Developer AvalonBay recently posted this Youtube video, which shows the animation of their new site plan for apartments at the Princeton Hospital Site. The video imagines what it would be like to walk down Franklin Avenue, up Witherspoon Street, down the service drive between the existing medical offices building at 280 Witherspoon St and the apartments, and then around the piazza area where the lobby entrance will be.
Although the plan still attracts opposition, Princeton could really use some new apartment options, and the plan has been substantially modified to fit the neighborhood. The larger buildings are screened from the street by townhouses or existing buildings, there are several routes permeating the site with sidewalks, and there is a large park. The site layout would be a vast improvement on the current derelict hospital site.
Whatever you think of the plan, the video gives a much clearer impression of exactly what the Planning Board is judging. Princeton residents deserve to have a clear view of what is being proposed for the neighborhood.
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With the caveat that I’m terrible with proportions, reading blueprints, etc. I still have to say that what is depicted in the video seems to cover an awful lot of ground…..more than I ever realized was encompassed by the hospital and surrounding buildings.
On a different note: is there an appetite for that much housing in Princeton? What range of unit prices are we talking about?
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yes, there is definitely a need for housing……….AFFORDABLE HOUSING, more than anything! This developer is NOT the one to work with Princeton though. We should be able to get a much looking development that this one depicted. It doesn’t mesh with the town or the neighborhood!!! Avalon Bay is dishonest, untrustworthy, extremely inflexible, arrogant and has NO interest in hearing about what our community needs or wants. NO WAY AVALON BAY, GO AWAY!!!!
There is certainly demand for this housing in Princeton. Consider the nearest equivalent to these apartments: the apartment building at 25 Spring Street. Those units were finished in August 2010, and despite a start price of $2,000+ for a studio, got snapped up by September of that year. The AvalonBay development is unlikely to be completed until 2016, even if it gains planning approval this summer (asbestos removal and a difficult in-town demolition job are required even before construction can begin). Even opening 6 years later than the Spring Street apartments, the market-rate units are going to be $1,800+. It’s expensive, but the evidence suggests there is huge demand for apartments at this price point in Princeton.
So what about people who can’t afford $1,800 per unit? Well, there will be 56 units of affordable housing available to people whose income is at a certain fraction of the local median. 56 units is one of the biggest additions of affordable housing in Princeton in years.
Some people have been complaining that the market rates of these apartments are too high, and that even the affordable units are priced too high. I tend to agree. The solution is to build lots more apartments. That way we can (1) provide competition in the market to force landlords to lower rents and (2) increase the supply of inclusionary-zoned affordable units so as to reduce the waiting list for affordable housing.
The people who want a low-density development with a greater proportion of affordable housing should answer the question: who is going to pay the huge cost of taking down the old hospital building and building this imaginary new development, if they are then restricted in the amount of rent they can charge? And don’t think that retrofitting the tower as apartments would be any cheaper… These proposals are not based in reality. The reality is that AvalonBay are doing the town a favor by replacing the ugly hospital complex with modern apartments that will allow more people to contribute to Princeton life, and they are going to provide 56 affordable units too. The developer has also radically changed their original plan in response to community feedback. Their responsiveness was in fact praised by several municipal committee chairs at the recent Planning Board meeting.
Housing for P.U. professors, the University provides. Housing for P.U. students, the University provides. Housing for those who serve the wealthy in the Library Place neighborhood, which used to be the Black neighborhoods of Leigh Ave. and John St., of course. But not for $1M. No more Hospital employees. So who else needs to live there, anyway? Move out, turn on, tune in, drop out. Or get out of what will become MiniManhattan with a pseudointellectial attitude.