a flexible space that can be used as a mock courtroom, suitable for trial practice instruction and even use by state and federal court judges. The classrooms will be available to serve law students spending more time away from the Bristol campus, working in one of the clinics or in clinical externships in judges’ chambers, government offices, other public interest settings, or in the legal departments of corporations located in and around Providence.

There will also be a branch office of the school’s Feinstein Center for Pro Bono and Experiential Education, home to the Pro Bono Collaborative, which partners law firms, law students, and community-based organizations to provide targeted pro bono legal services. The Providence building will make it even easier for students to take advantage of the law school’s unique clinical education guarantee.

“We will be able to provide students even more value with a ‘home’ in Providence where they can engage in both experiential and classroom work – to see that those types of work are not separate, but feed and complement each other,” said RWU Law Dean Michael J. Yelnosky. “A law center in the city will also give us an opportunity to take advantage of our relationships with the legal community, forge other relationships and more easily and effectively collaborate with our partners. Providence is the hub of the legal, business and cultural communities in Rhode Island. Our new home offers an expanded opportunity for our students to be part of that.”

The University’s School of Continuing Studies will be headquartered on the third floor. The move to the larger, centrally located campus in downtown Providence is key to attracting adult learners to the wide range of credit-bearing degree programs offered through that school, as well as the non-credit offerings of the Professional Education Center. Through partnerships with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training and other local organizations and corporations, the School of Continuing Studies is helping to address the state’s needs for workforce development and professional education.

“The central location will allow us to offer affordable, high-quality education to an ever-expanding share of adult learners in Rhode Island,” said Jamie Scurry, dean of continuing studies. “For students who have jobs, families and other commitments, this eliminates the typical barriers to education – practical things like travel time, parking, ease of access and more. The space itself is set up for collaborative, integrated learning; it will drive not just effective teaching and learning, but the entire culture of the School of Continuing Studies.”

Classrooms will also be configured with the University’s rCloud virtual desktop platform and other technology enhancements for effective distance learning, key for many School of Continuing Studies students, particularly the many members of the U.S. military enrolled at RWU. Also included in the building are student and administrative spaces for many of the University’s graduate programs, including master’s programs offered in criminal justice, education and business.

The University will be establishing parking agreements with lot operators near the facility prior to taking occupancy in May 2016. The University has worked with Providence-based Vision 3 Architects to plan for the new facility at One Empire Plaza. Columbia Construction Company of North Reading, Mass., will manage the renovation project, working directly with Berkeley Investments.

The move to One Empire Plaza marks an expansion in the city where the University originated. In 1919, the Northeastern University School of Commerce and Finance opened a branch at the Providence YMCA. Thirty-seven years later – after multiple charters, names and even a complete shutdown during World War II – the school received a state charter to become a two-year, degree-granting institution under the name of Roger Williams Junior College.

About RWU: Roger Williams University, with its main campus located on the coast of Bristol, R.I., is a forward-thinking private university with 45 undergraduate majors spanning the liberal arts and the professions, where students become community-minded citizens through project-based, experiential learning. With small classes, direct access to faculty and boundless opportunity for real-world projects, RWU students develop the ability to think critically while simultaneously building the practical skills that today’s employers demand. In the two years since launching its signature Affordable Excellence initiative, the University has established itself as a leader in American higher education by confronting the most pressing issues facing students and families – increasing costs that limit access to college, rising debt and the job readiness of graduates. In addition to its 4,000 undergraduates, RWU is home to more than a dozen graduate programs, a thriving School of Continuing Studies based in Providence as well as Rhode Island’s only law school.

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