Developer Ray Rapcavage’s plans call for a market, above, as well as condos and townhomes at Red Bank’s five corners, below. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Almost a year after it was first reported by redbankgreen, an ambitious plan for a greenmarket and 20 homes on the edge of downtown Red Bank is about to get a public airing.
Developer Ray Rapcavage’s project, calling for a two-story market, 10 condos and 10 townhouses bounded by Harding Road, Hudson Avenue and Clay Street, is scheduled to go before the zoning board Thursday night.
Developer Ray Rapcavage’s proposal calls for four existing homes at the “five corners” site to be razed to clear the way for a three-building complex, featuring an old-fashioned fruit and vegetable market and 20 residences.
The acre-sized site also includes a property that was long home to a gas station at the corner of Harding and Clay.
As previously reported by redbankgreen, the centerpiece of Rapcavage’s plan is an 8,000-square-foot, two-story commercial structure, dubbed the Market Building, running along Harding between Hudson and Clay. The ground floor, Rapcavage said last year, would be occupied by a food market that the Rumson resident plans to run with his wife, Suzanne, and other relatives.
The second floor, he said, would be ideal for a large yoga studio.
The redevelopment also calls for a row of 10 townhouse-style homes, each with two-car garages underneath, on Hudson. Priced in the $450,000 range, they would replace four homes Rapcavage owns on Hudson, including the shell of a two-family house that was destroyed by fire in May, 2012.
Another 10 attached homes, at lower prices, would be built on the Clay Street side of the block, backing up against the townhouse property. Parking would be at-grade, underneath the homes.
Those homes, if approved, would join the Wanderlust Gallery, which the planning board approved last month. transforming a street that now serves as little more than an access road.
The entire site is located in a central commercial district, and contrary to Rapcavage’s expectations a year ago, his plan requires multiple variances.
Though the project abuts a residential neighborhood, no organized opposition to the plan has yet emerged. One neighbor, though, tells redbankgreen she and another resident are trying to rally others for a big turnout.
Here’s the agenda for the zoning board meeting: RB Zoning agenda 082114
