At a crowded and rowdy Princeton Borough Council meeting last night, a representative of developer Nassau HKT Associates LLT presented their redevelopment proposal for several vacant lots owned by the Borough.
Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi discussed various possibilities for financing the plan, which has not yet been approved by the council.
The proposal includes a large parking garage, a public plaza and two mixed-use buildings.
The plan would be completed in two phases, with a possible third phase to be added later.
The first phase involves an area which was formerly a surface parking lot off Witherspoon Street between Spring and Wiggins streets. This phase, to be completed in late 2003, would include a parking garage, a mixed-use building and a 15,000-square-foot public plaza, said Bob Powell, the principal project manager for the development at Nassau HKT.
The primary element of the plan is the Borough-owned and operated 500-car parking garage — including 1,300 square feet of retail space to enhance the look of the structure — to be located next to the new public library on Witherspoon Street, Powell said. The library is also scheduled to be completed in late 2003.
The first phase also includes a mixed-use building adjacent to the garage facing west. This building would be completed about six months after the garage. This five-story building would include 6,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and 24 rental apartments on the four higher floors, Powell said.
The development of a landscaped public plaza between this building and Witherspoon Street and a pedestrian walkway system between and around the garage and the library are also part of the first phase, Powell said.
The second phase of the project would feature another five-story mixed-use building with both retail space and 53 rental apartments on a lot now used for parking at Spring and Tulane streets, Powell said. Most of the retail space in this building would be designated for an 8,000-square-foot food mart, Powell said. There would also be a small plaza adjacent to this building.
Construction on the second phase will not begin "until substantial completion has been achieved of phase one," Powell added.
The two mixed-use buildings would include a total of 77 rental apartments, twelve of which would be "affordable housing units" restricted to low and moderate-income residents, Powell said.
The garage and plaza would be financed and owned by the Borough with Nassau HKT acting essentially as a contractor, Powell said. The estimated cost of these elements of the plan is $13.5 million, Bruschi said. He added that there are three alternatives for financing the project.
The Borough could issue a local bond ordinance or could ask for help from the state's Economic Development Authority or the Mercer County Improvement Authority, which could organize a negotiated bond sale, he said.
The mixed-use buildings would be privately owned by Nassau HKT and the land beneath them would be leased by the developer from the Borough for 99 years, said Goldsmith.
The project would be self-sustaining and would lead to no increase in parking rates for the next several years, Bruschi said.
Councilman Roger Martindell questioned the financial viability of the project. Several residents in the audience also suggested that the estimated costs and revenues of the plan were highly speculative and expressed concern about the borough taking on longterm financial liabilities to fund it.
The lot where the garage would be built is currently undergoing an environmental remediation by energy company PSE&G, which owned a coal tar plant on the site. The company has been removing contaminated soil from the site for the last six to seven months and work will be completed in the next 60 days, Powell said.
Jim Firestone, head of Concerned Citizens of Princeton, said that the group had presented a petition against the garage project with 628 signatures to the Borough Council in August.
He said that many merchants in the downtown area have lost significant business since the parking lot on the lot involved in phase one was closed to begin the decontamination work.
Firestone added that he has met several times with University administrators, asking them to add more parking spaces. At their last meeting on Sunday, the administration said they would look into the issue, he said.
The developer will construct the garage at a guaranteed maximum price that is still being negotiated, said Bob Goldsmith, special counsel to the borough for the redevelopment plan.
The council will examine the project and decide whether to approve financing in "the next month or two," Powell said.
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