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Trenton's Brenna dreams 25-story tower by Amtrak station

Daniel R. Brenna Jr. grew up in the Burg - that's Chambersburg, the Italian-American-flavored district on Trenton's south side - and he's got big plans for the old neighborhood: a 25-story tower by the train station

    by Joseph N. DiStefano
    Published 

Daniel R. Brenna Jr. grew up in the Burg - that's Chambersburg, the Italian-American-flavored district on Trenton's south side - and he's got big plans for the old neighborhood.

"We're looking at a 25-story LEED Platinum-certified office tower, adjacent to the Trenton Transit Center," which got a big face-lift last year. Brenna says. The would-be Vista Center features "700,000 square feet" and would cost "in excess of $200 million." For 2,800 workers. 1,100 cars in the garage.

Good news for De Lorenzo's Tomato Pies and other neighborhood joints. But why Trenton, and why now? Cause it's happened around Jersey City, Hoboken, Metopark, New Brunswick, Princeton and most of the other train stations -- and new state and federal tax breaks make the site attractive, Brenna says. Why shouldn't Trenton be more than the old factories or state offices?

Who're his tenants? "We've been in conversation with many." Nobody signed yet. No banks, either, til there's a tenant. Brenna figures tax incentives plus falling construction-materials costs will help bring a big employer his way. Maybe BlackRock Inc., which Philadelphia is still hoping to lure from Pennington with Brandywine Realty Trust's proposed Cira 2 tower. As with Cira, Brenna is looking at rents in the $40 per square foot range to make the site pay.

Brenna, who operates Capital Real Estate Group and the Ajax real estate fund, is best known for his Ice House factory-to-condo conversions. He's currently working on Chambers Lofts, in the old American Cigar Co. works that lured many Italian immigrants to Trenton.

"We're in the thick of the storm. Storms pass; companies will be less scared. The major companies know they'll be around in three years. We know this is a good way to reduce operating costs and keep their workforce intact" until then, said Sergio Coscia, architect at RMJM Hillier Architects' Philadlephia office, a Penn grad whose prior projects include work at Episcopal Academy, Wyeth's headquarters, and Yale, among other places.