Town waits to hear from hotel purchaser

Many questions have arisen following last week’s sale of the American Hotel in Freehold Borough — the primary one being what the future holds in store for the Main Street landmark.

On Oct. 5, an auction was held in the building that has been closed for almost two years. Although the “hotel” had not welcomed guests for years, the facility had retained its place as the borough’s most notable host of social events, political meetings, business banquets and other special occasions.

But the entity that had owned the building since 1998, Hoti Inc., ran into a series of financial problems, which doomed its ownership and operation of the American Hotel.

All of those issues eventually led to a process that resulted in the hotel being sold at public auction.

The hotel was sold last week to Tran Dinh Truong, of New York City, who bid a combined $4.35 million for the hotel property and a liquor license attached to the facility.

Not much was known about Truong in the immediate aftermath of his purchase of the hotel.

However, a cursory investigation of his background in the days following the auction turned up publicly available information that indicates Truong’s business dealings have not always been without considerable contention.

It is unclear what oversight the borough will have as the property passes from its previous owner to its new operator, but the information that is as readily available to public officials as it is to anyone else requires a thorough investigation to be conducted by the people who are responsible for the town’s well-being.

The American Hotel has been a part of Freehold since the early 1800s. Although the building has been down on its luck for the past few years, there is no reason it cannot be successful again.

We welcome the opportunity to speak with the new owner and hear what he has planned for the future. Borough officials have many of the same questions we do and will be waiting anxiously for answers from Truong in the days and weeks to come.