PRINCETON, NJ — A proposal by Toll Brothers to demolish a vacant office building and replace it with an 85-unit townhouse development on Thanet Circle goes before the Princeton Planning Board on Thursday.
Toll NJ I, LLC has applied for preliminary and final major site development approval to redevelop the 9.25-acre property at 29 Thanet Circle, currently occupied by a vacant multi-story masonry office building, parking lots and access drives.
The project is part of Princeton's Fourth Round Fair Share Housing Plan. Of the 85 proposed units, 17 — or 20 percent — would be deed-restricted affordable housing units. The property was rezoned as an Affordable Housing-14 district under an ordinance adopted by Princeton Council in September 2025 specifically to accommodate the development.
Plans call for demolishing the existing building and constructing 10 residential buildings — labeled A through J — containing a mix of townhouse and stacked townhouse units. Buildings G and H would contain the 17 affordable units. The remaining 68 units would be market-rate.
The market-rate units are designed as stacked townhouses spread across multiple floors, each with a two-car tandem garage on the first floor. Affordable units in Buildings G and H would offer a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations.
The 9.25-acre site would include 186 total parking spaces — 146 in garages and 40 surface spaces — along with six electric vehicle charging spaces and two ADA-accessible spaces. A playground, seating areas and benches are proposed as resident amenities. Access to the complex would be provided by two driveways off Thanet Circle.
The applicant is proposing to remove 180 trees on the site and plant 199 replacement trees. The township's Shade Tree Commission has flagged that 204 replacement trees are required under the applicable ordinance and has called on the applicant to address the discrepancy.
Municipal planning staff, in a memo dated May 1, said the application is generally consistent with Princeton's Master Plan. However, staff raised a number of outstanding issues for the board and applicant to address, including the distribution and integration of affordable units, pedestrian safety — particularly children's access to the proposed playground — bicycle parking, trash pickup logistics, and stormwater management details related to a tributary of Harry's Brook that bisects the property.
The Princeton Environmental Commission has recommended the project incorporate all-electric construction, solar-ready roofing, heat pump systems and bird-safe glass. The commission also raised concerns about the planned removal of old-growth oak and tulip trees in the southwest corner of the property, urging the applicant to consider relocating one of the proposed buildings to preserve them.
Traffic engineers retained by the municipality concluded that the surrounding roads and intersections would continue to operate acceptably under the proposed development, noting the residential use would generate fewer peak-hour vehicle trips than the former office building at full occupancy.
The Planning Board is scheduled to hear the application at its May 7 meeting.
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