The developer of a proposed 95-unit apartment building at 245-247 Nassau St., adjacent to Jay’s Cycles, will have to wait until next month to find out if the Planning Board will approve the application.
The Planning Board spent four hours listening to testimony from applicant 245 Nassau LLC’s architect, engineer and traffic engineer at its Oct. 15 meeting, but ran out of time to complete the public hearing.
The two buildings on the property will be demolished and replaced with a four-story apartment building. There will be 75 parking spaces, to include handicap accessible parking spaces and electric vehicle parking spaces, in a parking garage underneath the building. There will be an indoor storage space for 100 bicycles.
Amenities include a 980-square-foot retail space, plus a fitness center, a kitchen, a living room, a lounge, a mailroom, a pet spa and an outdoor courtyard.
Of the 95 rental apartments, 19 will be set aside for low- and moderate-income households. It will help the town to meet its state-mandated obligation to provide its fair share of affordable housing.
Architect Jesper Ryberg said the 19 units will be spread throughout the building. They will have the same finishes and appliances as the market-rate apartments.
The breakdown of affordable apartments constitutes three one-bedroom apartments, 12 two-bedroom apartments and four three-bedroom apartments.
The market rate apartments include 18 studio apartments; 44 one-bedroom apartments, of which 10 will have a den; 25 two-bedroom apartments, of which 11 will have a den; and eight three-bedroom apartments.
Project engineer Mark Cifelli said that in addition to demolishing the existing buildings, trees must be cut down – including a Ginkgo tree that is estimated to be about 150 years old. It will be replaced with four smaller trees to comply with the town’s tree replacement ordinance.
The trees that will be cut down would be replaced with 104 new trees, Cifelli said. Many of the trees to be removed are considered to be invasive – non-native – species, such as Norway maple trees.
The applicant’s final witness, traffic engineer Georges Jacquemart, said 20% of the 75 parking spaces would be reserved for residents of the affordable housing units. None of the tenants, including those who rent market rate apartments, would be allowed to have more than one parking space.
When Mayor Mark Freda, who sits on the Planning Board, pointed out that there are 75 parking spaces for 95 apartments, Jacquemart replied that not every tenant would own a car. The building is near Princeton University and the rest of the town.
The continued public hearing on the application is tentatively set for Nov. 5.
