Princeton Introduces 2 Housing Developments Totaling 300 Units

PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton Council voted to introduce a redevelopment plan that calls for two housing development projects totaling just over 300 units to help meet the town's affordable housing obligation at a special meeting on Thursday.

A 221-unit multi-family development and an 80-unit senior housing development are slated to be built side-by-side on the former 15-acre Thanet site off Thanet Circle and Terhune Road in Princeton.

Avalon Bay Communities, the developer, agreed to work affordable housing units into the plan. Of the 221-units in the multi-family development there will be six affordable apartments and five affordable apartments for special needs adults.

There will also be a 100 percent senior affordable development with 80 units built on the same site.

"We have two developments side by side and on that property we are able to have of the approximately 300 housing units, 100 are affordable. To have 30 percent affordable is a really great thing," Mayor Liz Lempert said at the Jan. 28 meeting.

To fund the projects Avalon Bay will pay a Payment In Lieu of Taxes on the property (11 percent of total rental income.) The proceeds from these payments will offset the costs of constructing the affordable senior development, according to the town.

These two developments are part of Princeton's plan to meet their affordable housing obligation ordered by Mercer County Judge Mary C. Jacobson in March 2018. Jacobson ruled that Princeton must build 753 new affordable housing units by 2025.

The Council will hold a public hearing on the redevelopment plan at its Feb. 10 meeting.

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