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Date September 15, 2026
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With input from local community, Brown revises plan for new economics building

A substantially revised proposed building site near Brook and Charlesfield streets in Providence responds to neighbor concerns and supports Brown’s goals for a state-of-the-art home for its Department of Economics.

2D rendering of site map of anticipated economics building showing site corner block
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The revised plan will shift the anticipated site to the southwest corner of Brook and Charlesfield, moving the building away from local residences, maximizing proximity to other institutional buildings while creating publicly accessible green space in the interior of the block.

2D rendering of site map of anticipated economics building showing site mid block
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Initially, Brown had explored a site on Brown-owned property in the center of the block along Brook Street between Benevolent and Charlesfield streets.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Brown University has substantially revised its preliminary plans for a new, unified home for its world-class economics department on its College Hill campus.

By shifting the proposed building site to the corner of Brook and Charlesfield streets in Providence, the revised plan will support Brown’s goals for a state-of-the-art home for economics and directly address feedback on the preliminary plan shared by nearby neighbors.

Brown had initially been exploring a site on Brown-owned property in the center of a block along Brook Street between Benevolent and Charlesfield streets that currently contains a surface parking lot and four University-owned residential buildings, which would have needed to be moved or demolished. In revising its preliminary plans, the University is addressing concerns about building location, scale and impacts on existing structures. The revised plan will:

  • Shift the anticipated site to the southwest corner of Brook and Charlesfield streets, moving the building away from local residences on Benevolent Street toward other institutional buildings and uses. This will maximize proximity to the Watson School of International and Public Affairs and Brown’s Department of Political Science, and minimize the impact on residential neighbors while creating publicly accessible green space in the interior of the block.
     
  • Scale back the building’s anticipated height to approximately 60 feet (from a previously proposed 75 feet) and mass consistent with other nearby University facilities. A building height of 60 feet is well below the height allowed in this area by the City of Providence Zoning Ordinance, and is comparable to the residence halls and academic buildings that are located at the intersection of Charlesfield and Brook streets.
     
  • Preserve two residential buildings located at 287 and 291 Brook St. that were constructed in 1886 by Alexander Gorham, an African-American real estate developer who, along with his wife Caroline, made significant social and cultural history contributions to Providence. 
     
  • Reduce the number of residential buildings proposed to be removed from four to two residential buildings on Brook Street (both of which will first be offered for relocation, as has been the case with prior projects requiring removal of existing structures) and remove the nondescript 1967 concrete building on Charlesfield Street that currently houses the administrative operations of Brown’s Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management (DPSEM). As part of the revised plan, Brown is in the final stages of securing a new home for DPSEM’s administrative operations. Those operations will remain at 75 Charlesfield St. until a plan is finalized, and the plans developed will ensure and support robust campus public safety operations across College Hill and the Jewelry District, consistent with the University’s recently released Safety and Security Action Plan. 
     
  • Relocate the Brown-owned graduate student residential building currently at the corner of Charlesfield and Brook streets (71-73 Charlesfield St.) to the east along Charlesfield Street, where it will be immediately adjacent to a similarly grand Victorian residence at 79 Charlesfield St. 
     
  • Position the new economics building to face the Watson School’s Stephen Robert ’62 Hall, integrating the facility into an existing cluster of Brown academic and residential buildings.

Russell Carey, Brown’s executive vice president for planning and policy, said the revised plans reflect the University’s longstanding commitment to incorporating neighborhood feedback in the campus planning process.

“The revised plan directly addresses concerns we’ve heard about the building’s size, the preservation of two properties on Brook Street and the character of the surrounding neighborhood,” Carey said. “Hearing from neighbors early in this process allowed us to respond meaningfully to their feedback while still in the feasibility stage and while continuing to advance our institutional priorities. Brown has taken this collaborative approach to campus planning for decades, and we are bringing that same commitment to this project.”

Achieving project goals, addressing neighbor concerns

Informed by an early feasibility study, scenarios in Brown’s original preliminary plans included a potential 75-foot, five-story building that would have required clearing a surface parking lot and demolishing or moving four University-owned residential buildings — at 277, 281-283, 287 and 291 Brook St.

The new anticipated site on the corner of Brook and Charlesfield streets, compared to center-block, would move the building farther from Benevolent Street residents, more than doubling the distance between the building and the residential property line and creating a larger buffer zone filled with publicly accessible green space. Brown would target a building height of approximately 60 feet to maximize natural sunlight and minimize the building’s visibility from nearby homes, addressing key concerns raised by Providence residents.

“ Hearing from neighbors early in this process allowed us to respond meaningfully to their feedback while still in the feasibility stage and while continuing to advance our institutional priorities. Brown has taken this collaborative approach to campus planning for decades, and we are bringing that same commitment to this project.
”

Russell Carey Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy at Brown

The revised site would both achieve Brown’s programmatic goals for economics and alter in a positive direction how existing structures are impacted. The graduate student residential building at 71-73 Charlesfield St. would be relocated on the adjacent Charlesfield St. parcel immediately to the east, adjacent to a similarly grand Victorian residence at 79 Charlesfield St. Two residential structures that would have been removed in the original plan — 287 and 291 Brook St., both built by Alexander Gorham in 1886 — will be preserved and renovated for residential and/or commercial use. Brown’s public safety administrative operations building, a nondescript 1967 concrete building at 75 Charlesfield St., would be removed. The two residential buildings at 277 and 281-283 Brook St. would, as has been the case with prior projects, be offered for sale at $10 each to buyers willing, qualified and able to move the existing structures from their present sites to new locations and continue their use. If those efforts are unsuccessful, both would be offered to organizations for architectural salvage before the remaining structures are removed. 

Brown is in the final stages of securing a new home for the administrative operations of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management. Those operations will remain in the 75 Charlesfield St. building until a plan is finalized, and the plans developed will ensure and support robust campus public safety operations across College Hill and the Jewelry District, consistent with the University’s recently released Safety and Security Action Plan.

The revised plan for the economics building maintains Brown’s commitment to creating a new home for economics in Providence’s I-2 Educational Institutional zone, a designation established in 1986 to support the planned growth of educational institutions while maintaining compatibility with surrounding neighborhoods.

In May, Brown selected Höweler + Yoon as the architect to lead the project’s design. The revised plan allows the team — in continued collaboration with planning leaders at Brown, community members on campus and in nearby neighborhoods, as well as lead contractor Consigli Construction — to design a building that elevates the academic program for economics by unifying campus community members currently spread across multiple buildings. As envisioned, the facility will integrate the department’s people and activities, positioning them to conduct research and prepare students for careers with even greater impact.

Before construction can proceed, the University must secure an amendment to its Institutional Master Plan (IMP), which it expects to submit to Providence’s City Plan Commission later in 2026. Because the project, as envisioned, is consistent with both the intent and requirements of the I-2 zoning classification, no zoning variances or waiver requests are anticipated.

Brown project leaders will discuss the revised plans with local community leaders and neighbors in a series of meetings in support of the proposed amendment to the IMP in the coming weeks.

Tags
Brown and Providence Campus Development Watson School

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