Avalon Princeton, on the former site of Princeton Hospital on Witherspoon Street, is looking forward to welcoming its first residents next month, with construction to complete the 280-unit rental community scheduled through next spring.

The new development will include studio apartments starting at $2258 per month, one-bedroom apartments at $2735, two-bedroom apartments from $3135, as well as three-bedroom apartments and two- and three-bedroom townhouses. (There are additional fees for application, amenities, security, parking, pet rent, and storage.) 

“I’m very pleased but not surprised that Avalon Princeton has generated so much interest from the local community and the community at large,” said Ron Ladell, senior vice president of AvalonBay Communities.

Apartments will not be available for viewing until next month, and construction workers were the only presence in and around the Avalon Princeton leasing office on Witherspoon Street at mid-day Monday, but Mr. Ladell was enthusiastic about pre-leasing activity over the past few months.

“Pre-leasing continues to go very well and we look forward to the first residents moving in prior to the end of the summer,” he added. He could not provide numbers of pre-leasing applicants.

The current plan calls for 23 studio, 100 one-bedroom, 129 two-bedroom, 28 three-bedroom apartments, as well as 12 two- and three-bedroom townhouses on Franklin Street. Fifty-six of the apartments are designated for affordable housing.

Avalon Princeton reports that apartment features will include spacious floor plans, gourmet kitchens with GE stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and tile backsplashes, hard surface plank flooring in living and dining areas, spacious walk-in closets, front-load washers and dryers, energy-efficient windows, and 9-foot ceilings. Private balconies and patios and lofts and dens will be available for select apartments. Townhouses will feature attached garages. Additional upgrades to apartments and townhouses are also available.

Upon completion by next spring, the Avalon Princeton community will include two fitness centers, a swimming pool, a resident lounge with game table and entertainment space, a pet park and spa, indoor children’s playroom, covered garage parking with enclosed walkway, bike storage and bike repair room, a community park with public green space, and a play area.

The Avalon Princeton development has faced considerable controversy in the community over the past five years, with the Town Planning Board voting against the project in 2012, after which Avalon filed a law suit. Avalon then revised their building plans, and the Planning Board approved the revised proposal in 2013.

AvalonBay Communities, founded in 1978 and based in Arlington, Virginia, is a real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, and manages apartment homes — with more than 280 developments currently throughout the United States.