New building will replace house at 40-42 N. Tulane St. built between 1906 and 1918
Partial demolition has begun on the house at 40-42 N. Tulane St., near the corner of Spring Street, for a mixed-use commercial and residential apartment building.
The open-air side porch on the north side of the house has been removed and the row of garages at the rear of the property also have been demolished. The enclosed porch on the south side of the house will remain.
The house will be incorporated into a four-story apartment building that was approved by the Princeton Planning Board on March 3. There will be 2,500 square feet of office space on the first floor and 14 rental apartments on the upper three floors.
The plan shows seven one-bedroom apartments, five two-bedroom apartments and a sixth two-bedroom apartment with a den, and one three-bedroom apartment. They range in size from 560 square feet to 1,100 square feet.
Of the 14 rental apartments, 11 will be market-rate apartments. Three apartments will be set aside for very low-, low- and moderate-income households.
There will be nine parking spaces for the 14 apartments, with provisions for electric vehicle charging stations.
An indoor bicycle room that can accommodate about a dozen bicycles is included in the plan, plus four bicycle parking spaces outside the lobby entrance.
A 15-foot-wide open space area at the rear of the building will serve as an area for residents to congregate. It is adjacent to the municipal Spring Street parking garage.
The property is in the Residential Business zone – which is the basic, underlying zone – and also in the AHO-1 affordable housing overlay zone. The AHO-1 zone allows for an added density benefit – or more units – if it includes affordable housing within the development.
As the application was vetted at the Planning Board’s meeting in March, some members raised questions about the building’s historic status and the way that the existing building will be incorporated into the new, contemporary-style apartment building.
The Historic Preservation Commission reviewed the application as the project was making its way through the approval process. In a report to the commission, Historic Preservation Officer Elizabeth Kim wrote that the house at 40-42 N. Tulane St. was built between 1906 and 1918.
Kim described the original building as two side-by-side dwellings. The house was built of brick and had a tin or slate roof. The building was remodeled and had aluminum siding and an asphalt shingle roof.
Each side of the house had an open-air side porch. The unit at 42 N. Tulane St., on the right side of the building, had a smaller porch. The porch at 40 N. Tulane St., on the left side, had a larger porch that was later enclosed.
The building has been altered over the years. The original porch at 40 N. Tulane St. was removed and a one-story addition was made to the front and side of the house. The original porch remained at 42 N. Tulane St.
