Takin’ it to ‘The Bank?’ An owner of Chubby’s hopes so.
Chubby’s Waterside Cafe, a timeworn nightclub that claims the only cabaret license in Red Bank, wants to go upscale, and skyward, too.
Co-owner Michael Gilson of Little Silver hopes to demolish the West Front Street building, at Boat Club Way, and replace it with a four-story structure housing a new 351-seat restaurant and sports bar to be created by the owners of the Bistro at Red Bank on Broad Street.
Tentative name: ‘The Bank.’
With a game room for kids and a small reception hall on the second floor, plus two two-bedroom apartments with river views, the proposed 16,733-square-foot structure would have interior parking for six cars.
Gilson is scheduled to put the plan before the Zoning Board tonight.
According to documents on file with the borough, the project requires variances for parking, setbacks from the street, lot coverage and ‘floor-area ratio,’ a measure total square footage relative to the size of the lot.
Gilson told redbankgreen he doesn’t expect parking to be a sticking point. Though it would otherwise be required to provide for a total 121 spaces, the site is grandfathered as is, he says, and would “very minimally” add to the space obligation if approved.
In the 1980s, the building was the home of the Brokers nightclub, then changed hands four times in three years before Gilson and partner Martin Connolly bought it almost 14 years ago and created Chubby’s.
Now, says, Gilson, his partner wants out, and his friends George and Taso Lyristis, owners of the Bistro, are looking to create another eatery.
After consulting with a building contractor about their options with the existing structure, “we decided it would be cheaper to take the whole thing down and replace it,” Gilson tells redbankgreen.
If built, the project will also include decks with sweeping views of the Navesink for both apartments of about 1,400 square feet as well as the second-floor facilities.
Gilson said the decision to convert to a restaurant is unrelated to an October melee outside the club that took cops from eight police departments to quell and left one officer slightly injured.
The rioters, he said, were individuals who’d been refused admission to a hip-hop show because they were believed to be troublemakers. At no point did the disruption spill into the club, he said.
The zoning hearing is scheduled for 6:30p in the council chambers.
