Citizens Bank Campus project on schedule

Construction of the Citizens Bank Campus off Greenville Avenue is now well underway, and a tour of the site provided to local and state officials last Thursday presented further insights into the project’s development and impact. 

“We chose probably the most complicated, difficult site you could ever choose to do a building on. This site has multiple elevations, has more rock and ledge than I think anywhere else in the state,” said Mike Knipper, head of property and an executive vice president at Citizens. “We had a massive landfill on the site that had to be removed. There was no highway access to the site and there was no sewer and water to the site. So we couldn’t possibly have picked a more complicated project to try to do.”

Last January, Citizens Bank’s executive team saw the proposed 123-acre site for the first time, and by February they decided to select Johnston as the place to consolidate company operations from existing office centers in the state into a single campus. As part of their long-term strategy, the development will provide upgraded work environments for 3,000 employees, which the company hopes improves retention, attracts new talent and enhances collaboration and productivity.

Thanks to a mild winter and arrangements reached between the bank, town and state, work is progressing “dramatically further than where the site would normally be,” according to Knipper, with construction expected to be completed by the summer of 2018.

 “We looked at every possible spot in this entire state to get this project done,” he said. “We made it through all the planning board approvals, zoning approvals, permitting processes; it’s unheard of to make it through a town in that period of time.”

According to Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena, when he first met with the Citizens group,” I knew that they were looking elsewhere, or even perhaps out of state, and I made a promise to them that if they were to remain in Rhode Island and come to my town we would move the process along quickly according to all planning and zoning regulations, and we did do that,” he said. Bigger than Gillette Stadium

Since the official groundbreaking in August, the site has undergone a huge transformation. Construction requires removing 550,000 cubic yards of material, such as boulders and ledge. Material from rock blasting and crushing will total 120,000 cubic yards, and to date 100,000 cubic yards have been processed. Blasting required 83,000 pounds of explosives.

By comparison, Gillette Stadium required the removal of 90,000 cubic yards of blasted bedrock, 310,000 cubic yards of total excavated material, and the demolition of the old Foxboro stadium and racetrack. 

“All of our decisions have been driven by what’s best for our customers, what’s best for our shareholders, what’s best for our colleagues, and, as our colleagues remind us all the time, what’s best for the environment and what’s best for the state,” said Knipper.

Some Johnston residents, too, have expressed their concerns about the environmental impact from the project at town council, zoning meetings and through some protests. But according to Janet Coit, Director of the Department of Environmental Management (DEM), while her department initially heard about some concerns, she was not aware of any recent complaints, saying that Citizens had “been responsive and done a good job.”

“Overall, with the Citizens project, they’ve been very responsive to environmental laws, to doing improvements even beyond compliance and are certainly concerned about community issues,” said Coit. “But I think bringing the sewer lines up here, bringing the water and some of the amenities that they have, the amount of the property that they’ve left forested, overall take a site that really was a dump that had been here for 60 or 70 years, and have turned it into, I think, a really nice amenity for the town.”

The four-acre onsite landfill, historically known as Tucker’s Dump, was remediated as part of the project. Lead previously dumped at the site and other potentially toxic substances of concern have been removed and taken to the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation and paid for by Citizens.

“It had been on our inventory for a number of years. It was slated eventually to have to be closed. Removing the dump as part of this project is a huge benefit,” said Terry Gray, associate director at DEM. “If you want to talk about an opportunity to remove risk to ground water and to the residents around here, that’s the way to do it, it’s not just to cap it but to really get in and remove it. That’s a huge environmental positive in terms of this piece of land.”

Highway access to Route 295 is a major component of the project, and construction of $6 million in ramps, with costs being split between the bank and the state, set to be built before the end of the year. Citizens expects the ramps to be permitted by the end of March or early April.

Work on sewer lines to the campus is slated to begin in March of this year and, according to Mayor Joseph Polisena, nearby residents will benefit.

“They’re going to be allowed to hook up to the sewer and water line, and they’re not going to have to pay for the assessment going down the middle of the road, which is a huge savings,” he said.

Currently, there are about 100 workers on site; that number will grow to 400 from 25 to 30 different companies during peak construction. Giant foundation walls of poured concrete throughout the construction zone portend the immense buildings to come. The campus’ primary buildings are planned to be 424,673 gross square feet, with the parking garage outlined to be 414,720 square feet. More jobs

“Citizens new corporate campus means real jobs for Rhode Island. The majority of my team is from here in Rhode Island, several live right here in Johnston,” said Ryan Brouillette construction supervisor with DiGregorio Corporation. “Some would not have a job if it weren’t for this project, while others may have to travel far outside the state.”

During the site tour, Governor Gina Raimondo called the project a “Rhode Island success story” and that its construction sends a message to businesses that the state has “a can-do attitude and this is a place you want to do business.”

“For a long time, I would go into union halls and it was not necessarily a happy place to be, especially on Monday morning, because Monday morning folks would show up and see, did they get work, did they get an assignment,” said Gov. Raimondo. “For years, there were no assignments, or if there was an assignment, the guy would have to pack up and go to Iowa, or go to Ohio, and I said to myself, we’re not doing that anymore, it’s time to put these guys to work in Rhode Island, rebuilding Rhode Island and making this place an even better state.”

Steelwork is expected to begin around the first week of March and is projected to consume 2,298 tons of the metal. By the end of June workers should have the structures topped off. The buildings’ outer covering work will commence in August, with the building completely closed off by the winter later this year.

Local leaders were quick to offer their support for the project and impressed with the magnitude of its scope.

“I think this is excellent, they’ve really progressed along and it sounds wonderful,” said Rep. Deborah A. Fellela. “With the different sporting venues that the town is going to benefit from, I think it’s wonderful for the town.”

Sen. Frank Lombardo III believes the project “is spectacular for the state of Rhode Island but more so for the town of Johnston.”

“I think this is a great example of the direction Rhode Island is going in. Everyone’s working together, the local government, the state government, the private industry and labor, to move things forward to make us better and protect our employees and our businesses here,” added Rep. Stephen R. Ucci “It’s just a success story all the way around.”

Bruce Van Saun, chairman and CEO of Citizens Financial Group, agreed.

“The close collaboration that we’ve had among all those who’ve been involved in this project has been really great to see. It’s a necessary ingredient for success as this is the largest corporate construction project in Rhode Island in nearly 10 years,” he said. “Together we’ve found a way to tackle each of the issues that got in our way in order to make sure we have the best result for our colleagues, for our customers, our company, the people of Johnston and the state. We at Citizens remain extremely happy with our decision to double down on the Ocean State, which has been our home since 1828.”

While much work has been completed at the site so far, more than 6.6 miles of underground utility pipe still needs to be laid, 2.7 miles of electrical conduit installed, and 2,414 interior and exterior parking spots created. But, according to Mayor Polisena, the town is invested in the long term.

“The town of Johnston and Citizens Bank, we have a special lifetime bond,” he said. “I know the old saying, you can pick your friends but not your family, but we are family now.”