That sparkling new empty building

Doug Palmer is drawing a line in the sand. And the much-heralded $37 million renovation of a downtown high-rise is doing nothing to revitalize Trenton while his pissing match with developers continues.

Palmer claims that the building's developers "want to change the deal" that they made with the city, and he refuses to budge.

The gist of it is that Palmer insists that the developers charge higher rent than they want to. The not-veiled-at-all goal of the mayor is to gentrify downtown.

Not a bad thing in this case, but Trenton's revitalization can't be forced if no one wants to rent at that price.

Downtown Trenton - and who is ultimately responsible for this other than the city's top elected official? - doesn't have a lot going for it right now.

It's a chicken and egg thing. More upscale residential housing will bring money into the area that will feed new retail, restaurants, etc. And having these kinds of businesses open after 6 p.m. and on weekends might attract more higher-income residents.

But the former won't happen overnight without some of the latter.

You've got to start somewhere, and that's why Palmer should compromise on the Broad Street Bank.

Not to mention that a great new building that could be the start of something in the downtown is sitting empty while he squabbles.

That sparkling new empty building

Doug Palmer is drawing a line in the sand. And the much-heralded $37 million renovation of a downtown high-rise is doing nothing to revitalize Trenton while his pissing match with developers continues.

Palmer claims that the building's developers "want to change the deal" that they made with the city, and he refuses to budge.

The gist of it is that Palmer insists that the developers charge higher rent than they want to. The not-veiled-at-all goal of the mayor is to gentrify downtown.

Not a bad thing in this case, but Trenton's revitalization can't be forced if no one wants to rent at that price.

Downtown Trenton - and who is ultimately responsible for this other than the city's top elected official? - doesn't have a lot going for it right now.

It's a chicken and egg thing. More upscale residential housing will bring money into the area that will feed new retail, restaurants, etc. And having these kinds of businesses open after 6 p.m. and on weekends might attract more higher-income residents.

But the former won't happen overnight without some of the latter.

You've got to start somewhere, and that's why Palmer should compromise on the Broad Street Bank.

Not to mention that a great new building that could be the start of something in the downtown is sitting empty while he squabbles.