The Lawrence Township Planning Board gave the green light for the redevelopment of a portion of the Princeton Pike Office Park at 3131 Princeton Pike into a mix of residential and retail uses.
The application, which was approved at the Planning Board’s Sept. 16 meeting, calls for the demolition of three of the six buildings in the office park. The two buildings that have frontage on Princeton Pike and a third office building adjacent to them are slated to be torn down.
The Lawrenceville Development Group LLC will construct a three-story apartment building and a two-story mixed-use building in a development to be known as Canvas. There will be 204 rental apartments, to include 15% – or 31 units – to be set aside for affordable housing.
The plan calls for the two-story building to be built on the front part of the property on Princeton Pike. There will be 17,510 square feet of retail space and one apartment on the first floor, and 27 apartments on the second floor.
A three-story building that contains 176 apartments will be built at the rear of the property. It will wrap around two inner courtyards that will include a swimming pool, two fire pits and a barbeque dining area.
Additional amenities in the development include a dog park, a boardwalk, and cafe and lounge seating next to the two-story mixed-used building along the Princeton Pike frontage.
Project architect Stephen Schoch said there will be 93 one-bedroom apartments, 104 two-bedroom apartments and seven three-bedroom apartments. The 31 apartments set aside for affordable housing will be scattered throughout the buildings.
The development has been designed with sustainability in mind, Schoch said. The plumbing fixtures are low-flow, and all of the appliances are electric – including heat pumps to cool and heat the units, Schoch said.
The mixed-use building will have as many as 11 retail stores. The goal is to attract “experiential” retail stores, and will be treated as a place that people want to visit, he said.
The building will not look like a typical strip shopping center. It has been designed to make it attractive on both sides – the side facing Princeton Pike and the side facing the three-story apartment building, Schoch said.
Planner Paul Gleitz said the apartment development is a great transitional use between the residential developments around the corner on Franklin Corner Road and the office park and non-residential uses nearby.
“We are not plopping (residences) in the middle of an office park,” he said.
The 204-unit apartment development should add about 50 students to the Lawrence Township Public Schools, he said. It is not geared toward families, most of whom would want a yard for their children.
It is aimed at young professionals and empty nesters. They want amenities such as a dog park, a swimming pool and a gym, but not the maintenance of a home, he said.
Municipal Manager Kevin Nerwinski agreed. He is also the township’s Community Development director and sits on the Planning Board.
“We want to provide an opportunity for young people to stay (in Lawrence) and for older residents to stay,” he said. “This is what we want, and this is what the applicant agreed.”
During the public comment portion of the meeting, two residents said they supported the development. One of the residents said that spreading the affordable housing units throughout the buildings would reduce the stigma of living in an affordable housing unit.
