Architect proposes mixed-use plan for hospital site

Housing units would be geared toward senior residents.

By: David Campbell
   Architect J. Robert Hillier unveiled a conceptual design Tuesday night that would transform University Medical Center at Princeton into a mixed-use residential development aimed at people ages 55 and older.
   The development would feature a public park, limited neighborhood stores on the ground floor, and daycare and fitness centers.
   Princeton HealthCare System, the corporate parent of the University Medical Center at Princeton, held the first of a planned series of public meetings to present and gather input on possible future uses of the UMCP site.
   Mr. Hillier, founder and chairman of Hillier Architecture, floated several concepts and design variations during Tuesday night’s session, including ideas for a continuing-care retirement community with units and facilities for independent and assisted living, and nursing care.
   But the concept he seemed to favor was one that would reuse the main eight-story hospital building for a maximum of about 280 resident-owned units. He recommended against tearing down the building, arguing that the resale value for the property would thereby be diminished. He said owners — not renters — would be preferred, and he said the housing would be aimed at buyers who are "empty nesters" ages 55 and older.
   Other elements included tearing down the Medical Arts Building on Witherspoon Street to the left of the main hospital entrance to create a public park with trellises that Mr. Hillier said would help bring the main building more visually to scale with the streetscape. There could be some office space and limited retail for neighborhood-oriented shops. A fitness center and daycare center were also proposed.
   Mr. Hillier proposed preserving most of the residential houses on the hospital side of Harris Road owned by PHCS, but floated the idea of demolishing two to build five new townhouses at Harris Road and Franklin Avenue. Other ideas included demolishing the low-income apartments off Franklin Avenue to construct a three-story building for affordable housing and converting the hospital’s Lambert House for affordable units, as well. He proposed different designs for constructing roughly 30 to 56 market-rate units on the adjacent hospital parking lot on Franklin Avenue.
   The architect said property-tax revenues from reuse of the hospital site could be a "bonanza" for the Princetons, with minimal impact on public-school costs, because residents there would be empty nesters without children. He said the borough, where most of the hospital is located, could see $6 million in property-tax revenue annually, and he said the township could see about $600,000 a year.
   Mr. Hillier said PHCS needs to get the best value for its land, which will be sold to help fund a new hospital campus nearby, and said the design parameters for reuse of the site should be attractive to potential developers and acceptable to residents. He said the conceptual designs presented Tuesday incorporated past community input, noting, "We want it to fly with the town."
   He said reuse of the site and many of its existing structures would be "ecologically smart" and "economically smart," arguing that the site is within walking distance of downtown and local stores. He said traffic would likely decrease once the hospital relocates. He said the hospital’s garage off Henry Avenue could accommodate the design proposals.
   Several neighbors of the hospital expressed support for a design scheme that includes senior housing. Roz Denard, a former Princeton Township committeewoman and a member of senior-advocacy group Community Without Walls, said of Mr. Hillier’s proposals, "I think it could be a tremendous boon. This will be a very needed thing."
   Harris Road resident Marco Gottardis said, "The ideal environment is to have people of all ages that make a community."
   Harris Road resident Jamie Laliberte expressed some concern, however, that the scale of some of the proposals could dwarf the neighboring houses. "I find all those buildings surrounding our neighborhood claustrophobic," she said.
   PHCS’s next neighborhood meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. May 17 in classrooms 1 and 2 in the Lambert House section of the hospital. The public is invited.
   The land owned by PHCS totals 11.76 acres — including the Franklin Avenue parking lot and the Harris Road houses. The hospital and adjacent medical buildings are on land zoned exclusively for hospital and medical use. That zoning would have to be changed to permit alternate uses of the site. PHCS is working with the Princeton Regional Planning Board, which is holding a series of public meetings of its own, to examine how best to redevelop the site.
   In January, PHCS trustees voted to explore building a new state-of-the-art hospital campus on a site of at least 50 acres within two to six miles of the current location. The new facility would be funded with revenue from the sale of the land in Princeton along with bonds and philanthropy. PHCS also wants to sell its Merwick Rehab Hospital & Nursing Care facility off Route 206.
   The Planning Board’s next public hearings are scheduled for May 26 and June 16. The board aims to ready parameters for possible Master Plan amendments by mid-July, with hearings to occur in the fall. The amended Master Plan would serve as a basis for any zoning changes.
   Mr. Rabner said at the board’s first public meeting on April 21 that the location for the new hospital campus could be announced sometime this month.