A representative for Johnston-based developer Carpionato Properties said last week that a Lowe’s home improvement store is expected to open in the summer of 2006 at the former home of Apex in Warwick.

The property, located on Route 5 near the intersection with Route 113, will house the 140,000-square-foot store in addition to a 28,000-square-foot garden center, said Kelly Coates, senior vice president of Carpionato Properties.

Demolition of the former Apex department store was completed in August, and Coates said the company has received the necessary permits to proceed with the development. Phase two of the project – which the company names “The Greenwood Shops” – is slated to include a 65,000-square-foot Stop & Shop supermarket with a 6,000-square-foot mezzanine.

Also planned in the second phase is another building that will include a 43,000-square-foot retail store, an office location of the same size and a basement garage.

The second part of the project requires additional permitting; Coates said Carpionato anticipates receiving it in February 2006, at which point construction could begin. Another existing building on the property, an MRI center, will be demolished after it is vacated in December, Coates said.

Carpionato, which also purchased the former Conti’s restaurant across the street from the Apex project, said the development would best serve Warwick residents who live east of Interstate 95, a group that may not want to travel to busy Route 2 for their shopping needs.

Published 11/19/2005
Issue 20-32