In case you missed it, the infamous tower at the former Kings Inn motel is no more, having been demolished last month. The hotel itself is no longer a Kings Inn but a newly renovated Super 8, one of more than a dozen brands within Wyndham.
Continue reading R.I.P. Kings Inn tower, hello Super 8
Tag Archives: Kings Inn
Plan is to demolish tower at Kings Inn
The not-so-iconic tower at the Kings Inn motel on Routes 1&9 will have to live on via the Internet — its claim to fame found in this video for a once-popular 1990s hip hop song — because its days are numbered.
Improvements spotted at Kings Inn
It looks like some long-awaited improvements got under way this month at the Kings Inn Motel that ultimately will turn it into a Super 8.
It’s been almost a year since the Redevelopment Agency reassigned the redevelopment agreement on the site along Route 1&9. The plan at that time was to turn the building into a Motel 6 but is now back to a Super 8.
Director of Community Development Cynthia Solomon confirmed that the permits have all been approved but no word on a timeline for completion.
A Howard Johnson had been planned to replace the Kings Inn two years ago before that plan fell through and at one point there was a proposal for an addition as a Super 8. (Thanks to all the eagle-eyed readers who tipped me off to the activity at the Kings Inn site.)
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A story in NJ Biz last month detailed how a Newark nonprofit uses GPS-based bar code system to allow staff, and the public, to send alerts on damaged downtown improvements. It also can “help users locate parking garages, stores, restaurants and parks in the area.”
Motel 6 now planned for Kings Inn
Under new ownership again, the Kings Inn Motel plans to become a Motel 6.
The Redevelopment Agency last week reassigned the redevelopment agreement from Ratan Rahway, LLC to Rahway Tower, LLC. Attorney Frank Regan told commission
A new individual has acquired the interests of Ratan Rahway, which has a contract to acquire the property from Rahway Tower, according to Regan, and eventually may take its name as well.
The properties associated with Kings Inn (Block 304, Lots 5-6/1360 Route 1) were acquired for about $1.2 million in September 2004 by Rahway Tower, LLC. Barry Rosner, a Somerset-based CPA listed as a principal of Rahway Tower, declined to provide any details over the phone, saying only that he’s not involved in Rahway anymore.
There’s been occasional speculation that the state Department of Transportation (DOT) has interest in purchasing the property, but a spokesman confirmed last summer that it does not.
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The Rahway Rising Facebook fan page reached 100 fans last week — woo hoo!
Sale of Kings Inn falls through
Plans to sell the Kings Inn apparently fell through, and with it, plans to renovate the two-story motel this spring.
HoJo likely to replace Kings Inn
The Kings Inn motel likely will become a Howard Johnson, not a Super 8, with renovations to begin in February at the earliest and last six months. Both are brands of Wyndham Hotels and developers currently are in negotiations but expect HoJo might have more recognition in this area.
Several residents of the adjacent Riverwalk townhouse development appeared before the Planning Board last Tuesday night to question the application and remedy concerns about illicit activity at the site.
Principals of Ratan Rahway, the developer, promised that the new hotel will not 
accept Section 8 (welfare) housing, as is the case with the Kings Inn. As a franchise, the hotel would be expected twice a year to continue to operate under one of the Wyndham brands.
Plans are to renovate the existing rooms, along with turning the tower in a two-story structure. They expect to invest $800,000 to $900,000 in renovations. While the original two-story structure will not be razed, developers said they plan to have a new facade, roof and all new furniture and amenities in each room, along with eliminating the existing floor-to-ceiling windows, which was a concern for some residents. New fencing also will be erected between the hotel site and adjacent townhouse development.
The property (1360 Route 1/Block 304, Lots 5-6) last changed hands in 2004, when it was purchased for about $1.1 million from LTL Hotel Corp. by The Rahway Tower, LLC, according to PropertyShark.com.
Addition nixed at Kings Inn
The Kings Inn motel on Routes 1/9 south will eventually be renovated to become a Super 8 but the addition has been yanked from the drawing board.
A Super 8 fit for a king
The Kings Inn — the motel on Routes 1&9 South with the distinctive tower that once appeared in a popular early ’90s rap video (look for it at about 1:26 of 4:26) — will become a Super 8 and part of the Wyndham hotel chain after renovations and an addition.
Preliminary plans presented before the Redevelopment Agency at its April 9 meeting indicated the structure would be renovated to hold 44 rooms — eight fewer than the current 52 — with a four-story addition that would include another 43 rooms (for total of 87), along with an area connecting the two. The tower will not remain.
Diversified Communities, developers of the adjacent Riverwalk townhouses, had been in discussions to build another 36 to 40 units on the motel property, but those plans eventually proved too costly because of environmental issues.
The Kings Inn, which was raided by police about a year ago (.pdf), is among a number of typical Route 1 motels getting a makeover or replaced altogether. The Best Western on Paterson Street was built a few years ago, and a new Sleep Inn (.pdf) is planned on the adjacent vacant lot which used to be home to the Village Inn.
Thanks to The Contrarian for info on the Kings Inn’s music video history, and some more links to other police activity at the motel.