Cioe receives approval to build commuter rail station and garage

The Cioe Companies received unanimous approval from the town of North Kingstown's planning commission to revise its project's master plan to go forward and build a 1,077 car parking garage on a 4-acre site within Wickford Junction. Cioe Companies' general partner John Cioe and Department of Transportation director Michael Lewis jointly presented the project and answered questions during the public meeting of the planning commission held last week. Cioe Cos. and the state of Rhode Island are nearing an agreement to create a public/private partnership which will enable the state to purchase a permanent easement on which to build a parking garage, to enter and exit through the shopping center and to tie into the shopping center utilities to include its private sewerage treatment system. The Cioe Cos. will be involved in the management of the project. Upon completion of agreements with MBTA and Amtrak, the agreement will be finalized. Once completed, Wickford Junction will provide commuter rail service via the MBTA to the Warwick Intermodal Station at T.F. Green Airport Providence and Boston. "This approval will enable us to complete the master plan initially developed in the 1980s with the Town of North Kingstown and amended recently to be a 450,000 s/f Mixed Use Transit Oriented Development," said Cioe. Wickford Junction will be built in phases over the next few years and will include additional retail and executive office space.