RED BANK: COUNCIL TAKES UP BUSINESS BIZ

Doc Shoppe, and only Doc Shoppe, is permitted to have a table on the sidewalk out front under a trial run approved by the council. Meanwhile, a sign ordinance was sent back for more revisions. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

rb signs 061214 3 Efforts by Red Bank businesses to draw in more customers were the subject of two measures discussed by the borough council last week.

One concerned retail and restaurant signage, which was the subject of an enforcement crackdown that generated considerable blowback a year ago.

The other is a trial run, using one store, to gauge the impact of allowing merchants to display wares in front of their stores.

August 20, 2015 - 2:18 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN BACK ON AGENDA

After another two-month break, the Red Bank zoning board’s hearing on the Element, a proposed 35-unit apartment complex at 55 West Front Street, is scheduled to resume Thursday night. The property, opposite Riverside Gardens Park, was formerly the site of a nursing home.

The board meets at borough hall at 6:30 p.m. (Architect’s rendering. Click to enlarge)

August 17, 2015 - 5:34 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: RAYRAP DROPS MARKET FROM PLAN

Above is architect David Carnivale’s rendering of the six-unit condo building on Harding Road that would replace the previously planned market. Below, architect Cathy Zuckerman’s rendering of the condos proposed for Clay Street and Hudson Avenue. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Builder Ray Rapcavage has dropped his plan for a greenmarket as part of of a proposal to redevelop a block on the edge of downtown Red Bank, redbankgreen has learned.

In yet another in a series of revisions, plans filed with the borough show that instead of a 4,300-square-foot organic fruit and vegetable market fronting on Harding Road, Rapcavage now plans to erect six condos.

July 30, 2015 - 5:00 am | Comments ()

LITTLE SILVER: OFFICE BUILDING PLANNED

A warehouse-style office building is planned for the vacant lot on Willow Drive near Branch Avenue. Below, council members examining developer Ray Smith’s plans Monday night. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After years of contamination, bankruptcy and idleness, one of Little Silver’s most troubled properties may finally be getting a makeover. But first, the owner wants a zone change.

A plan for a “warehouse-style” office structure to be built on Willow Drive by commercial real estate broker and developer Ray Smith got a warm reception from the borough council during the workshop portion of its meeting Monday night.

July 7, 2015 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: ANOTHER RESTAURANT APPROVED

At 18 Broad Street, now concealed by scaffolding, the Art Deco foyer seen below will be replaced by one more reminiscent of the building’s 19th-century origins, the architect said. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Accelerating downtown Red Bank’s flight from retail to food, the zoning board approved the conversion of a longtime shoe store to a restaurant Thursday night.

Dominating the two-hour hearing were two issues: whether the new owner of 18 Broad Street should be permitted to have three apartments upstairs, rather than the two allowed under the zoning ordinance, and whether the Art Deco foyer should be saved or replaced.

Barely mentioned: the impact of the 76-seat restaurant on parking.

June 19, 2015 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: HOVNANIAN POSTS $19.6M LOSS

Hovnanian Enterprise’s headquarters in Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

Hovnanian Enterprises posted a net loss of $19.6 million in its second fiscal quarter, more than doubling the $7.9 million loss in the comparable 2014 period, the Red Bank-based homebuilder reported Tuesday.

In the current fiscal year, which began November 1, the company has racked up net losses of $33.9 million, compared to a loss of $32.4 million in the first half of fiscal 2014, Hov reported.

President and CEO Ara Hovnanian said in a statement that the company was “disappointed” with the results.

June 9, 2015 - 9:56 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: NO VOTE ON WEST FRONT UNITS

After three hours of testimony and few questions from zoning board members, a hearing on a proposed 35-unit apartment complex fronting on West Front Street in Red Bank ended without reaching a vote Thursday night.

The hearing on the project, located opposite Riverside Gardens Park and called the Element, is scheduled to resume June 18. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

June 5, 2015 - 10:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT PROPOSAL ON AGENDA

A zoning board hearing on a proposed 35-unit apartment complex fronting on West Front Street opposite Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank is scheduled to resume after a two-month interval Thursday night.

Testimony on traffic flow and parking is expected, with a possible vote on the plan, called 55 West Front. The board meets at borough hall at 6:30 p.m. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

June 4, 2015 - 5:23 am | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: FITNESS, FASHION AND FLOWERS

Lisa Tave shows off the gym bag she created, which gave rise to her new shop of the same name: Physhion. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Fair Haven’s quaint downtown saw the debuts of a pair of fresh retail faces last month:

• Physhion, a boutique specializing in workout wear that doubles as all-day clothing.

• The Pink Peony, a flowers-and-gifts shop that also offers party-planning services.

