Sheffield School Gets Green Light For IndustryBut for one suitor, rezoning comes too late; growing business is moving off-island
Written By Tom Shelvin - Newport This Week-Vol.36 Issue 42
NEWPORT - Two years after shutting its doors to students, Broadway's vacant Sheffield School has been re-zoned for commercial use. The designation, which clears the path for private industry and creates needed office space in downtown Newport, was passed by a unanimous 7-0 vote at the City Council's Oct. 8 meeting.
However, for one local business owner, the designation may have come too late.
AVTECH Sotfware, Inc. CEO Michael Sigourney confirmed just prior to press time that his company has signed a purchase and sale agreement with the owners of Cutler Mills on Child Street in Warren.
The deal, which is not expected to be complete until December, comes as the company prepares to nearly double the size of its workforce.
Currently located at 221 Third St. at Admiral's Gate, AVTECH has quietly distinguished itself as one of the city's fastest growing businesses, employing 25 full-time employees at an average compensation of $50,000 per year.
It had also been one of the Sheffield School's most vocal suitors.
Mr. Sigourney had publicly pushed councilors to re-zone the property for business use, going so far as to conduct a preliminary assessment on the building and how it could be used by his business.
"As a Newport resident, business and property owner, I am interested to see the City of Newport move forward with the process of re-purposing the Sheffield School property," he wrote to councilors in January.
Vacant for just over two years now, the city took possession of the property in July 2007. At that time, several council members voiced their support for converting the property into affordable workforce or senior housing. Mr. Sigourney saw a new home for his rapidly expanding business.
In an effort to make the best use of the nearly 33,000-square-foot building, councilors directed the city Planning Board to formally recommend the property's optimum use.
Board chairman Naomi Neville wrote to councilors in April, "Although the Sheffield School property could be developed as a multifamily use that conceivably melds with the surrounding residential, largely single- and two-family uses, the board was not convinced residential alternatives for Sheffield School are optimum."
Last month, the Planning Board voted to change the zoning from Institutional to Commercial, and the matter was brought back before the council for final approval.
Throughout the re-zoning process, Mr. Sigourney had praised city councilors for being receptive to his overtures. In an interview with Newport This Week in February, he went out of his way to express his desire to remain in Newport. "I could walk to work," he said at the time. "I would love it ... I have several employees who could ride their bikes."
Since founding AVTECH Software nearly 20 years ago from a spare bedroom, Mr. Sigourney has been building an impressive client list for his computer monitoring equipment, including every branch of the United States military, the UN, and 80 percent of Fortune 1000 companies.
Sheffield School appeared to be a perfect fit. But after more than two years confined to cramped offices, the company now appears ready to make the move off-island.
"I'm ready to hire four people this week, but won't do it until I have the space," Mr. Sigourney said last week. Within 90 days, he expects to add up to a dozen new workers, and within the next year, he projects, his workforce could double.
888.220.6700
Sales@AVTECH.com
AVTECH Software, Inc.