By Anne Levin

The real estate investment firm ML7 has purchased 90 Nassau Street, the five-story office building on the corner of Nassau and Witherspoon Streets that houses Bank of America on its ground floor. Jeffrey Siegel, ML7 president, said Tuesday that the company will renovate the unoccupied spaces of the building, which dates from 1899, but has no plans for significant changes.

“Our purchase of this building is not dissimilar to why we purchase a lot of things,” said Siegel, whose company has offices in Princeton and New York. “It is a premier property in Princeton and we love its architecture and history.”

The acquisition adds to ML7’s significant presence in Princeton, including the former Lahiere’s restaurant now home to Agricola eatery on Witherspoon Street; office and retail buildings on South Tulane Street; and the three properties occupied by Small World Coffee, the soon-to-close Lisa Jones shop, and the former Army and Navy store, which has been empty for over a year.

Renovation plans for those three adjacent buildings were approved last December by the town’s Planning Board. Small World will remain; tenants for the other two have yet to be named.

In addition to Bank of America, the Nassau Street office building is currently occupied by Rosemark Smart Capital; Sword, Rowe and Company; The Burke Foundation; and CI&T. “We do have space available on the second and third floors, so we will be renovating those spaces,” said Siegel. “They overlook the main gates of Princeton University in the front, and the Lower Pyne building on one side, so the views are quite awesome.”

According to the book Images of Princeton by Richard Smith, the Classical Revival building opened on May 5, 1902 and was home to the First National Bank of Princeton. It had the only elevator in town and was originally built as the town’s tallest structure. A 1981 architectural survey said the building “employs a variety of Classical Revival schemes on successive stories of the facade.”

According to a press release, the purchase “Й is part of ML7’s strategy to acquire significant properties in the highest quality locations and to invest in maintaining and enhancing buildings that add to the character of communities.”

“We are proud to own this important Princeton property,” said Siegel. “We look forward to further improving it in the years to come, so that tenants and the Princeton community enjoy and benefit from its grandeur.”