Decision nearing for hospital’s future on Witherspoon Street

Task force may recommend ‘slightly expanded’ zoning to accommodate medical center at present site.

By: David Campbell
   The burning question of whether the University Medical Center at Princeton will expand at its current Witherspoon Street campus or relocate to a larger site in the area may have an answer in the near future.
   Marvin Reed, former mayor of Princeton Borough, is chairman of a special task force set up by the borough and Princeton Township to weigh possible Master Plan and zoning changes for the current campus depending on what Princeton HealthCare System decides.
   Mr. Reed said the group, called the Princeton Health Care Task Force, is weighing recommending "slightly expanded" zoning in the borough and township — the Medical Center straddles the municipal line, with most of the hospital property in the borough — to accommodate growth by the hospital where it currently stands.
   Task force members plan to attend a meeting of the PHCS board of trustees scheduled for Jan. 24 to brief the trustees on the changes, he continued. He didn’t disclose details of the extent of expanded zoning being contemplated by the task force.
   "It will probably not be all they had shown us to do, but we will try to make the best effort regarding what can be done," Mr. Reed said. "We will tell them we can recommend this much but not more. Then they will take that information to help make their decision."
   The chairman said his group also plans to tell the trustees that the task force is prepared to recommend to the Princeton Regional Planning Board that the existing site could be marketed for other development uses if the hospital ends up relocating.
   Mr. Reed said more latitude might be given to a development applicant if the proposal includes reusing existing structures on the Witherspoon Street site. He had no comment on whether a decision by PHCS on staying or leaving is pending.
   "Some of us are planning to go to next trustees meeting," he said. "We will tell them where we are, and hopefully they will tell us where they are."
   Meanwhile, he said the task force is planning a public forum sometime in February in which a draft report containing the task force’s recommendations will be presented for community input. Once those recommendations are finalized, Mr. Reed said, the task will then go to the Planning Board to work on any recommended Master Plan changes and to develop the actual zoning amendments.
   Carol Norris, vice president of marketing and public affairs at PHCS, said that at the upcoming trustees meeting PHCS senior management "will recommend the board make a decision with regard to a preference to further explore renovating and expanding the hospital onsite or rebuilding at a new location within 15 to 20 minutes of the current site."
   PHCS is weighing whether to invest in facilities replacement and expansion at the existing Witherspoon Street site or relocate to a larger campus in the Princeton area.
   The health-care system has concluded that the hospital facilities need to be replaced if it is to continue to provide optimal care and stay competitive in the years ahead. No decision has yet been announced.
   The Princeton task force has held four public forums so far. At the most recent one held in December, the advisory group posed various concepts for alternative uses for the hospital site.
   Concepts included new residential housing such as duplexes, townhouses and apartments; a continuing-care retirement community with senior housing, assisted living and nursing-home care; apartments for Princeton University faculty and graduate students; and a hotel-conference center.
   The potential for a mixed-use development that would include residential, offices and retail uses was also posed.
   At that December public meeting, residents living near the hospital said they favored a use that is compatible with the residential scale of the surrounding neighborhood. Some residents also expressed interest in senior housing on the site.
   A consulting architect for PHCS indicated that building out the existing campus might help meet the hospital’s short-term needs, but wouldn’t be a good long-term investment.
   PHCS has estimated it would take about 10 years to make changes at the current campus because the work would have to be done in phases to accommodate continued services onsite. By contrast, it would take three and a half to four years to build from scratch elsewhere.
   The costs for whatever PHCS decides range from $180 million to about $250 million. If the hospital were to move, sale of the current property would help fund a new campus.