Princeton HPC endorses recommendations on Hillier Properties Witherspoon Street redevelopment as residents raise displacement concerns

The Princeton Historic Preservation Commission on Jan. 9 endorsed a memo of recommendations to the Planning Board on Hillier Properties LLC’s application to restore and redevelop four properties on Witherspoon Street in downtown Princeton.

The endorsement follows a detailed presentation by the applicant and public comment from residents who said the project, as presented, raises questions about tenant relocation and the amount of affordable housing that would remain in the neighborhood.

Applicant presentation and design goals

Bob Hillier, representing Hillier Properties LLC, told the commission the project seeks to “provide housing at a reasonable cost for the missing middle,” preserve neighborhood character and celebrate the history of the Black community in the area. He said the team has assembled four properties along Witherspoon Street over about 10 years and described work to measure and replicate historic windows and doors, restore porches where feasible, and replace non-historic elements.

Hillier said the redevelopment would convert the former Witherspoon School for Colored Children into apartments (he said he intends to name that building “the Satterfield”) and build a larger mixed-use building behind the street-front houses that would include roughly 20 new units in the single larger structure and another five or so across the other buildings (Hillier described “a total I think of about 20 25 building, 25 units in there”). He described modern safety upgrades — new plumbing, kitchens, air conditioning and sprinkler systems — and measures such as elevators and a back corridor to provide accessible…