Westport’s luxury Inn at National Hall will close next week as new owners take over, according to staff members.
Inn at National Hall: no reservations after Sunday. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
“We can’t take any reservations after March 7 because we are closing,” said an employee answering the phone at the hotel today. “We’re not sure about the plans of the new owners.”
Norwalk’s Greenfield Partners LLC, a real estate investment firm which sold the property to Antares National Hall LLC of Stamford three years ago for $19.9 million, is going ahead with plans to repurchase the property, said a person familiar with the transaction who requested anonymity.
Lawrence P. Weisman, an attorney representing Greenfield Partners, when asked about the possible sale today, said: “I don’t want to say anything about it.” No one could be reached at Greenfield Partners or Antares.
No formal sale transaction has been filed with the Town Clerk’s Office.
Marco Degl’Innocenti, resident manager of the hotel, said he and other employees got a two-week notice of the closing last week. He said he had to notify about 100 persons to cancel reservations.
In December, Westport’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved an amendment that would have permitted the Inn at National Hall to be converted into office space. The amendment was requested by Greenfield Partners which was reported ready to pay about $9 million for the building.
However, the action was overturned in January by the Representative Town Meeting (RTM).
Built in 1873 and once part of the thriving 19th century Westport waterfront, the Inn at National Hall was restored and transformed into a 15-room luxury hotel in 1993 by developer Arthur Tauck at a cost of about $2.5 million.
Members of the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) tour the Inn at National Hall in January with Marco Degl’Innocenti, the hotel’s operations manager. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Tauck sold the property in 1998 to Greenfield Partners for $4 million.
The purchase included a total of 42,143 square feet mixed use development on 2.5 acres.
The 30,000 square feet of commercial space includes tenants such as Peter Coppola Salon and BNY Mellon Wealth Management.
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Dave Matlow contributed reporting for this story.
The question is what will happen now? Will they gut the beautiful interior? What a shame that would be and a black eye for Westport. I was contacted by the local merchants who said they knew of a boutique hotelier interested in the hotel. If only money wasn’t the ultimate decider.
One would think Greenfield will come back with a new plan for the site. That last one making the whole Inn an office building didn’t fly, but only after the RTM got involved. Hopefully 100% ground floor retail will be the basis this time.
There is no doubt the next hearings at P&Z;won’t go by so unnoticed.