By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton officials appear to have lost a chance to acquire the Princeton Packet building, as an undisclosed buyer has signed a contract to acquire the parcel and other Packet properties on Witherspoon Street and Birch Avenue.
James Kilgore, the controlling stockholder of Princeton Packet Inc, the owner of the real estate, this week declined to disclose the name of the female buyer.
“I feel the buyer of the Packet campus will be a good steward for the properties,” said Mr. Kilgore.
The proposed buyer anticipates leasing a portion of the facility to Packet Media LLC, the operating entity that now owns the newspapers formerly published by Princeton Packet Inc.
Packet Media LLC is owned by a partnership comprised of controlling partner Broad Street Media and Princeton Packet Inc.
Broad Street Media recently changed hands. Richard Donnelly, owner of a newspaper distribution company, acquired Broad Street Media, a publisher of newspapers and magazines in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
For its part, the municipality was looking to acquire the main Packet building and a former gas station that Princeton Packet Inc. owns across the street for a public works facility, Councilwoman Jo S. Butler said Wednesday. Rebuffed in their attempt to obtain them through a direct purchase, town officials said they have ruled out the possibility of using eminent domain to acquire them.
As for how the town would want to see Packet properties get used, acting Mayor Lance Liverman said Wednesday that he would withhold comment until he finds out who the next owner is and what her plans are. Acting Mayor Liverman is filling in for Mayor Liz Lempert, who is on vacation.
Ms. Butler echoed him in saying she wants to see what the buyer has in mind.
The Packet properties border, but are not included in the newly created Witherspoon-Jackson historic district, which calls for added regulations and oversight of exterior appearances. Mr. Kilgore had lobbied council earlier this year to keep the parcels out of the district.
But asked if the properties now should be included in the district, Ms. Butler replied: “That’s an interesting question, isn’t it?”
Later she replied that she did not think they should be in the district.
