March 18, 2021
A rendering of the grothermail-exchange tanks and building, as viewed from the University Now Nursery School.
The Princeton Planning Board is expected to make a decision as early as tonight on a controversial proposal to build a geothermal-exchange building called “Princeton TIGER” and two 45 to 38-foot-high, 2.25-million-gallon storage tanks, two electrical transformers, and a site generator. The tanks will store water that will be used to heat and cool a portion of the campus, providing the school with a more sustainable source of energy at the university works towards its goal of being carbon neutral by 2046.
Plans for the project are opposed by some of the school’s own faculty members, who are in favor of environmentally friendly energy sources and the project in general, but not the location of the project next to a nursery school and the residential neighborhood where many of them live. Their main concern about the project is noise.
Planning Board continues public hearing for Princeton University geo-exchange facility ×
Outside of the proposed site in Princeton for the TIGER facility. ANDREW HARRISON/STAFF
In an effort to mitigate noise and sound concerns, improved plans were presented to the Princeton Planning Board for a proposed Princeton University geo-exchange and athletics operation facility.
When the board reconvened for the TIGER facility application’s public hearing on Feb. 18, a vote on whether to approve the application had not taken place as the hearing was continued to a March 11 special meeting. Attorney Bruce Afran, who is representing objectors to the application, will continue with his cross examination in the hearing at that time.
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A rendering of the front of a new hotel at the corner of Nassau Steet and Chambers Street in Princeton.
The local zoning board will hold a special meeting tonight, Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom to hear public comment about a proposal to build a 178-room hotel at the corner of Chambers and Nassau streets in the heart of Princeton. The board could possibly render a decision tonight on the project.
In the fall of 2019, the owner of 20 Nassau Street, a 72,000-square-foot hub for professional offices in town that also features several retail spaces on the ground floor, sold the building to graduate hotels for $32 million.
A rendering of the Chanbers Street entrance to the future hotel in Princeton.
After more than 5 and a half hours of testimony and discussion, the Princeton Zoning Board voted unanimously on Monday night to approve plans for a 180-room hotel at the corner of Nassau and Chambers streets.
The project will take 24 to 26 months to complete.
Just after 1 a.m., the board voted to approve Graduate Hotel’s plans for 20 Nassau Street. Neighbors from the historic Bank Street area next to the property objected to the size and scale of the project on Monday night.
Near the end of the meeting, Michael LaPlace, the town’s planner, told the zoning board he thought the positives of the project outweigh the negatives. “This is an overwhelmingly positive project for the municipality,” he said, adding that the developer is willing to work with the neighborhood.