Borough Council has again designated Jack Cust, Jr. as redeveloper of the Union Hotel and buildings surrounding it, according to a report on mycentraljersey.com.
FLEMINGTON - Borough Council has again designated Jack Cust, Jr. as redeveloper of the Union Hotel and buildings surrounding it, according to a report on mycentraljersey.com.
According to the report, Mayor Phil Greiner said the council could vote on a redevelopment plan before the end of the year.
Cust had been chosen in February as redeveloper in an agreement that expired over the summer. The council voted unanimously Tuesday to again designate him as the project's redeveloper, according to the report.
The plan, which includes replacing the Union Hotel with a new hotel, restaurants, retail space, a plaza, housing, a college and underground parking, has drawn both praise and criticism.
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In August, nearly 500 attended an unveiling of updated redevelopment plans for the Union Hotel and surrounding property. The revised plans drew a similar mixed response. Cust said in August architects for the project used the feedback to preserve the historic look and feel of Main Street, which included scaling back some plans.
Revisions include 900 parking spaces, outdoor seating and patios, and covered nooks and green spaces. The restaurants would also take advantage of a liquor license Cust has purchased.
On Monday, Councilman Brian Swingle, according to the report, raised concern about the message that would be sent if the borough decided not to continue working with Cust.
Former state legislator and freeholder Marcia Karrow told the council at Monday's meeting that the Union Hotel should be preserved, just as the Hunterdon County Historic Court House was, according to the report.
"It's time to go back to square one," Karrow said, according to the report. "You're ripping this community apart."
Over the summer residents created an online petition to save the Union Hotel from demolition that has garnered over 1,614 signatures as of Wednesday.
The Union Hotel was designated as an area in need of redevelopment in 2010, and the area was increased in 2014 to include some buildings to the south of the hotel along Main Street and across Chorister Place, including the Unity Bank building at 110 Main St. and the county-owned old choir school.
The council had selected Flemington Union Hotel, LLC to redevelop it in 2012. In June 2015, council declared that firm to be in default of their redevelopment agreement and in August they were removed as redevelopers of the property.
The Union Hotel, built in 1878 and closed in 2008, was added in May to Preservation New Jersey's list of 10 most endangered sites in New Jersey, as well as to Hunterdon County Cultural & Heritage Commission's Most Endangered Historic Sites list. It was made famous by the Lindbergh kidnapping trial.