August 1, 2012

Ground Broken for Copperwood Development Following Lengthy Discussion Process, Delays

BREAKING NEW GROUND: After many years of discussion, design, and redesign; digging officially began July 26 for the Copperwood community with the help of those who were instrumental in its development. From left: J. Robert Hillier, architect and developer; Michael Lee of Costanza Builders; Phyllis Marchand, former Princeton Township mayor; Chad Goerner, current Township mayor; Michele Byers, executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation; and Wendy Mager, president of Friends of Princeton Open Space. (Photo by Jeff Tryon)

Last week’s groundbreaking for Copperwood, the senior housing development on Bunn Drive, marked the end of a lengthy process that involved years of deliberation and debate. Along the way, a somewhat adversarial relationship between the architect/developer and the co-founder of a citizens’ organization committed to preserving the wooded site evolved into a kind of mutual admiration society.

J. Robert Hillier, the architect/developer (and Town Topics shareholder), had only the warmest praise for Daniel Harris, co-founder of People for Princeton Ridge, Inc., at the groundbreaking ceremony. In turn, Mr. Harris spoke effusively of Mr. Hillier a few days later. “It needs to be said that Bob was not only thoroughly cooperative with our group, but with community interests altogether,” Mr. Harris said. “He really  understood that this is what building in Princeton needs to be right now.”

Along with others involved in the developing of the rental community, Mr. Hillier and Mr. Harris met several times to try to fine-tune the design. Key to the project were energy-saving and sustainability techniques espoused by Mr. Harris and his wife, Jane Buttars, co-founder of People for the Princeton Ridge. They and other environmentalists had concerns about the many trees on the tract, some of which are over 100 years old. They also worried about storm-water runoff from the property’s steep slopes. “The public health danger to the community downstream was immense,” Mr. Harris recalled. “So this was a matter of public health as well as public policy.”

Eventually, Mr. Hillier arrived at a plan for a smaller footprint than originally proposed for the active adult community, clustering five buildings on three acres of the 21-acre site. Two of the buildings will have three floors, and three will have four stories. Small walkways, gardens, and piazzas will separate the buildings. Amenities will include a fitness center, cafe lounge/library, and a lecture/meeting room, all surrounding a central piazza with a fountain.

The history of trying to build senior housing on the site known as the Lowe tract, goes back to 2005, when builder K. Hovnanian first obtained approval. But Hovnanian pulled out of the deal, enabling Mr. Hillier to proceed with a plan for a smaller project. Construction of Copperwood will disturb 20 percent of the site, while the original Hovnanian plan would have disturbed almost 80 percent. The remaining lands will be put into conservation in perpetuity. A total of 396 trees will be removed, to be replaced with 241 new trees.

“We knew what the concerns were, so we came up with a design that made it a more tightly-knit kind of village,” Mr. Hillier said this week. “Every time we were able to do those redesigns, more woods got saved.”

While the environmental group at first objected to any building at all on Princeton Ridge, they now welcome the Hillier plan. “This is the greenest building that has ever gone up in Princeton,” Mr. Harris said. “Bob gets an enormous amount of credit for doing this, and we get credit also for educating the community about green buildings and LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design]. These buildings have green roofs. They are watered by gray water that is recycled within the building. The building’s facade materials are reflective, so they will push away heat.”

At the groundbreaking, Mr. Hillier announced that there was a waiting list of 165 people for the development’s 153 units. By early this week, that number had jumped to 177. “There has never been anything like this in Princeton. What this means is that older folks can now live in town, and yet downsize,” he said. “There is no decent, new, modern place for people to downsize to, relieving them of maintenance and things like taking care of lawns. Now, they don’t have to leave town.”

Units will range from 718 to 1,296 square feet. Twelve will be affordable housing. Tenants can choose from one, three, and five-year leases. Rents are expected to range from about $1,900 to $3,600 a month. Princeton has senior affordable housing, but Copperwood is the first market-rate senior housing development in the town.

For Mr. Harris, the development process represents a model of public/private citizen partnership. “Hillier’s cooperation is a model of what every developer in Princeton should do, and what every developer in Princeton should be urged if not required to do by Princeton elected officials,” he said, “including present applicants.”


July 18, 2012

Thanks to Mayors, Volunteers, Township Staff, Ground Will Be Broken on Copperwood July 26

To the Editor,

On July 26 ground will be broken on Copperwood in Princeton. After almost a decade of discussion, debate, design, and deliberation, a modern, sophisticated community designed for those Princetonians who want to downsize and still stay in the town they love will come into being. The project is a model of land preservation and sustainability, of which Princeton should be very proud.

This project would not have come about were it not for the support, mentorship, guidance, and positive actions of both civic volunteers and Township staff. My thanks go to former Township mayors Phyllis Marchand and Bernie Millier and to the current mayor, Chad Goener. They also go to the Princeton Township Committee and their attorney, Ed Schmierer, to the Regional Planning Board under the leadership of Peter Madison and Wanda Gunning, and to the Site Plan Review Advisory Board under the thoughtful leadership of Bill Wolfe.

Of course, the “devil is in the details,” and the Township staff has been diligent, appropriately demanding, understanding, cooperative, and, when deadlines were imminent, especially responsive. The Township engineer, Bob Kiser; planner, Lee Solow; zoning officer, Peter Kneski; building official, John Pettenati; and their respective staffs all deserve a big “thank you” for not only enabling the project to proceed, but for the fine work they do in protecting the interests of the Township and preserving that special quality that is Princeton.

Through everyone’s efforts, Copperwood is a better project. It will finally bring to Princeton the much-needed active adult community that it has needed for so long.

J. Robert Hillier, FAIA, PP

Principal

February 22, 2012

Copperwood Project To Honor Eleanor Angoff

HONOREE: J. Robert Hillier presented Eleanor Angoff with a model of the plaque which will be placed in the gardens at Copperwood in Princeton honoring her advocacy for senior housing.

Architect J. Robert Hillier, the developer of Copperwood, the recently-approved active adult community on Bunn Drive, has announced that the garden surrounding the central piazza of the complex will be named in honor of Eleanor Angoff, a long-time advocate for market-rate senior housing in Princeton.

“For over two decades Eleanor Angoff has pushed for housing that would enable Princetonians to “downsize” from their single-family residences into an independent living community that enabled them to continue to be active members of the Princeton community,” said Mr. Hillier (a Town Topics shareholder). “That is exactly what Copperwood will accomplish. When some folks from the Community Without Walls suggested that we honor Ms. Angoff for her efforts, I thought it was a terrific idea.”

Eleanor Angoff has been a life-long resident of Princeton where her husband was an executive at Educational Testing Service. A plaque in her honor will be placed at each side of the central garden at Copperwood. The plaque reads, “This garden area is dedicated in honor of Eleanor W. Angoff. Her tireless efforts as a spirited and vocal advocate for senior housing in Princeton ultimately led to the creation and development of Copperwood.”

Copperwood is a 153-unit rental community for active adults over 55 years old. It will be built on Bunn Drive within the 200-acre Princeton Ridge Preserve. Construction will begin this spring with occupancy in the late summer of 2013.

For more information call Mr. Hillier at (609) 688-9999.