Gusciora floats $6.7M redevelopment plan
TRENTON » The City of Trenton is locked into a lease where it pays about $500,000 per year for access to a vacant building on the 200 block of North Hermitage Avenue.
Mayor Reed Gusciora wants to change the equation, saying the capital city should purchase the Westside Plaza property for $6.7 million to promote economic development.
“When private industry takes a pass, that’s when there are times when government can be useful to revitalize an area or neighborhood,” Gusciora told The Trentonian on Thursday after touring the property. “We are presenting it to council, and council can decide to take a pass. We think it is a rational proposal.”
Trenton City Council in the past has opposed some of Gusciora’s initiatives for infrastructure improvements and economic development.
The mayor wants the city to acquire the Westside Plaza property and utilize the space as a customer service center for Trenton Water Works and a possible “science library” for children.
If the city purchases the property, Gusciora said, the city could also lease some of the building space to private vendors, such as retail operators.
The 3.5-acre property is currently owned by Westside Plaza LLC, which leases the building to the City of Trenton for approximately $42,000 per month, according to the Gusciora administration.
“It’s really a bad deal for taxpayers,” Gusciora said of the lease agreement, which expires in 2029.
In March 2009, the city entered into a 20-year lease agreement with Westside Plaza LLC in order to develop the site for a new municipal court, but the former Mayor Tony Mack administration scuttled the court project, and the city since then has been paying rent on the vacant property.
The West Ward neighborhood surrounding the 200 block of North Hermitage Avenue is economically depressed and loaded with blight.