June 3, 2015 - 11:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: FOCUS ON FOYER WINDOWS

The foyer of the former If the Shoe Fits store is the last remaining example of Art Deco design downtown, say preservationists. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

[UPDATE: The zoning board meeting on the 18 Broad Street proposal was cancelled. The application was rescheduled for June 18.]

A proposal to turn a former downtown Red Bank shoe store into a restaurant and replace its distinctive curved-glass entryway is slated for review at Thursday night’s zoning board meeting.

Preservationists have raised concerns about the plan for 18 Broad Street, which is located in the historic district, because, they say, it would eliminate the last remaining example of Art Deco design in the commercial district.

May 21, 2015 - 7:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK ON BALLOT FOR MAGAZINE HONOR

A view down Broad Street from 2012. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Three years after its selection by Smithsonian Magazine as the third-best small town in America, Red Bank is on a ballot seeking to identify America’s “best town ever.”

By “ever,” Outside magazine means “this year.” And among the “towns” the borough is competing against are New York, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas. But still.

May 5, 2015 - 7:55 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: AFTER 26 YEARS, BARR ZONES OUT

Zoning officer Donna Smith Barr leaves the job this week after 26 years. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The cliches compete: it’s tempting to say Donna Smith Barr has had a front-row seat on Red Bank’s two-decade-long bounceback from “Dead Bank” to today’s bustling burg. But it’s probably more accurate to say she’s been the gatekeeper.

Whether you wanted to put a deck on your house or turn a downtown store into a restaurant, Barr’s office has been the first stop at borough hall. And if she spoke or wrote the word “variance” in response, it probably wasn’t your last, as it would mean the time and expense of making one’s case before the zoning or planning board.

“I’m glad I don’t have to tell people they need variances anymore,” Barr told redbankgreen Tuesday. A single instance is one thing, “but when you do it for 26 years, that’s enough.”

April 29, 2015 - 11:10 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: CLARITY ASKED ON W. FRONT PLAN

A photo montage, above, showing the West Front Street elevation of the proposed building. Below, a rendering of a deck atop the garage, also visible at right in the image above. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The quest for approval of a proposed 35-unit apartment building in downtown Red Bank was slowed Thursday night by another document already in the developer’s pocket: an eight-year-old plan for 27 condos at the same site.

Members of the zoning board and neighbors of the proposed 55 West Front Street project, located opposite Riverside Gardens Park, were frequently flummoxed by how variances the developer is now seeking differed from those obtained in 2007.

“I wasn’t here when the original plan was approved, and I don’t know who on this board was,” a clearly frustrated board member Sean Murphy told the applicant’s lawyer, Peter Falvo.

April 3, 2015 - 9:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN ON AGENDA

At 55 West Front Street, a developer is seeking approval for 35 rental units on a vacant lot previously approved for 27 condos. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a nearly eight-year interim, new plans for a prominent Red Bank parcel are scheduled to go before the borough zoning board Thursday night.

The proposal, for a vacant lot opposite Riverside Gardens Park on West Front Street, replaces a plan approved in 2007 for 27 condos to replace a since-demolished Meridian nursing home.

April 1, 2015 - 11:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: RAYRAP PLAN RAPPED FOR SIZE

Audience members reviewed exhibits during a break in Thursday night’s hearing. Below, a rendering of the eight townhomes proposed for Hudson Avenue. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a five-month layover that included meetings with neighbors and extensive revisions, developer Ray Rapcavage returned to the zoning board Thursday with his plans for a greenmarket and 20 homes on the edge of downtown Red Bank.

But the first round of questions from the public indicated that neighbors still consider the project too big.

January 16, 2015 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: MORE TABLES COMING?

The owners of the Downtown, at right above, hope to expand into the vacant retail space at left for more seating, including a rooftop dining area. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The already head-spinning rate at which downtown Red Bank is abandoning retail in favor of restaurants may soon accelerate.

Borough officials are weighing two new change-of-use proposals for eateries in the district.

January 8, 2015 - 7:26 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: HOMEBUILDERS EYE WEST FRONT

Under concept plans filed by KHov, a building at Maple Avenue and West Front Street, center above, would be replaced by eight townhouses. Less than a block away, a developer is seeking approval for 35 rental units, shown below, on a vacant lot already approved for 27 condos. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

More multi-unit homebuilders have their eyes on Red Bank. West Front Street, in particular.

Two proposals that would add 43 new residences to the stretch of West Front between Maple Avenue and English Plaza have been filed with the borough planning board.

January 7, 2015 - 3:00 pm | Comments ()

LITTLE SILVER: CORNER RAZED. NOW WHAT?

The former site of Wicker Rose furnishings, foreground below, and a Texaco station on Willow Drive near Branch Avenue in Little Silver was cleared of its vacant structures earlier this month. Property owner Ray Smith tells redbankgreen that that buildings “needed to go, and now the property is cleaned up and ready for development.”

