As The Alice Prepares for Launch, Boston Developer Is Staying Active in NJ (Photos)

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WinnDevelopment has 15 multifamily projects in the pipeline in the Garden State, according to the local team. The projects reflect the Boston family business’s diverse mix of mixed-income properties, new construction and acquisitions.

For Senior Vice President David Ginsberg, The Alice is one of the most exciting projects Winn has ever undertaken. His enthusiasm is fueled by the property’s prime location in Princeton, its top-tier sustainability efforts and its commitment to the community.

“We think it’s a great place to do business,” Ginsberg said. “And we’re all over the state.”

And that’s true. A tour of Winn’s New Jersey portfolio can take you from north to Jersey City, Paterson and Newark, down through Tinton Falls to Atlantic City and Bridgeton. In Princeton, The Alice refers to the firm’s mixed-income market investments, which are more visible in Massachusetts or upstate New York.

Ginsberg said Winn is excited to introduce the concept here—and elevate it. He says The Alice marks Winn’s most “luxury” product yet.

The plan, approved by the city in 2022, also includes several public spaces that all Princeton residents will be able to use.

Work on the $63 million project began in March 2023. Leasing has already begun, with a model unit on site offering visitors a first-hand experience of The Alice. The local team said it expects to welcome its first tenants in early winter.

At 155,000 square feet, The Alice will feature 125 units — 100 market-rate; 25 affordable. The mix will include: 62 one-bedroom apartments, 26 with studies; 57 two-bedroom apartments, 28 with studies; and six three-bedroom residences.

Seventeen units will be upgraded. The Penthouse Collection will feature amenities such as higher-end finishes, a wine fridge, heated towel rails in the bathroom, sinks and more.

Still, The Alice is designed to attract a group of tenants. The project is part of several developments that make up Princeton’s affordable housing plan.

As for renters, Vice President Stephen Gilbert said they’ve seen a lot of locals — people whose children have left home — looking to downsize but stay in the area, as well as working professionals and families. “We’re giving them the option to stay in the city,” he said.

The building is also “COVID-aware.” Forty percent of the units have offices that meet the needs of today’s tenants. That gives those who may want to—or need to—work from home more space from which to do so. But that’s not the only option—the concept is present throughout the building.

“In all the amenity spaces, not just on the first floor – but on all the floors, there are actually small lounge spaces and… work pods,” Gilbert noted. Centralized in the building’s core, these accents serve to activate the spaces for the benefit of the tenants.

“So when you come off the elevator, for example, on the third floor, there’s one of these work lounges; and then we also have rentable storage pods, on the second floor. … We have a kids’ room, so they have more space to play, and then we have work pods,” explained project director Ben DeCarlo, emphasizing the building’s ability to serve a diverse demographic.

Additional amenities at the “exceptionally dog-friendly” property will include an accessible rooftop terrace, a dog spa and dog park, a gym, a communal kitchen, a club room and more.

Princeton-specific accents are also planned. Winn said he is working with local artists to provide elements for the building.

Cooperation

Winn has generally found success with its public-private partnerships. And in Mercer County, the company found a similarly sustainability-focused partner in the community.

“At Princeton, all of this added enormous value,” Ginsberg explained.

Winn said the borough’s list of development goals, dating back to the beginning of the four-year process, was very clear: mixed-income housing, a commitment to sustainability and the inclusion of community assets and engagement. In The Alice, public funding from the borough will help fund a new park and dog park, accessible to all.

And that theme runs through Winn’s portfolio—whether in Rochester, N.Y., or Jersey City. “We work with government officials in a very tangible way, more than just filing planning applications and getting permits,” Ginsberg said. “We tend to work proactively.”

While Ginsberg says that may be because of Winn’s extensive work in affordable and market-rate real estate, he said the goal is the same regardless: Find out what the city really cares about and try to incorporate that into the product.

This is also confirmed by other recent Garden State projects by Winn.

