Princeton University Unveils Plans for Merwick and Stanworth

This architect's rendering shows concept design plans for new faculty and staff housing units at the redeveloped Merwick and Stanworth sites located north of campus. Image: Torti Gallas and Partners, courtesy of Princeton University.

Princeton University officials have unveiled the school’s proposed plans for the redevelopment of the Merwick and Stanworth sites north of campus. The total number of units proposed is 326 units.

Tonight the Regional Planning Board of Princeton will review the proposed plans during a concept hearing. The project will later be submitted for site plan review.

The project will offer a mix of apartments and townhouse for University faculty, staff and their families. It will also include affordable units for local residents with low and moderate incomes.

The housing sites, located along Route 206 just north of downtown Princeton, include the former Merwick Care Center rehabilitation facility, which is currently being demolished, and the Stanworth Apartments, which have been faculty and staff housing for more than 60 years.

At the Merwick site, the University is proposing to build 128 units, including two-story townhomes, two-story multifamily stacked flat homes and three-story apartment buildings. The new complex is scheduled to open in the fall of 2014.

After the Merwick site is finished, the existing 154 units at Stanworth will be demolished and the University is proposing to build 198 units of two-story townhouse and two-story multi-family stacked flat homes. The new buildings are designed to be built within the footprints of the existing apartments in order to preserve as many trees as possible, University officials said.

“This project allows us to add a substantial amount of publicly available affordable housing, as well as faculty and staff housing, to a well-established and historic Princeton neighborhood that is adjacent to the Princeton YW and YMCA and within easy walking distance of the campus and the downtown,” University Vice President and Secretary Robert Durkee said in in a University news post about the project. “It also allows us to maintain an attractive tree canopy, integrate this area more fully into the broader community, provide amenities to nearby residents, and significantly increase the number and value of taxpaying properties on both the Stanworth and Merwick sites.”

The Georgetown Co. of New York City is developing Merwick and Stanworth in partnership with design architect Torti Gallas and Partners of Maryland.

Stanworth will temporarily house graduate students from 2012 to 2014 while the new Hibben-Magie graduate student complex is redeveloped. Once the new graduate student buildings open, Stanworth will be vacated for construction. Occupancy of the new Stanworth is scheduled for fall 2016.

In keeping with Princeton Borough’s 20 percent affordable housing requirement connected with new residential building projects, apartments for low- and moderate-income families will be incorporated throughout Merwick and Stanworth. The units will be available to the general public, with no preference for applicants who may be affiliated with the University, school officials said.

The project will use sustainable construction practices and building materials, and the design for the redeveloped site promotes walking, biking and the use of public transportation to the University campus, school officials said. The University’s TigerTransit shuttle and WeCar Car Sharing Program will be available to residents.

2 Comments

  1. Hope their plans include Light Rail from the current Dinky Station, all the way to the new property. Just like SOME want. Paid for by the University, of course.

  2. I’m not looking forward to the start of construction. I’ve imagine heavy machinery slowly making it’s way down 206/Bayard Lane creating a tight web of traffic jams. There goes my twenty minute commute from Skillman to West Windsor.

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