Camden waterfront eyed for World Trade Center

The development firm that hoped to build a World Trade Center in Philadelphia is now looking at erecting it on the former prison site on Camden's waterfront.

In a statement, Waterfront Renaissance Associates (WRA) said Monday it in talks with state and local officials to determine the feasibility for developing the site.

WRA is the developer of the residential towers directly across the river, just north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia. That site was once considered for the Greater Philadelphia World Trade Center, which was established in 2002.

WRA said it is looking at the former Riverfront State Prison in Camden for a complex that will combine a center for global trading and what it calls an "Innovation District."

"The preliminary project design includes 2.3 million square feet of space, consisting of four stand-alone phases which is planned to be built in accordance with a design and marketing plan to create sub-campuses which create a feel of small commercial neighborhoods," the firm said in a statement.

Potential tenants include companies involved in international trade and private sector technology development, and university business schools with programs in international trade strategies and product development, WRA said. Space also will be set aside for neighborhood retail.

WRA said a central feature will be a pedestrian-only promenade that will link North Camden neighborhoods to the Delaware River and new waterfront amenities similar to what has been developed along the riverfront in South Camden.

Whether WRA has a timeline to decide if it will go ahead with the project and what hurdles it needs to clear to begin development are not yet clear.