Terra Momo Bread Company Owners Seek To Demolish, Rebuild On Historic Site

PRINCETON, NJ — The owners of a Princeton bakery are looking to start from the ground up, and tear down an old building to make way for a new project.

Princeton's Historic Preservation Commission will first hear their proposal Monday night.

Brothers Carlo and Raoul Momo are proposing to demolish the building at the intersection of Witherspoon Street and Paul Robeson Place which houses Terra Momo Bread Company. The Momo brothers own the bakery and several other area restaurants, and submitted their proposal under the name CRX Associates.

The site at 70-74 Witherspoon Street also houses Little Taste of Cuba tobacco company and some apartments on a second floor.

A proposed three-story building would take its place with a "street level full-service restaurant/wine bar with artisanal bakery/market as well as three apartments on the upper levels," documents show. CRX aims to focus on sustainability and optimal energy efficiency "as key priorities," the proposal says.

The building was first constructed in the mid-to-late 1800s, documents on Princeton's website show. It is not within a designated historical district now, according to municipality documents.

The Planning Board asked a member of the Princeton Historic Preservation Commission to provide a "courtesy review," which was published on the website Monday.

"This is an important property that is deeply connected to the commerce and the historic landscape of downtown Princeton but also to the cultural history of the Witherspoon-Jackson Historic District," historic preservation officer Elizabeth H. Kim wrote. "The Applicant is urged to reconsider preserving the streetscape portion of the existing structure and developing the property with additions to the rear section of the existing building."

The brothers say the building is "beyond the point of reclamation," though they are aware of its history, TAPinto Princeton reported.

The part of the building that houses Taste of Cuba was a beauty salon run by Virginia Mills from 1931-1976, municipality records show. Mills' husband, Lt. Col. Berkley Mills, was the first Black postman in Princeton. Toto's Market stood at the current bakery site until 1987, records show.

Also on the agenda is a site plan change for the Center of Theological Inquiry's ongoing redevelopment at 50 Stockton Street, changing entrances to the Luce Hall building and several other improvements. Related article — Princeton Will Not Rescind Designation For Seminary Buildings