Roiter celebrates grand opening of Belvedere at Bristol Residences

The grand opening and ribbon-cutting for 28-unit Belvedere at Bristol Residences took place with town officials in attendance and state attorney general Patrick Lynch cutting the ribbon. Developer James Roiter, head of 423 Hope Redevelopment LLC, welcomed the crowd of 60 guests waiting and expressed his pride that the project had finally reached its final stages. Town administrator Diane Hederos held one end of the ribbon. The guests went to the fifth floor penthouse and were treated to wine and hors d'oeuvres catered by Bravo Restaurant of Providence, which will occupy the ground floor of The Belvedere. There is a total of 14,000 s/f of retail space. Roiter thanked everyone at the state house for the historic tax credits program, and stressed the importance of saving buildings. John Brown Herreshoff, a boat builder and president of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. built the Belvedere Hotel on Hope St. in 1901. The Depression, the hurricane of 1938 and a fire took their toll on the Belvedere. The building became neglected and remained vacant for much of the 1990s. Design was provided by Newport Collaborative Architects. Nappa Building Corp. served as the contractor.