Expansion project on hold, but that doesn’t stop making some significant improvements.
By: Jennifer Potash
When the Nassau Inn obtained approvals to add a new ballroom and guestrooms in 1998, the goal was to premiere the new space for a grand New Year’s Eve party to usher in the year 2000. But the millennium came and went with nary a ceremonial groundbreaking at the site off Hulfish Street.
What’s happened since?
"The owners made the decision not do that right now and focus on another project," said Lori Rabon, general manager of the Nassau Inn. The ownership includes principal partner Oded Aboodi.
The other project is a long-awaited luxury housing development called Hulfish North off Paul Robeson Place that will add 100 apartments and townhouses to the downtown.
Ms. Rabon said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent blow to the U.S. travel and tourism industry was not the reason for shelving the expansion plans. And the entry of new hotels along the Route 1 corridor was not a central factor for the inn not to pursue the expansion, she said.
"It certainly does not help having more beds out at Route 1," she said. Still the inn continues to thrive amid the competition, she said.
The expansion project called for a 28,000-square-foot addition on the south side of Hulfish Street that would expand the inn’s ballroom, add 32 guest rooms and house two new retail stores on the street level. At the time of the approvals, inn officials said the expansion was necessary to compete with the larger hotels on Route 1.
After the second extensions for the project lapsed in late 2001, inn officials issued a statement expressing support for "future expansion on the property."
While the larger expansion is on indefinite hold, the inn will undergo renovations this year to improve the lobby and meeting spaces and refurbish the guest rooms.
The inn currently offers high-speed Internet connections in the guest and conference rooms as well as wireless connections in the public spaces and in the Yankee Doodle Tap Room, Ms. Rabon said.
"Yes, we are an historic inn, but we offer the latest in modern amenities," Ms. Rabon said.
The Nassau Inn is also not seeking to re-brand itself as a recent advertisement featuring the inn’s old Yankee Doodle logo might have suggested, Ms. Rabon said.
Future ads will feature a combination of the Yankee Doodle figure and a more recent design that has the inn’s name inside an oval, Ms. Rabon said.
If the Nassau Inn decides to proceed with the expansion, the inn must return to the Princeton Regional Planning Board to revive several expired variances for building height, number of stories and parking deficiency, according to Thomas Reynolds, an attorney for the Planning Board, in a letter sent to Planning Director Lee Solow.
The Nassau Inn does not have to repeat the site plan approval process if it chooses to proceed with the project at a later date, Mr. Solow said.