A troubled Rhode Island mall that came under the national spotlight when it was featured in a Netflix documentary is slated to be sold for roughly $133 million. The film, which premiered on the streaming service earlier this year, chronicles a group of artists that lived at the property in secret for several years.
Providence Place, a 1.4 million-square-foot downtown shopping center in the Ocean State's capital, is about to be rescued by a partnership that includes one of the original developers as well as a former Providence mayor.
“This property was originally developed by my father, Robert Congel, and returning it to our ownership and management underscores our long-term commitment to investing in communities, revitalizing iconic assets, and positioning them for continued success.”
Pyramid Management Group, Paolino Properties and DW Partners on Monday said they have been granted exclusive rights to negotiate the purchase and sale of the mall after successfully bidding for it in a receivership auction. Joseph Paolino Jr., the ex-city mayor and a former ambassador to Malta, is a managing partner at Paolino Properties, which is headquartered in Providence.
Syracuse, New York-based Providence Place made national headlines in January when Netflix debuted "Secret Mall Apartment," the true story of how a group of artists lived from 2003 to 2007 — undetected — in an apartment they created in a 750-square-foot hidden nook of the mall. The unsuspected tenants went so far as to hoist furniture — including sofas and a TV set — up metal steps to make themselves at home.
The pending sale of the mall, which includes both the real estate and management of the retail property, is valued at roughly $133 million, according to Pyramid. The transaction "represents the beginning of a comprehensive repositioning and revitalization process" for Providence Place, Pyramid said.
With court approval now in hand, Pyramid, Paolino Properties and DW Partners plan to proceed with finalizing a purchase and sale agreement in coordination with the mall's receiver. The property had been owned by Brookfield Properties, according to CoStar data.
"The acquisition of Providence Place is a meaningful full circle moment for our family and for Pyramid," Stephen Congel, the company's CEO, said in a statement. "This property was originally developed by my father, Robert Congel, and returning it to our ownership and management underscores our long-term commitment to investing in communities, revitalizing iconic assets, and positioning them for continued success."
The mall "has seen substantial stabilization during receivership, including essential improvements to security, maintenance, and core infrastructure," according to Pyramid.
Displaced from downtown buildings
The documentary, in part, chronicled the mall's history, including its construction and opening in 1999. The group of artists that decided to take up residence there were seeking a kind of payback after the mall's development displaced some of them and their peers from existing downtown buildings.
Only one person, artist Michael Townsend, was formally charged, initially with breaking and entering, later reduced to trespassing, according to media reports. The documentary, featuring an interview with Townsend, had a limited theatrical run in 2025 before it came to Netflix.
Pyramid's portfolio encompasses nine retail properties in the Northeast, including Destiny USA in Syracuse, New York, one of the 10 biggest malls in the United States; Crossgates in Albany, New York; and Walden Galleria in Buffalo, New York.
Paolino Properties is a fourth-generation, family-owned and -operated real estate investment, development and management company.
DW Partners, based in New York, is an alternative credit and real estate firm with a track record in structured finance and property investments. It has previously partnered with Paolino Properties on a project in downtown Providence.
The partnership of the three companies represents "a combination of experienced mall operators and deeply rooted local ownership, supported by institutional capital markets expertise," according to Pyramid.
Pyramid was the developer of Palisades Center, a roughly 2.2 million-square-foot mall in West Nyack, New York, that had been in receivership for several years. That property was sold at auction in February for $175 million.