(Left) studiohillier’s design for Olden House, intended for visiting scholars, is designed to “reinforce the good housing stock in town,” says University Architect Ron McCoy. (Below) A site plan for the Merwick-Stanworth community is at left. Below is an architect’s elevation sketch of the apartment complex, which will be home to faculty, staff and their families.
Princeton HealthCare System and has demolished the building to make room for the new complex. The property will be home to faculty, staff and their families, with 20 percent devoted to affordable housing available to low-and-moderate-income local residents. The first phase will be the Merwick site, which will have 128 units within twostory townhomes, two-story multi-family stacked units, and three-story apartment buildings. The development of Stanworth will follow, removing the houses but using their footprints for the new construction. Exactly how the complex will be designed has yet to be determined.
“Stanworth is more or less the same configuration as the existing community,” said Mr. Ziegler. “It would have been too costly and would have taken down too many trees to start new. Like Lakeside, this property is blessed with some fairly mature trees, and we want to maintain them.” Bike paths and playgrounds are planned to be open to the surrounding neighborhoods. “We have done our best to make it an all-inclusive community,” said Mr. Kane. “The prototype occupant is our assistant professor, who is likely to rent rather than buy. We have a variety of housing types because this can range from
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a single person to someone with a large family. And there are different incomes. We had to hit a range of affordable price points for our junior faculty." As work is being done on the University's development projects, residents have been relocated from one site to another. Former Hibben-Magie graduate students are in Stanworth units while Lakeside is underway. Construction on Merwick begins this spring, and is projected to be ready for faculty and staff the summer of 2014. As the Stanworth redevelopment begins, those residents will move to Lakeside. Still on the drawing board are plans for the Butler Tract, a complex of barracks-style apartments, built 70 years ago, off of Harrison Street. While the university has no immediate plans for the site, it is probably coming down. The complex will be vacated next year and its residents moved to Lakeside, despite the fondness many have for its outdated buildings. “The students love it there, because it’s a real neighborhood,” says Mr. Ziegler. “But the apartments have really rudimentary systems. The heating and utility bills are very high. It’s just not practical.” Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman outlined five guiding principles intended to steer the planning process for its growth: Maintain a pedestrian-oriented campus, preserve the park-like character, maintain campus neighborhoods while promoting a sense of community, build in an environmentally responsible manner, and sustain strong community relations. “We have tried hard to make sure those principles are followed at each of these developments on the campus,” said Mr. Kane. “And each project will reflect them, in individual ways.”
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