The town of Princeton has completed a new Housing Plan to identify where state-mandated affordable housing will be built in the 10-year period from 2025 – 2035. Along with hundreds of other towns in New Jersey, Princeton has been racing to get a plan ready ahead of a June 30 deadline defined in state law. Towns that do not provide a plan risk losing control of their ability to control local construction. Whereas other towns are proposing to build affordable housing on farms, Princeton’s plan has a focus on placing new housing in parts of town that are already developed. None of the housing would be built on fields or open spaces. This ‘Smart Growth’ approach ensures that most of the new housing will be in highly-walkable locations, with easy access to stores, jobs and parks.

Last year, state agencies set the number of affordable homes that each town in the state should build during the “Fourth Round” period, which runs from 2025 – 2035. Princeton was given a target of 276 new homes, which Council accepted earlier this year (Report: “Town of Princeton Set to Accept State-Mandated “Fourth Round” Affordable Housing Requirement“). The old Princeton Borough also had an “unmet need” of affordable housing that was deferred from previous rounds, because the Borough had argued that it had a lack of buildable sites. This created an extra challenge for the consolidated town of Princeton, because any housing built in the former Borough would count toward this ‘unmet need’, instead of toward the Fourth Round target.

The town has instead agreed to a higher target of 364 new affordable homes for the entire town of Princeton. This approach allows housing to be planned in a holistic fashion without considering the now-defunct borders of the old Borough and Township. The total of 364 units has been negotiated with Fair Share Housing Center, the legal advocates who work to ensure full compliance with the state of New Jersey’s fair housing laws. It is still dramatically lower than the 753 units that the town had to build for the “Third Round” of state affordable housing, which is wrapping up this year.

The new affordable housing would be provided as follows:

1. 14 new affordable homes built as part of an inclusionary redevelopment of various properties owned by Robert Hillier on Witherspoon Street (map). This redevelopment, which has been discussed in various forms for several years, would bring a total of 69 homes, in the blocks between Paul Robeson Place and Maclean Street.
2. 35 affordable family units constructed in multiple new buildings at 303 John Street (map). This site is close to Community Park Elementary School at the north end of the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood. For decades, the Public Works Department has used it as a ‘temporary’ location for vehicle storage and staff offices in trailers. Those functions would be relocated and replaced with new 100%-affordable housing operated by Princeton Community Housing. The ‘community garden’ located at the site would remain.
3. 8 new affordable units built as part of a 30-unit redevelopment of a site around and to the rear of 86 Spruce Street (map). This site, in the ‘Tree Streets’ neighborhood already contains apartments, which would be retained. A new apartment building would be constructed on an existing surface parking lot, and townhouses would be added fronting onto Hamilton Avenue at the north side of the site. When completed, the townhouses would be across the street from the former Westminster Choir College building, and next to Barbara Boggs Sigmund Playground. The developer is providing a total of 8 affordable units where six would normally be required, and also guaranteeing that a bike/walking path through the site will be provided.
4. 40 affordable homes built as part of a 191-unit inclusionary project at 457 North Harrison Street (map). This site lies at the intersection of North Harrison St and Bunn Drive, and is currently a near-vacant office building called the “Princeton Executive Center”. As part of the new construction, the developer would open a new route connecting the new residential buildings at Thanet Circle to Bunn Drive, improving the flow of traffic and street safety.
5. 17 affordable townhouse units, built as part of an 85-unit project at 29 Thanet Circle (map). These units would be for-sale units, as opposed to rentals. There is a near-empty office building at the site at the moment, which would be replaced with housing. Thanet Circle was also the location of two affordable housing projects in Princeton’s “Third Round” plan.
6. 16 affordable apartments included within a new 80-unit building at and around 11 State Road (map). This is a site on Route 206, just south of the strip mall that contains the ‘Speedy Mart’ and ‘Mayflower Cleaners’. There are some under-utilized office buildings on these lots at the present time, including the ‘Princeton Professional Center’, which would be torn down and replaced with housing. The site connects through to Mt Lucas Road at the back.
7. 8 affordable units provided as part of a new 32-unit building that would be built at 32 Spring Street (map), the former home of the much-missed Kopp’s Cycles, and the parking lot next to it. This would be a mixed-use building, with commercial space on the first floor.
8. 18 affordable homes built as part of a 90-unit apartment building at 245-247 Nassau Street (map). The site, which is next to “Jay’s Cycles”, currently features an empty two-story office building, surrounded by a large surface parking lot.
9. 34 units of affordable housing in a 100%-affordable development at the site of the Harrison St Firehouse and Garage at 27 North Harrison Street (map). This firehouse, like the one at Chestnut Street has not been used for active firefighting for many years. The current structures are used by the town’s Public Works Department for storage of municipal vehicles. The vehicles will be moved to the town’s River Road Site instead.
10. 4 new affordable homes included in a 19-unit development planned at the Princeton Jewish Center at 457 Nassau Street (map).
11. 26 affordable homes in a new 130-unit mixed-use redevelopment at a 4.8 acre site around 360 Nassau Street (map). This site includes the ‘Whole Earth Center’ and connects through to the ‘Princeton Foot and Ankle Associates’ location at 11 North Harrison Street. Commercial uses would be retained on the first floors.
12. 16 affordable homes added through an adaptive re-use of the Chestnut Street Firehouse at 13 Chestnut Street (map). The building has not been an active firehouse for many years, and would be converted into a 100%-affordable housing project operated by Princeton Community Housing.
13. 5 new affordable apartments built as part of a redevelopment at 145 Witherspoon St (map). This site, which is next to Princeton Cemetery, currently has a two-story office building, which would be replaced by a 25-unit apartment building. 20% of those apartments would be affordable homes.

