Developer outlines $25 million plan to revive Trenton downtown hotel; council sets July 31 proposal cutoff

A development team led by Adrian Jack "AJ" Belt III presented a concept to the Trenton City Council on July 24 proposing about $25,000,000 in renovations to the city’s vacant downtown hotel, a roughly 12‑month redevelopment timeline and an operating plan that would reduce room count and add extended‑stay units and event-oriented food-and-beverage space.

The presentation, made publicly under an RFP process that remains open, gave council members an overview of the developer’s financial capacity, programmatic goals and construction timeline. Council members discussed whether to set a deadline for additional proposals and converged on a July 31 cutoff to ensure the city can move forward while still allowing administration time to collect competing bids.

The developer, who identified himself as Adrian Jack Belt III and said his firm would bring an in‑house operating partner, estimated roughly $25,000,000 in total project cost. "The cost estimate is about $25,000,000," Belt said during the presentation. He said that figure includes hard construction costs, FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment), soft costs and financing fees. Belt said the team has prepared job costs and a letter of intent filed May 20 and that a comfort letter for financing was available from a fund that recently closed on multiple assets.

Belt said the hotel’s exterior “bones” are sound but that the interior has sustained theft and deterioration; the plan would reduce the property’s current 197 transient rooms to about 170 keys and create an extended‑stay component (Belt said the scheme would include roughly 36 extended‑stay suites, with the remainder transient rooms). He and an operations partner, identified as Chris Cheesebrow, said they plan to program the large event spaces to accommodate sizable gatherings and to introduce multiple food‑and‑beverage concepts created by a retail/amenity team they called Competitive Social Ventures (CSV).

Belt described prior experience renovating hotels, citing a recent project called the Hamilton Curio in Alpharetta, Georgia, and said his team’s CSV concept has generated multi‑million dollar annual revenues at comparable properties. Chris Cheesebrow, who introduced himself as the hospitality operator on the team, emphasized hiring from the local workforce and operating the hotel as an integrated, community‑oriented business.

Council members asked about the RFP process, whether any redeveloper had exclusive access to the property, and the timeline for other proposals. Administration representatives told council the RFP has been open for roughly three to four months, that the city is not granting exclusivity to any single redeveloper and that the administration is handling additional due‑diligence questions with a second bidder. Council members debated an appropriate submission deadline; several members argued for an expedited cutoff and the council settled on July 31 as a practical deadline to move the process forward while still allowing time for competing proposals.

Belt said the development timeline is roughly 12 months from mobilization to reopening and that his team would pursue expedited demolition and permit approvals where possible. He said the team expects to begin construction quickly if selected: "Once we know when the closing date is, we can get our group ready to go ... within a week, you're gonna see dumpsters and you're gonna see work going on," he said.

Council members and the developer also discussed community integration: Belt and Cheesebrow said they plan to meet with local stakeholders, hire locally for both construction and hotel operations, and include community‑oriented programming in the hotel’s event and food‑and‑beverage spaces. Cheesebrow said prevailing and union wages were included in the project costs and that site and mechanical systems would be part of the detailed scope as design progresses.

The presentation did not include a binding development agreement or a vote. Administration said it will continue to accept proposals, pursue due diligence with the second bidder and bring proposals to a subcommittee or the full council for decision as appropriate. Council members indicated they expect additional proposals to be presented; the council agreed that the city may select a redeveloper prior to the formal deadline if the chosen proposal meets the council’s criteria.

The presentation was followed by a public comment period on agenda items and subsequent business. The council did not take final action to award the redevelopment at the July 24 special meeting; next steps will be determined after administration delivers any additional proposals and the council reviews due diligence materials.