Tension mounts as developers seek approval

For 14 years, Borough officials have battled one of the downtown's largest commercial interests over a controversial development project.

Now, the Borough Council is poised to approve the plans of Palmer Square Management to transform the unfinished Hulfish North parking garage on Paul Robeson Place into about 100 luxury condominiums. But after years of terse negotiations, renegotiations and broken promises, relations between the two parties have frayed considerably.

"[Palmer Square principal partner] Oded Aboodi told us right off the bat that his partners had a good deal of distrust for the Borough, the Borough Council, the Borough staff, the attorneys," former mayor Marvin Reed said from the audience of a council meeting Wednesday night. "I told him, that's interesting, because the feeling is mutual."

While still in office last December, Reed struck a deal with Aboodi and Palmer Square that promised Borough approval for the Hulfish North project in exchange for the inclusion of 10 units of subsidized affordable housing in the new complex.

Reservations from some Council members have delayed that approval several times since then, however. A final vote is now expected at the Council meeting on Feb. 10.

Supporters of the project can count on current mayor Joe O'Neill, who, like his predecessor, supports the development of Hulfish North.

Given the inclusion of the affordable housing units, O'Neill said Wednesday, "all of our major social goals have been met, and the development itself, once it's built, would bring in another million and a half dollars in tax revenue to the borough and its schools."

O'Neill said the garage as it now stands, and the chain link fence along Paul Robeson Place, are eyesores that need replacement.

Although he predicted that the Council would ultimately give Palmer Square the go-ahead — and that he would break a tie in their favor if necessary — the mayor acknowledged that some residents of the area opposed the new development.

"The people who live in the John Street, Witherspoon Street area are concerned that it will be in a sense a kind of Chinese wall between them and downtown," he said.

One of those people, Yina Moore of Green Street, spoke out at the Council meeting Wednesday night.

"What this proposal lacks are the values of balance, diversity, and affordability," said Moore, a member of the Future Princeton Steering Committee.

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Moore argued the Palmer Square plans failed to include enough variety in unit types to attract a mix of families, seniors, and singles.

And she said any major changes to the area should involve improvements to make Paul Robeson Place more pedestrian-friendly.

"We have lost sight of twenty years worth of critical thinking about how neighborhoods develop," she said.

The decision between Moore's and Palmer Square's competing visions of downtown Princeton may finally be made at the Borough Council meeting next Thursday night.