The Princeton Planning Board’s May 23 special meeting to consider 344 Nassau LLC’s application to construct a 15-unit apartment building attached to the historic Joseph Horner House has been canceled.
A new date for the public hearing on the developer’s application has not been set.
The Princeton Historic Preservation Commission declined to endorse the proposed apartment building and also denied the developer’s application to demolish the 1985 addition at the rear of the house, following back-to-back meetings May 13-14.
The applicant sought to demolish the 1985 addition to the house, claiming it was necessary in order to link the historic house and the new apartment building. The original exterior walls were incorporated into the 1985 addition and functioned as interior walls to separate the corridors from the office space.
The Historic Preservation Commission’s recommendations were sent to the Planning Board. The commission was tasked with reviewing the application because the house, which is at the intersection of Nassau Street and North Harrison Street, is within the Jugtown and Kings Highway historic districts.
The proposed four-story apartment building would be 44 feet, 9 inches tall. The Joseph Horner House is 29 feet tall. Objectors at the May 14 meeting pointed to the height of the apartment building, echoing comments in Historic Preservation Officer Elizabeth Kim’s May 9 report to the Historic Preservation Commission.
Kim wrote that the four-story apartment building would “tower and dwarf the historic building as a result of its height, mass and siting on the property.”
The Joseph Horner House was built in 1760 by the grandson of early settler John Horner. It was recently included on Preservation New Jersey’s list of “The 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in New Jersey” for 2024 due to the proposed development.
The proposed 15-unit apartment building would include three affordable housing units. The second floor of the Joseph Horner House would be converted into two apartments and the ground floor of the historic house would include commercial uses.