Princeton University representatives outlined a concept Thursday night for a new facility on Olden Street that would house the school's department for Operations Research and Financial Engineering (ORFE), and while no definitive action was taken, the hearing aroused some concerns about developing in a neighborhood where town and gown very much commingle.
The proposal is to build a 46,000 square-foot, three-story structure with a basement, classrooms, offices, and studios for the department. Currently, the area is a 34-space parking lot. The one-acre site is bounded by Charlton Street, Olden Avenue, and Prospect Avenue.
The property lies in the Borough's E-3 zoning district, which was recently at the center of a controversy regarding the portion of the zone that comprises the nearby Engineering Quadrangle (E-Quad). In the University's attempt to increase the development capacity in that zone by 100,000 square feet, the school faced stiff resistance, first from the residents to the east, the Murray Place neighborhood. After the University worked out a compromise with those residents, ensuring that any new development on the E-Quad would be "low impact" with increased tree buffers and guaranteeing the use of the school's jitney to offset additional traffic flow, the issue of payments in lieu of taxes resurfaced with the members of Borough Council.
The ordinance to increase development capacity was ultimately passed, but the concerns about development in that area remain.
David Goldfarb, a member of Borough Council but speaking as a resident of Charlton Street, worried about the increased activity along Olden Street and surrounding throughways, asking members of the Planning Board to work with the Borough Engineer, Carl Peters, to "think about Olden Street" from a pedestrian safety standpoint.
"The situation worsens as development intensifies," Mr. Goldfarb said, adding that increased shuttle activity could potentially pose a "danger to pedestrians on Olden Street."
University architect Jon Hlafter said development along that eastern end of campus is an attempt to build on lots and areas that were once almost strictly devoted to parking. Mr. Hlafter said the aim was to build something that will help the campus "look new."
The proposed building will feature a largely glass façade with different degrees of translucence. The ORFE building is slated to have approximately 50 offices devoted mostly to computer-oriented research.
While there is no set date for the Planning Board's formal review of the ORFE application, Mr. Hlafter said that the University hopes to have the building occupied by the fall of 2008 and will file the final drawings to the Planning offices "as soon as we can." He indicated that the application could be up for Planning Board consideration as early as this fall.