The plan also assumes that some current plans for housing, which are considered to be ‘Third Round’ projects, will be completed. These include

• Group homes, with a total of 8 bedrooms. The locations for the group homes have not yet been identified, but they may be included as part of future inclusionary projects, as was done at the ‘Avalon Princeton Circle’ development.
• 6 new affordable family units constructed as part of a planned 30-unit inclusionary project at 375 Terhune Road (map). This project was approved in 2024 and site work has begun. These would be for-sale units.
• 6 more affordable family units provided as part of an inclusionary project at 801 State Road (map). This site is currently a patch of wasteland next to the ‘Bottle King’ liquor store, near the town line with Montgomery Twp.
• 80 affordable homes at a 160-unit mixed income development with 50% affordable and 50% market-rate housing at the Franklin Avenue parking lot site (map).
• 48 affordable family units at an inclusionary redevelopment of former Princeton Seminary lands on Stockton Street (map). A concept plan for this redevelopment has been approved by Princeton Council and is moving to final review at the Planning Board, despite a lawsuit from a group of neighbors, who are also trying to overturn the entire Princeton Master Plan. Many of these objectors also opposed a previous attempt to redevelop the site in 2019 with housing for Princeton Seminary students.

Notable sites that are not included in this plan include the Westminster Choir College site, the Princeton University Butler Tract, and Springdale Golf Club.

Concept plans for the proposed developments are included as appendices to the Housing Plan, which runs to a total of 437 pages. The Housing Plan will be reviewed by the Princeton Planning Board at a meeting on June 25. Princeton Council must then approve the plan within 48 hours, and has scheduled a special meeting on June 26. In common with every other town in New Jersey, Princeton must approve the entire package by June 30, or the town will lose its legal immunity and be subject to builders remedy lawsuits anywhere within the municipality. Each of the housing proposals will be subject to full review by the Planning Board at a later date, with a target of being approved and constructed during the entire Fourth Round period, i.e. between now and the year 2035.

Related Material: (via princetonnj.gov)

• Draft Fourth Round Affordable Housing plan for Princeton, NJ (200MB PDF download)