In Paterson’s Historic Great Falls neighborhood, the company included housing for grandparents to meet local needs. Meanwhile, in Tinton Falls, it built a 70-unit, $23 million apartment community for veterans, including veterans transitioning out of homelessness.

“It’s the opposite of cookie-cutter development,” Ginsberg said. “Each project—from the naming convention to who lives in the property, the demographics, the design—is completely unique.”

He added: “We believe that an essential part of our brand is that every place and every property is unique.”

Alice is no exception – there has never been an “Alice” before.

The property is named after WinnCompanies founder Arthur Wind’s late wife, Alice Winn, mother of Winn CEO Gilbert Winn, and Gilbert’s sister.

Beyond the sentimental aspect, part of the uniqueness of the property also comes from the fact that Winn is not a builder’s merchant, Gilbert said. In fact, the company still owns many of the properties it developed a half-century ago, including the first, second and third properties it ever built.

“And that’s often why they remain affordable – or remain affordable,” he stressed.

Long-term planning also relates to Winn’s balanced thinking.

I’m going towards the greenery

The company has had an in-house sustainability team for 15 years. And that has given Winn an advantage, not only in effectively managing properties but also in helping her stay on top of new technology.

It also helps with effective planning because sustainability measures are built into the design process from the very beginning.

“We look at 20, 30, 40 years out of every property that we build … so that usually means we spend a little more money on our projects. We have a little higher standard of construction and hopefully that shows and that resonates with the residents,” Ginsberg said.

When The Alice project was approved, Walkable Princeton said the site had been used for waste disposal during the construction of the adjacent Princeton Shopping Center in the 1950s and had remained undeveloped since.

The Alice model features a number of green features that will earn it LEED-Gold certification, including: efficient European-style triple-glazed windows; solar panels; a green roof; 15 electric vehicle charging spaces, with the option to expand; full LED lighting; ENERGY STAR appliances; continuous insulation; all-electric heating; programmable thermostats; and WaterSense low-flow plumbing fixtures.

For landscaping on the property, the Terhune Project Green Checklist indicates that many additions will consist of native plant species, particularly those that do well in bioretention areas, providing cover for wildlife and filtering stormwater.

Alice also has solid bike storage (for up to 100), which makes it “so bike-friendly and probably the most progressive on electric vehicles of any project we have in the country — maybe outside of Cambridge, Massachusetts,” Ginsberg said.

The addition of public amenities at The Alice aims to create a transportation hub by building connections throughout the area: between The Alice, nearby Grover Park, the adjacent Princeton Shopping Center and other emerging developments.

“This whole area has been really redeveloped by the city government and this is the central part of it,” Gilbert said, adding that the area is becoming the other pole of the city.

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He spoke of the neighborhood aspect of the area—where you go to the hardware store, get groceries, or go to the dentist. In late August, signs outside public seating areas leading to the mall’s central, landscaped courtyard advertised movie nights and other activities on the mall’s summer calendar. On weekday afternoons, the mall was busy—mothers with children, employees taking brisk walks to unwind, and people eating lunch.

Winn would build a 1.46-acre linear park to connect The Alice to nearby Grover Park. Proposed pedestrian, bike and sidewalk paths along Terhune Road, North Harrison Street and through the property would help create a walkable environment. A new access road would also provide another entry point to Princeton Shopping Center.

“That’s what makes this place so exciting,” Ginsberg said of the local environment. “Obviously you’re in a suburban location, a very desirable suburban location. But I imagine and hope that people living on the property walk to get groceries — you still have that walkability.”

Others see synergy at work at Princeton.

In late August, New Jersey Future announced six Smart Growth Award winners for 2024. Among them is Terhune Harrison Mixed-Use Village, which includes The Alice. Almost bookends, another multifamily building, Avalon Princeton on Harrison, is under construction across from Princeton Shopping Center.

NJ Future highlighted the plan’s transformative potential to combine several residential and commercial sites to create a revitalized, mixed-use suburban location with affordable housing.

Other partners include: AvalonBay Communities, LRK, the Municipality of Princeton and Phillips Preiss Grygiel Leheny Hughes.