The office and retail building at the corner of 20 Nassau St. and Chambers Street is under new ownership, as the property has been sold to GPNJ Owner, LLC.
Public records filed at the Mercer County Clerk’s office stated that GPNJ Owner, LLC. is the buyer of the five-story Nassau Street property, which is under the parent company, AJ Capital Partners.
“AJ Capital Partners can confirm that it recently acquired 20 Nassau St. AJ Capital, which develops, owns and operates real estate in dynamic cities around the world, is looking forward to introducing its plans for 20 Nassau St. to the Princeton community in the coming months,” said AJ Capital officials in a statement.
AJ Capital Partners, an investment firm operating out of Chicago, develops hotel destinations across the country. Founded by Ben Weprin, he also runs Graduate Hotels, a company that develops hotels in college towns around the country.
According to Graduate Hotels officials, the hotel chain operates 21 hotels in locations throughout America.
The 20 Nassau St. property is comprised of four lots. Combined the four lots are assessed at about $10.5 million and generate $244,858 in property tax revenue, according to property tax records.
Currently, the office and retail building consists of 13 stores and more than 100 office suites. The suites have various psychologist and counselor offices.
Business owners said their current leases were being honored by representatives of Graduate Hotels. There were no guarantees given to current tenants of the property about lease renewals. Some of the businesses, whose leases were up, had been offered month-to-month renewals.
If the Nassau and Chambers Street property is developed into a hotel, it would be the third hotel in or around downtown Princeton. The new hotel would be competing with the Nassau Inn at Palmer Square and the Peacock Inn at Bayard Lane.
“We welcome Graduate Hotels to Princeton and believe that competition is healthy and adds to the vibrancy of the town. We will not comment on any specifics as we have not heard the full details of their plans for the space,” said Lori Rabon, vice president of Palmer Square and Nassau Inn.
“As to parking, we have no concern because each business is responsible for securing their own parking for their individual use so their needs will not directly impact our two privately owned garages,” Rabon added.
Representatives from the Peacock Inn could not for comment.
