John Luipold, vice president for business affairs, auxiliary services and real estate at Brown, said the acquisition will reduce Brown’s costs in the long term and underscores the University’s commitment to the neighborhood.

“Brown is in the Jewelry District to stay,” Luipold said. “South Street Landing has served as a cornerstone for increased vibrancy in the neighborhood for a half decade already, and we look forward to that remaining the case for generations to come. We are committed to the long-term stewardship of this historic property, and we hope our presence continues to help attract new commercial investors and support the surge of research, innovation and entrepreneurship happening in the district.”

Anchoring Brown’s presence in the Jewelry District

Since 2017, Brown and the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center — operated jointly by the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College — have served as South Street Landing’s two major tenants. The building is considered a success story for economic revitalization.

After a successful run of nearly a century supplying electrical power across the area, the former South Street Power Plant shut down in 1995. For two decades, the hulking brick and stone Eddy Street building sat abandoned. Even so, the station had potential. As Brown completed the nearby Warren Alpert Medical School building in 2011, conversations about continued expansion into the Jewelry District were underway. The century-old power station would be essential to the neighborhood’s long-term vitality, University leaders knew. By 2013, a partnership to redevelop the building was underway, and Brown became the anchor tenant in a project being developed by CV Properties and Wexford Science & Technology.

Some six years later, after $220 million in redevelopment, Brown moved into the completely reimagined South Street Landing with a 15-year lease for 136,000 square feet of built-from-scratch office space. Hundreds of Brown employees have worked there daily in the years since. In 2019, the project to reimagine the former power station captured the nation’s top historic preservation award.

Employees relocating to South Street Landing early in 2024 will add to nearly 2,000 faculty, students and staff who work, teach and conduct research in the Jewelry District daily. Brown owns River House, a residential building immediately adjacent to South Street Landing, and a range of buildings used for medical education and research, among other nearby properties. A planned 300,000-square-foot, seven-story integrated life sciences building will be constructed on Richmond St. And the University is a major tenant in existing buildings like Wexford Science & Technology’s Point 225 building at 225 Dyer St. and an Ancora L&G building that will house new State Health Laboratories.

For employees who already work in South Street Landing, Brown’s acquisition will have no immediate practical impacts. The University will occupy the same physical spaces as it does currently, and building management operations will remain unchanged. Brown will co-own with Ventas all common spaces in South Street Landing and will share costs for maintaining them.

“Our initial lease at South Street Landing marked an initial commitment — this acquisition now demonstrates and builds upon Brown’s long-term interest in creating and sustaining a thriving Jewelry District,” Luipold said.