b'QDCs King outlines Developments at Quonset Business ParkQDCS KING OUTLINES DEVELOPMENTS ATQUONSET BUSINESS PARKBy George Lauriat, AJOTS teven King is the managing directoradapted to the State?of Quonset Development CorporationKing: An initiative was put together (QDC) which manages Quonset Businessto get a bond issue passed by the voters Park (QBP), a 3,200 acre businessof Rhode Island in a special election park located on Quonset Point, (Northin 2020 and approved a $40 million in Kingstown) Rhode Island. Besides theobligation bond issue. QDC has been 200 plus companies located within thetasked with finding additional industrial QBP is the Port of Davisville, one of thesites and helping to ready them for new countrys top auto ports with numbersbusiness in the state of Rhode Island.over 300,000 in most years, althoughAJOTThis leads very nicely into the with COVID and other disruptions theoffshore wind initiative. Could you update Port slipped under 200,000 in 2021.us on what is happening with QBP and And the Port collaborates with NORADoffshore wind power?(North Atlantic Distribution Inc.), the autoKing: I guess Ill back up a little bit processer generating the vehicle traffic,and talk about the Port of Davisville. We and a processor in normal years amonghave a $234.5 million master plan that the top ten in the U.S. But as Steven Kingwere working through to rehabilitate the explains in the interview with AJOT, theold World War II era infrastructure, to Steven King, managing director of QDC QDC hosts a wide variety of economicbring it up to modern code and provide ventures, including some like Rhodea new service life of 50-years into the Island Ready that have become part offuture. Were also building additional Rhode Islands own initiatives. And therefacilities and expanding the capabilities is also offshore wind power which standsof the port to leverage that [and] to to be a once in a generation boon for thecapitalize on the opportunities with the Port of Davisville and Rhode Island. offshore wind industry.AJOTWhat is the Rhode IslandWe are on the last couple months of Ready initiative and how does the QDCconstruction and the first element of that fit in? project, which was the rehabilitation of King: One of the things that weour Pier 2 at the Port of Davisville, which did here in the real estate developmentis an $83.1 million project. Its been going side of the business is what I call theon now for almost three years and thatll Site Readiness Initiative. That was tobe completed here in June.pre-program, pre-design and pre-permitWe are about to begin a project to [for client development]. We started thatreconstruct the outer perimeter of Pier effort after the economy collapsed inOne. That first element of that first part 2008. And by doing that, we are now in aof that phase of that project will kick off position to develop sites in the businesshere. Later in the spring were going to put park with a 90-day turnaround time.that up for bid to construct the south side This has been tremendously beneficialof Pier One.to us [QDC] with a lot of deals that haveWe are also designing and beginning happened since that time betweenthe permit process to construct a 2010 or so and today. And because thebrand new pier facility at what we call program was so successful, the [RI]Terminal Five at the Port of Davisville. Governor and the General Assembly inTo provide some more flexibility and Rhode Island determined that we didcreate a whole new multi-use pier, that such a good job, then we could help themwill be able to accommodate the ro-ro mimic the same thing around the state ofvessels that routinely call on the port. Rhode Island. As well as all the various vessels that AJOTHow was the programwill be associated with the offshore 12'