Luxury Living at Avalon Piscataway

Striving to find the perfect balance between convenient location and suburban lifestyle, multifamily developer AvalonBay set its sights on the North Jersey town of Piscataway. With easy access to major roadways and a short drive to several major business hubs, it’s an ideal location for residents.

The site itself, however, offered complicated existing conditions. Set at a low elevation and surrounded by wetlands, the Avalon Piscataway project site left the development team to work through several challenges.

The 25-acre multifamily community features 13 residential buildings, with some residences dedicated to affordable housing. The development represents luxury living with amenities including a courtyard, pool, lounge seating, fireplace, gas grills, a children’s play area, and a pet spa and park. Bohler provided civil engineering, surveying, and permitting services for the unique project.

Utility Solutions

In order to connect to utilities using gravity, the site needed to be raised. Given the site’s large area, this would have resulted in exorbitant earthwork expenses. Bohler designed a creative solution by implementing a sanitary pump station, effectively minimizing the amount of soil import required.

The size of the site and the buildings’ multiple stories also negatively impacted water pressure for the tenants. By adding water main extensions and water boost pumps, the site design helped achieve a comfortable water flow.

Minimizing Wetland Disturbance

Bohler strategically planned the site to maximize the development while minimizing potential impacts to the surrounding wetlands. To save space, the team designed both belowground and aboveground infiltration basins. Considered stormwater best management practices, the basins mitigate the impacts of runoff created by the project. To minimize wetland disturbance and reduce permitting obligations, the final site layout avoided the environmentally sensitive areas wherever possible.

Strategizing Approvals

Bohler’s efforts for permitting and approvals required extensive coordination from many separate agencies. The team successfully obtained permits from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for Treatment Works Approval and Freshwater Wetlands Permits and worked closely with the local municipality for site plan and soil erosion approvals along with the County of Middlesex.

Identifying Solutions and Cost-Saving Opportunities

While the site’s elevation posed unique development challenges, Bohler’s engineers found solutions to keep the project moving forward. To support the community’s 360 units and amenities, the team incorporated cost-saving utility designs while achieving a comfortable water pressure. Strategic site layout to avoid wetlands and a well-thought-out permitting approach created a unique opportunity for AvalonBay to successfully bring luxury living to Piscataway.