The plan calls for access from Broad Street in both directions, as well as from Garfield Place. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Just a month after ending its long run as a car dealership, a gateway property to Red Bank could become a Walgreen’s drugstore.
The former home of Rassas Pontiac/Buick, which closed in April after 83 years in Red Bank, and 64 years at the southernmost address on Broad Street, would become a giant personal-care products emporium, complete with a drive-thru window, according to documents filed with the borough planning office Wednesday.
The plan calls for 11,200 square feet of ground-floor space and a 3,000-SF mezzanine. It also calls for a drive-thru window for prescription pick-ups and, at Walgreen’s discretion, a “walk-in medical clinic for prevention and wellness services including vaccinations and wellness visits, health screenings and testing, minor injuries and minor health issues.”
Perhaps of greatest concern to commuters and neighbors alike: the plan envisions access to the site from both the northbound side of Broad Street, on which it is situated, and southbound Broad.
The Rassas property sits opposite the southern terminus of Maple Avenue as it converges with Broad Street, the North Jersey Coast Line railroad tracks and Newman Springs Road, one of the busiest junctures in town. The intersection was reconfigured by the state Department of Transportation in 2007.
The store would also have “ingress and egress access from and to Garfield Place,” according to a description of the plan. Hours of operation are said to be 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
Red Bank-based land-use lawyer Marty McGann has been retained by Walgreen’s to shepherd the application through the borough review process, according to the filing. No hearing date has yet been scheduled, and no determination has been made about whether variances will be needed.
The developer is identified only as Mark Development Inc., using McGann’s office as its address.
According to Monmouth County property records, the site continues to be owned by Aaron Rassas of Rumson.
What, if anything, Walgreen’s plans to do with its existing Little Silver store, less than two miles away, is not addressed in the documents. A call to the media relations office of Walgreen’s headquarters was not immediately answered.
