Princeton University officials appeared before the Plainsboro Planning Board on November 16 to present a comprehensive plan for development of a largely-undeveloped portion of its Forrestal Campus on November 16.
Forrestal Campus, bounded by Route 1 on the west, Scudders Mill Road to the south, and Campus Road on the east, is part of the university’s 2,200-acre Princeton Forrestal Center.
The comprehensive plan outlined a potential development scenario for the 140-acre southern portion of the 277-acre property, which also includes the North Campus and Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. A total of 764,000 square feet of potential commercial development remains to be split between the two properties under the Forrestal Center General Development Plan approved by the township in 1999.
University officials are hoping that the neighboring hospital project being built by Princeton HealthCare System will help spur development at the Campus, in addition to other economic factors.
The purpose of the plan, is to serve as a template of design principles, including building design, vehicular and pedestrian circulation, parking, stormwater management, and landscaping, said Curt Emmich, of Picus Associates, a real estate consulting company that serves as the developer of the Princeton Forrestal Campus.
“It’s a historical campus at the heart of Forrestal Center,” said Emmich, adding that the plan “will only ensure that as future development occurs, it mimics the design principles.”
The plan was a condition of approval for the university’s art museum storage facility, due to concerns by the board about future development on the site. The 27,900-acre storage facility, also located in the Forrestal Campus, which is expected to house the university’s works of art, was approved in July, 2008, but is currently on hold because of the economy.
According to Emmich, “there is a lot of flexibility” as to the distribution of the remaining development over the 277 acres. “The 764,000 square feet is specific to the Forrestal Campus, which is not that 140 acres. That is a number specific to 277 acres. It’s more global than just what is in that Forrestal Campus comprehensive plan because of the flexibility we have.”
So, it is hard to calculate the specific total of square footage allowed solely for the 140 acres, he explained. The comprehensive plan is just a general idea, he said. “As we come in with development applications, and it goes before the Planning Board, whatever it is that is approved gets taken off the number we have for the Forrestal Campus.”
A map for future development included in the presentation shows four areas scattered throughout the southern Forrestal Campus where office, research, or commercial development could occur.
According to the report presented along with the plan, the GDP allowed a total square footage of 3.02 million of development on the 277 acres, of which about 2.25 million has already been approved.
Currently there are nine buildings on the southern Forrestal Campus, the report states. “Four are owned and occupied by the Trustees of Princeton University. Three are owned by Princeton and leased to a number of small commercial tenants. The Research Collections and Preservations Consortium (ReCAP), which is a consortium consisting of Princeton, Columbia, and the New York Public Library, owns and occupies one building. ReCAP also owns a second building that is leased to Princeton. Uses are predominantly related to research, education, and business-related activities.”
Emmich said these nine building total about 350,000 square feet. The buildings range in size from about 13,000 to 110,000 square feet, and most are two stories located in the heart of the campus around the central green square, the comprehensive plan states. “The university continues to use this area as it always has for research and support services to the main campus,” Emmich said.
In addition to building design, the plan also highlighted vehicular circulation concepts. Access to the campus is from Route 1 only, via southbound and northbound ramp connections to Forrestal Road and Sayre Drive, which was realigned in 2007 to reduce the conflict between residential traffic to Princeton Landing and commercial traffic to the campus.
Campus Road is a two-lane divided road, connecting Scudders Mill and Stellarator roads. A future, indirect connection from Campus Road to Forrestal Campus is a comprehensive approved by Plainsboro in 2002. There is a second potential road connection envisioned from an existing curb cut and median break on Campus Road to the Forrestal Campus. Officials also expect the roadway grid originally established by Forrestal Road will be expanded upon as part of future development.
The pedestrian circulation is also already in place, connecting parking areas with building entrances, with a new sidewalk expected to be installed with the development of the art museum facility. The system will also be extended as the campus expands.
The parking facilities already located on site are more than adequate for current uses, and officials will evaluate the need for further parking as future development is contemplated, so that “a realistic number of spaces are provided, with the remainder landbanked,” the plan states.
Stormwater management on site has been effective so far, including the addition of a basin to the comprehensive plan to deal with changes in 2004 associated with a new set of regulations from the state Department of Environmental Protection. If the addition to the regional system is not a viable solution, officials will incorporate stormwater management into individual developments and submit them to the Planning Board.
With regard to landscaping, “campus expansion within a grid pattern will integrate appropriately-sized landscaped areas in keeping with desirable relationships between buildings and open space elements that reinforce the campus fabric and character,” the plan also states.
Signage themes already implemented on the campus that were established by the Princeton Forrestal Design Development Criteria will continue to be implemented on site as the campus grows. With regard to lighting, the types and locations of future lighting will also follow the theme already established on site and will be reviewed and approved during individual site plan applications.
Because the presentation was solely informal and was not in the form of an actual site plan, Emmich said the university considers the comprehensive plan to be solely informational. Any future development on the site would still have to come before the Planning Board as part of a site plan application for review. “The uses need to conform to the GDP,” he said.
As for when future development might occur, Emmich said that it is still too early to say. “Because of the economy, there’s been a downturn,” he said. “We hope to see more activity in the future as we look to come out of it.”
When asked whether he thought the new University Medical Center at Princeton being built near the Forrestal Campus would spur any development there, he said that “with the hospital next store, we’re hoping there will be some tangential development occurring.”
