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Vol. LXII, No. 13
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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Vol. LXII, No. 13
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008
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Although his acting career was book-ended by portrayals of Balthasar and Lord Montague in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Karl Light’s lead role, at least in the Princeton community, has always been that of real estate manager.
And now his name can be added to Princeton’s Playbill of street names. Earlier this month, Princeton Township Committee named the previously unnamed Princeton Community Village loop road “Karl Light Boulevard” to honor the man who oversaw the property’s management for 32 years.
Mr. Light, 82, is retiring from the real estate world, but, he said, his interest in keeping Princeton diverse has never waned.
Having started his career as a fledgling (and later successful) actor in New York City, Mr. Light moved to Princeton with his wife Lucy James as a means of settling down while still working in the city.
Mr. Light performed alongside Ed Begley, Paul Muni, and Tony Randall in Inherit the Wind as the original Thomas Scopes. “I did quite well, I did OK, but I didn’t want to live in New York,” Mr. Light said.
By that time Mr. Light and Ms. James had three children, prompting her to make an interesting proposition: “She said ‘I know you don’t want me to do this, but why don’t I get a real estate license?’”
The idea didn’t sound half bad, Mr. Light said. “I decided I’d get one too.”
Though he had made a name for himself on the stage and the small screen, it was the real estate decision that would put the Karl Light name on the Princeton radar for good.
Opened in 1959, by 1975 K.M. Light Real Estate was managing Princeton Community Housing’s (PCH) affordable housing developments. PCH, a non-profit organization, is now the largest manager of low- and moderate-income housing in the Princetons. And while Mr. Light left television acting in the 1980s, after roles in The Doctors, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, and Guiding Light, he didn’t make his exit from the stage until 2001, when he played Lord Montague in the McCarter Theatre production of the play that had launched his acting career: Romeo and Juliet.
Mr. Light’s real estate business took off, and for the first 15 years, K.M. Light was “a perfectly normal real estate office, just selling houses,” Mr. Light said. But then, in 1975, a sales associate, Marcy Crimmins (who went on to be the Housing Authority director) urged Mr. Light to apply to manage Princeton Community Village, doing maintenance, managing leases, and all of the bureaucratic work involved, Mr. Light said, in keeping the Princeton community diverse.
In 1985, PCH built Elm Court, and then Griggs Farm a few years later, and then, last year, Elm Court II, or Harriet Bryan House: “We just kept growing, and it was a great experience,” Mr. Light said.
Mr. Light added that his interest in supplying affordable housing had grown as Princeton property values expanded. “The people who needed housing the most did not live in Princeton, and a lot of the people we’re serving couldn’t stay in town,” he said, adding that he had “come to appreciate” the government subsidies for people who were interested in building and managing affordable housing. “These were the lifelines for these residents.”
Mr. Light specifically attributed the PCH success to its board, Executive Director Sandra Persichetti, and Ms. Crimmins. “They’re so capable — they know where to go, who to talk to at HUD, and they’ve made this one of the most successful not-for-profits, I think, in the state.”
With Harriet Bryan House, PCH has built in the area of 500 units.
In retirement, Mr. Light, now a Hopewell resident, said he was sure that PCH, as a major operation, would have no problem sustaining itself. “New blood, as well as a new approach to management is good,” he said. He also said that he would be catching up on some good reading. He’s also taking a Princeton Adult School class on the Supreme Court.
The next stop for Mr. Light and Ms. James is Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, where they are moving to be close to family — two daughters, four grandchildren, two sons-in-law within two subway stops: “we’ll have a support group, to say the least.”
Brooklyn’s gain is Princeton’s loss, but the Township will have Karl Light Boulevard to symbolize Mr. Light’s legacy.