Basement becomes a problem for proposed building on Tulane Street parking lot.
By: Marjorie Censer
Nassau HKT Associates and the Borough of Princeton are considering a revision to the site plan of the proposed mixed-use building on the Tulane Street parking lot that would eliminate the building’s basement.
The amendment was originally slated to come before the Princeton Regional Planning Board on Thursday. In a memorandum submitted to the board by Lee Solow, director of planning; Carl Peters, borough engineer; and Frank Slimak, borough zoning officer, the applicants said the site has a very high groundwater table that would interfere with plans to construct a basement. The 3,204-square-foot basement was intended to provide storage space for the proposed first-floor grocery.
One comment in the memorandum questioned the impact of the elimination of basement storage on the number of deliveries to the grocery store. In an interview Thursday, Mr. Solow said the board will have to see if "the grocery store could function without additional basement space."
Based on this feedback, Robert Powell, principal of Nassau HKT Associates, said Nassau HKT and the borough decided to reconsider the amendment and re-evaluate construction estimates, as well as the geotechnical information about the groundwater table. He said he realized going before the Planning Board was premature.
Mr. Powell added that internal discussion will consider the details of how the grocery would operate without a basement.
"We still believe that part will work out fine," he said. It is possible to build a basement, Mr. Powell said, but the construction would increase the cost and time.
He added that Nassau HKT and the borough are finalizing the lease with a grocery store. He would not release the name, but he said the operator is interested in the space, with or without the basement.
Construction of the building, which has been called "Building C" in earllier planning documents, is now slated to begin in early fall, Mr. Powell said.
The revised plan submitted to the Planning Board would also reduce the retail-storage trash floor plan for the grocery from 6,859 square feet to 6,723 square feet. According to the memo, this revision is the result of relocating certain mechanical rooms from the basement to the first floor, as well as an increase in the size of the first-floor trash room for the apartment units. With the elimination of the basement, the total square footage of the building would drop from 75,761 to 72,457. The original site plan was approved in May 2004.
The five-story building, with a food market and 53 apartments, is the second phase in the downtown redevelopment. Its plans include 10 low- and moderate-income units, as well as a courtyard and walkways. Work on the building was originally planned to begin in February of this year.
The borough and Nassau HKT formed a public-private partnership in 2003 to redevelop two municipal parking lots off Spring Street. The borough’s $14.8 million, 500-space parking garage on the former Park & Shop lot next to the new Princeton Public Library opened in May 2004. Nassau HKT, which signed long-term leases and negotiated payments in lieu of taxes with the borough, built Witherspoon House, a five-story mixed use building in front of the garage.
The nearly complete Witherspoon House will contain 24 apartments, the Witherspoon Grill restaurant, operated by the proprietor of the Blue Point Grill and Nassau Street Seafood market, and a larger space for Rouge, the trendy women’s clothing and cosmetics boutique. Two of the apartments will be affordable-housing units.