STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A chance meeting in their restaurant led Richard and Lois Nicotra on a trek to Calcinelli, Italy, last week to tour factories where glass for their new building, Corporate Commons Three, will be crafted.
The new Bloomfield-based building, slated to open in fall 2019, will be an all-glass, eight-story, 330,000-square-foot, LEED Silver certified structure, which will include office space, a 40,000-square-foot organic farm, a grape vineyard and an onsite restaurant. The building’s onsite restaurant, “Pienza Pizza, Pasta & Porchetta,” will donate 100 percent of the profits to Staten Island charities.
THE JOURNEY
The Nictoras’ journey began months ago with a table-side chat during a dinner in Lorenzo’s Restaurant, Bar & Cabaret in their Hilton Garden Inn.
The owner of FA & Partners Inc., Frank Alessio, was dining in Lorenzo’s. The Nicotras, who walk table to table each evening to greet their guests, stopped to chat.