Developer Expected to Bring Financial Partner On Board For Downtown Project

Matthew Hersh

The developer in Princeton Borough's downtown development plan is scheduled to make a presentation before Borough Council on June 28, both for a review and to potentially recapitalize the project by bringing in a new partner.

According to Robert Powell, principal at Nassau HKT Associates (NHKT), the developer in the Borough's project, the aim of the presentation would be to provide a public update including details on the status of the Spring Street municipal garage and continued dampness in its basement, the as-yet-unopened library plaza, and Building C, the second phase of the project which is slated to be a five-story, 72,467-square-foot structure with 18 one-bedroom and 35 two-bedroom residential units and a grocery store on the first floor. That building would be located on the surface parking lot adjacent to the Princeton Record Exchange.

Building C, which won approval from the Regional Planning Board of Princeton in 2004, was supposed to have been underway in September 2004 and now appears set for a late 2005 groundbreaking date.

Mr. Powell is expected to announce a financial partner who will be involved in the stalled project, rumored to be Blue Point Grill and Nassau Street Seafood and Produce Co. proprietor Jack Morrison. Mr. Morrison, also the proprietor of the Witherspoon Grill, the steakhouse scheduled to open soon in the commercial area on the plaza was unavailable for comment.

NHKT appeared before Borough Council in a June 21 closed session with Borough Council. For NHKT to add partners to the project will require an amendment to the Borough/NHKT agreement, expected to be addressed at Council's June 28 session.