Revitalized Tiverton site to feature new restaurant, lease details announced

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has tapped a beloved Providence clam shack and seafood wholesaler as the centerpiece tenant for the revitalized former Chase Marina site tucked beneath the Sakonnet River Bridge in Tiverton.

According to Rhode Island Current, on Tuesday, the State Properties Committee unanimously greenlit a 10-year lease for Dune Brothers LLC to take over the two-story (on the western side) and one-story (eastern end) structure at 169 Riverside Drive, though the full agreement details weren’t immediately released.

DEM snagged the property from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation back in 2021, eyeing it as a rare chance to bolster the state’s blue economy through redevelopment.

The site once functioned as a private marina and kayak rental operation.

Dune Brothers, launched in 2017 by husband-and-wife team Nicholas and Monica Gillespie, kicked off with seasonal seafood shacks near downtown Providence and across the Seekonk River in East Providence. The venture has since blossomed into a full-service restaurant and market in Providence’s Fox Point area, plus a wholesale outpost in Warwick.

The chief of program development for DEM’s Natural Resources Bureau, Troy Langknecht, told the committee that the proposed deal calls for Dune Brothers to pay $82,230 per year.

It is currently unclear when the new restaurant will open.