Greater Providence Board of Realtors buys Cranston office for $430K

CRANSTON – The Greater Providence Board of Realtors recently bought a new office in Cranston, where the organization plans to host educational events aimed at real estate professionals from the region.

The one-story, brick-veneer building at 1169 Park Ave. was sold to the organization for $430,000 by Surfside Properties LLC, according to a copy of the warranty deed, a public record documenting the transaction.

Sweeney Real Estate & Appraisal, which represented the buyer and announced the deal, said the Greater Providence Board of Realtors “plans to improve” the building “with multiple offices and a state-of-the-art classroom for continuing education for Realtors.”

Surfside Properties is affiliated with the former owner of the building, an insurance company called DeBlasio Insurance Inc., which was established in 1957, specializing in home insurance, auto insurance and various types of commercial business insurance.

The Greater Providence Board of Realtors office was previously located at 365 Eddy St. in Providence from 1988 through 2019, the organization said. Since then, the group has maintained an office at 12 Breakneck Hill Road in Lincoln.

The Park Avenue building in Cranston is 2,052 square feet and was constructed in 1962, according to records from the Cranston Assessor’s Office. With a 3,200-square-foot parking area, the lot the office is built on spans just 0.15 acres, records show.

The commercial building was most recently valued by Cranston assessors to be worth $366,500 in 2022, according to records from the city’s online property evaluation database.

The Greater Providence Board of Realtors was established in 1907, and it is one of 1,300 Realtor associations throughout the country that are affiliated with the National Association of Realtors. The Rhode Island trade organization serves more than 2,500 members, provides continuing education and promotes homeownership throughout the state.