Crosspoint Associates Teams Up With DiPrete Engineering to Transform Slatersville Plaza

By September 22, 2016 Engineering News

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Waltham, MA based Crosspoint Associates, a regional real estate investment, development and management company, has set in motion the transformation of Slatersville Plaza, a shopping center located in North Smithfield, RI.

Home to Brigido’s Fresh Market, Village Paint & Decorating, Rite Aid, Bank of America, Salon 900, the Juice Box and North Smithfield Wine & Spirit, and more, Slatersville has served as a grocery-based shopping center for smaller sized retailers for over 50 years. After acquiring the 70,000 sf building in June of 2014, Crosspoint set out to implement their long term vision that will tap into pent up consumer demand by creating a new shopping experience.

“Smaller shops – be they mom and pop retailers or national chains – are clamoring for unique, quaint space,” said Paul Connolly of Crosspoint Associates.  “Shoppers are more focused on the experience and want to be in pedestrian scale environments. They are drawn to places with hearty landscaping, defined pathways, helpful signage, outdoor seating and more.”

Crosspoint recently hired DiPrete Engineering, a civil engineering, planning and surveying firm, for their expertise in shopping center revitalization and design to provide a new perspective for the property. Together the two implemented a plan that resulted in a more efficient parking layout benefiting both tenants and customers. Large expanses of parking were broken up and made more inviting by creating landscape barriers between vehicular and pedestrian access ways. Energy efficient lighting replaced outdated fixtures and shines bright over the freshly striped crosswalks and parking stalls to create a safer shopping experience for the community.

“The goal of this project from an engineering perspective was to make sure landlord concerns were balanced with the demand of today’s customer,” said Sheryl Guglielmo, Project Manager at DiPrete Engineering. “Material selections were matched with the landlord maintenance plan and parking stalls and sidewalks were complimentary to tenant operations.”

“While many improvements have already been made, Slatersville has a lot of great potential that has yet to be tapped into,” said Connolly.  “We are extremely excited by the progress seen thus far and are looking forward to the Shopping Centers final outcome.”

The final landscape plantings were installed in the spring. Moving forward, Crosspoint has plans to continue to improve the physical appearance of the center’s storefronts and signage.