Richmond in the News

By Cynthia Drummond for BRVCA
January 8th 2024

Preserve Condo fetches Highest Condo Price in 2023:

Providence Journal

The Preserve was the focus of a Jan. 3, 2024 story in the Providence Journal by reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite, who wrote that a six-bedroom condominium Unit N4, at 87 Kingstown Road, had sold for $10.9 million, the highest condominium price in the state in 2023.

This news may not sit well with Richmond residents who are struggling to pay their property taxes, especially those who attended the June 6, 2023 Town Council meeting, during which four of the five council members approved a request from The Preserve that would allow the developer to ask the General Assembly to consider requests for tax stabilization and partial tax exemptions on the property.

Addressing the council, Preserve owner and developer Paul Mihailides raised eyebrows when he said the taxes on the luxury vacation homes on his property were too high for many buyers.

“It’s just too much for a third or fourth vacation home, somebody that’s here a few times a year, that is here because The Preserve offers so many intangible items,” he said.

(Citing her discomfort with many aspects of the bill, including its last-minute submission without her knowledge, Rep. Megan Cotter withdrew the proposed bill.)

The Preserve has challenged almost every property tax assessment, and settled an outstanding tax bill just hours before license renewal hearings in November, which required that the taxes be paid before the licenses would be renewed. A representative of The Preserve brought two checks to the Town Hall, the first, $37,069.45, for outstanding property taxes and a second check, for $11,543.36, to pay the town water bill.