PRESSROOM
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Carnegie Tower in Portsmouth prepares for grand opening
01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, June 28, 2009
By Christine Dunn
Journal Staff Writer, Providence Journal
Like to play golf? Do you really, really like the view from the top? And do you happen to have $14.5 million or so to spend for a vacation home?
If so, J. Brian O’Neill, founder and chairman of O’Neill Properties Group, would like to meet you.
“About half” of the 79 condominiums at the O’Neill Group’s spanking-new Carnegie Tower at the Carnegie Abbey Club in Portsmouth are under contract, according to Edward T. Lopes, Jr., O’Neill’s senior vice president of development.
But there is no buyer yet for the ultra-luxurious penthouse suite, which comprises the entire top floor of the 22-story tower, and the entire rooftop “observation deck” — about 8,500 square feet of real-estate bling.
The $14.5-million price tag is reflective of how different the penthouse suite is from the other Tower units, which are priced from $799,000 to $5,470,000, and range in size from 845 to 3,455 square feet.
The rooftop deck alone is bigger than many single-family houses, and when fully outfitted, it will have a circular bar and kitchenette in the enclosed center section, a rooftop garden on the open terrace on the south side and a 10-person Jacuzzi on the northern terrace.
Below, on the main level, the penthouse has four more balconies offering plenty more room for observing Narragansett Bay, the rest of the Carnegie Abbey Club, including the golf course and the rest of Aquidneck Island.
And with five full bathrooms, there are plenty more jetted bathtubs. The penthouse has four bedrooms and two half-baths.
The master bath vanity counter is made from a translucent white and yellow colored marble that will be lit from below so it will glow in the dark, Lopes said.
Ceilings are 12 feet high, and full-height windows let light flood in throughout the penthouse suite. A small section of all the tall windows throughout the Tower can be partially opened to let in fresh air.
The penthouse also includes the two dramatic “clock” windows that are a design feature of the exterior of the building.
The living room and dining room of the penthouse suite are outfitted with antique fireplace mantels that “Brian found at an auction,” Lopes said. The media room is set up for a 60-inch flat-screen television.
The kitchen has Carrera marble countertops and Subzero appliances. There is also a butler’s pantry.
As staff and crew prepared for a June 27 grand opening party at the Tower, Lopes said the company is just “days away” from receiving the occupancy permits that will allow closings to take place and new owners to move in.
Lopes was unable to provide an exact figure for total construction costs for the Tower, but when asked for an estimate, he said that the investment easily “exceeded 80 million.”
Designed by Boston architect Burt Hill, The Tower is built on the site of the former Kaiser Aluminum facility, and costs started with the environmental remediation of the former brownfields site to make the land acceptable for residential use.
Lopes said the Tower has its own sewer infrastructure, including an on-site treatment plant. Cleaned wastewater is used to water the 350-acre Carnegie Abbey Club golf course.
The construction process was dealt a serious setback on Dec. 1, 2008, when a water-main break in the ceiling of the third floor “completely ruined the first three floors” of the tower, Lopes said. He said it was necessary to “gut it down to the studs” and rebuild. “Our mentality was zero defects,” he added.
On June 17, Lopes said, furniture was arriving and being placed in common areas on the first floors, including the limestone lobby, which features an elegant Barovier & Tose chandelier.
Most common areas in the Tower are decorated in a blue and white nautical theme, which is continued in the 25 private cabanas surrounding the spacious outdoor pool. A small children’s pool and a hot tub are also near the cabanas.
There cabanas, all are for sale at prices of $195,000 to $595,000, except for the special one that is assigned to the penthouse suite. The penthouse cabana comes with extras like a full kitchen and a gas fireplace — and is much more like a luxury condo than a poolside tent.
British businessman Peter de Savary founded the Carnegie Abbey Club in 2000 as an exclusive golf club — invitation-only memberships cost $175,000 — on land leased for 99 years from the Benedictine religious order that owns the Portsmouth Abbey School.
O’Neill has added an array of residential options at Carnegie Abbey, including clubhouse condos, townhouses and single-family houses.
In addition to the 18-hole, Scottish-links style golf course, the club includes the Lookout lounge and golf shop; a 56,000-square-foot golf clubhouse, which includes a fitness center, massage and spa rooms; 41 boat slips; two tennis courts; an outdoor pool, and an equestrian center with seven miles of riding trails.
Although the golf course land is still leased, Lopes said the land under the Tower and the surrounding Royal Cottages is owned, purchased by O’Neill when he bought the club from De Savary.
O’Neill has still more plans for Portsmouth. He wants to develop the former Weyerhauser timber-shipping facility, to be known as the Carnegie Beach Club, on 125 acres north of Carnegie Abbey; plans call for 100 houses and 52 condominiums, boat slips and an equestrian center.
O’Neill has also received approvals to begin construction at the former Hood Marina site in Weaver Cove, where plans for a development dubbed The Newport Club call for 1,450 boat slips and 990 studios and one- to three-bedroom residences, a pool club, retail shops and restaurants, and a boardwalk.
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