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Consultants recommend a development entity and regional incentives to seed North End jobs and a 'blue economy'
Summary
To reduce reliance on tourism, consultants urged protecting water-dependent uses, preserving employment space, and creating a development entity plus multi-tax incentives (state/city) to assemble property and catalyze job-focused development in the North End and on Quidneck Island.
Consultant economists urged Newport to pursue strategies that go beyond tourism and the military by protecting space for water-dependent uses, preserving employment land, and creating a development entity to assemble property and catalyze employment-centered projects. "We're going to suggest preserve space for water dependent uses and discourage non water dependent uses on the waterfronts," Kevin Heibley said, and he recommended thinking about a capital stack and potentially seeking city–state incentive models to support job-oriented development.
Several council and board members raised practical constraints: limited land, high infrastructure costs for the North End (one panelist cited more than $200 million to extend utilities), and the interplay with housing availability. Consultants proposed regional coordination with neighboring municipalities on employment space and said a dedicated public or quasi-public development entity could partner with private developers, acquire key properties and assemble parcels. The consultants emphasized that state support for tax or incentive tools would likely be necessary to make employment-focused development feasible.