And what’s he got planned for the site? Smith says he’s “weighing several options” but has no definite plans yet. What would you like to see there? (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

December 30, 2014 - 9:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: COUNCIL BUSILY CLOSES OUT YEAR

Retired librarian Jane Eigenrauch gets a goodbye hug, above, and Councilwoman Juanita Lewis reacts to a tribute at her final meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

At its final scheduled meeting of 2014, the Red Bank council killed a $2.2 million bond ordinance to pay for new water meters amid warnings that a shortage of existing devices could delay new construction in 2015.

The council also:

• approved a new labor agreement covering nearly half the municipal workforce

• extended a moratorium on fees some developers have to pay for parking deficiencies.

• bid adieu to one of its own members

• and honored a newly-retired librarian who had been the borough government’s longest-serving employee.

December 18, 2014 - 8:15 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: BURNHAM, RAPCAVAGE ON AGENDA

A proposed market and 20 homes at Red Bank’s five corners, above, returns to the zoning board Thursday night. Councilwoman Cindy Burnham, below, also has an application on the agenda. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A proposed greenmarket and 20 homes on the edge of downtown Red Bank returns to the zoning board this week, four months after it was pulled back by the developer for revisions.

Also on Thursday night’s agenda: a request by borough Councilwoman Cindy Burnham to build a garage behind her home on Wallace Street.

December 16, 2014 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: FREE PARKING, STROLLING SANTAS

Kiss the kiosks goodbye for the next two weeks:. Visitors to downtown Red Bank will get a pass on having to pay for parking starting Thursday and running through December 25. The annual moratorium applies to lot and curb spaces, according to Red Bank RiverCenter.

The downtown promotion agency will host an “open house” throughout the business district Thursday night, featuring store sales, refreshments, carolers, and the Barbizon Holiday Mannequins. New this year: strolling Santas, available to grace your selfies. (Photo by John T. Ward; click to enlarge)

December 11, 2014 - 6:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: LOFTS LAND WEST ELM AS TENANT

The furniture retailer will occupy the ground-floor corner at West Front Street and Bridge Avenue, as shown in this rendering. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s West Side Lofts project now under construction has landed upscale furniture retailer West Elm as an anchor tenant.

The pending arrival of the store, slated for next August, was at the center of a handful of changes to the massive project the borough zoning board approved Thursday night.

December 5, 2014 - 7:56 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: LAUTERWASSER TO BE FD CHIEF

Chief-elect Joe Lauterwasser, right arrives at the First Aid building Tuesday night with his prospective first deputy, Chris Soden, left, and second deputy Pete DeFazio, center. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

If there’s one constant that defines the Red Bank Volunteer Fire Department, it’s family.

That was evident on Tuesday night, when the 143-year-old department’s annual election night celebration was dominated by names and faces that would have been familiar to attendees generations ago.

“We’re based on tradition,” said ex-chief George Lauterwasser (2002) as he awaited the arrival of the chief-elect, his 30-year-old son, Joe, at the First Aid building on Spring Street with dozens of other volunteers. “We keep it up with the kids. We’re old school.”

December 3, 2014 - 2:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: ANTIQUES CO-OP HITS MIDDLE AGE

Born in the final year of the Baby Boom, the Antique Center of Red Bank, said to be the oldest continually operating antiques cooperative in America, turns 50 this month.

The late Nan Johnson, an antiques lover who found herself with too much stuff after redecorating her Lincroft home, launched the venture with 12 dealers in an old Red Bank clothing factory in 1964, and it eventually grew to comprise three massive buildings anchoring the borough’s Antiques District.

Now scaled back to two spaces run by her son, Guy Johnson, above, the center plans a celebration this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with refreshments and bargains at 195 and 226 West Front Street. Dozens more photos can be seen at redbankgreen‘s Flickr page. (Click to enlarge)

November 20, 2014 - 8:39 am | Comments ()

LITTLE SILVER MULLS FIRST LIQUOR LICENSE

Residents packed Monday night’s borough council meeting, many in support of a referendum on the license question. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Little Silver voters may face a non-binding referendum next year on whether the town should issue its first-ever license for on-premise consumption of alcohol.

That possibility appeared to gel into likelihood Monday night on the heels of a builder’s request, backed by a 500-signature petition, asking the borough council to make allowance for a family-style restaurant that serves alcohol.

November 17, 2014 - 11:33 pm | Comments ()

«< 3 4 5 6 7 >»

redbankgreen.com

PO Box 8683
Red Bank NJ 07701

© 2021 redbankgreen.com. No portion of this website or its content can be used without permission. All rights reserved.