RED BANK: ANDERSON’S LONG VACANCY ENDS
After decades of disuse, a building in Red Bank’s train station district has a stunning new addition – and its first tenant.
What’s Going On Here? Read on… Read More
RED BANK: BOARD AIRS SAXUM PLAN HURDLES
A rendering depicts the proposed plaza at Riverside Avenue and Bodman Place that board members raised safety concerns about. (Rendering by Arterial Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank planning board members aired numerous misgivings about one of the largest development plans in borough history Monday night.
High on the list that developer Saxum Real Estate is expected to address: traffic and pedestrian safety issues. Read More
RED BANK: WRECKING BALL FOR BIG MAN’S?
The onetime home of Big Man’s West would be razed accommodate a proposed apartment building. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Plans for a proposed 62-unit apartment project in Red Bank call for razing a building that holds a place in rock ‘n roll history: the former Big Man’s West, a concert venue owned by late saxophonist Clarence Clemons.
RED BANK: APARTMENT PROJECTS PLANNED
A rendering of the Monmouth Street side of the project proposed by Michael Salerno. (Rendering by SOME Architects. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Sixty-nine new apartments would be built on the edge of downtown Red Bank if two projects pending before the planning and zoning boards win approval.
One would replace a building that holds a place in rock ‘n roll history as the home of Big Man’s West, a club owned by late saxophonist Clarence Clemons.
RED BANK: PLAZA FOCUS OF SAXUM HEARING
A rendering depicts the Bodman Place side of the proposed apartment project. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The fate of one of the largest development plans in Red Bank history remained unresolved Monday night.
At the fourth planning board hearing on the 210-unit apartment complex proposed for the site of the former VNA headquarters, attention centered largely on the wisdom of putting a public plaza on busy Riverside Avenue.
RED BANK: POOP & MORE DELAY SAXUM VOTE
A rendering displayed at the planning board depicts a public plaza on the Riverside Avenue side of the proposed apartment project. (Rendering by Arterial. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Unanswered questions held up a planning board vote on one of the largest development plans in Red Bank history Wednesday night.
Among them: where will the poop deposited on the rooftop dog runs go?
RED BANK: PLASTIC BAG BAN PASSES
A ban on single-use plastic bags will go into effect in September, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank stores will be barred from giving customers plastic bags and styrofoam food containers under an ordinance adopted by the council Wednesday night.
The ban was approved without any opposition voiced, though supermarket executive lamented that such laws are being adopted town-by-town, rather than at the state level.
RED BANK: RIVERWALK BACK ON TRACK?
Two years after borough officials shut down construction over safety issues, signs of life have been stirring around a downtown Red Bank building project.
What’s Going On Here? Read on…
RED BANK: SAXUM CONFRONTS TRAFFIC ISSUE
A rendering shows the Riverside Avenue facade of the proposed apartment project. (Rendering by MVMK Architecture. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Like many motorists, a traffic engineer for one of the largest development plans in Red Bank history found himself confronting an intersection likened to “Russian roulette” Monday night. Read More
RED BANK: COUNCIL KILLS PARKING PLAN
Borough officials will try to come up with a “reasonable” alternative to the aborted plan, said Mayor Menna. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council has scrapped a plan to implement alternate-side parking that found little public support.
At its regular meeting Wednesday night, the council voted to kill an already-introduced ordinance that would have mandated the parked-car switcheroo on a weekly basis, in conjunction with more frequent street sweeping.
RED BANK: WHAT’S ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA?
Single-use plastic bags and more would be banned under an ordinance up for introduction. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council has street-sweeping, green roofs, single-use plastics and cranes on its plate when it meets this week for its only regular meeting of July.
Here are some of the expected highlights: Read More
RED BANK: SAXUM TRAFFIC Q&A DELAYED
A rendering shows one of the two buildings proposed for the former VNA site, with Riverside Avenue at left and Bodman Place at right. (Rendering by MVMK Architecture. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
It was a night of “hold that thought” as hearings got underway on one of the largest development plans in Red Bank history Monday night.
At a planning board session on a 210-unit apartment complex proposed for a busy stretch of Riverside Avenue, neighbors who packed the room were repeatedly advised to defer their questions and comments on traffic until the developer’s traffic consultant testifies.
RED BANK: WHAT’S ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA?
Work on the primary school emergency access road, seen here from Locust Avenue, is nearly complete. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
While most of America is cracking open its first cold beverages of the July 4 holiday Wednesday evening, the Red Bank council plans to hold a workshop session.
Yep.
RED BANK: SWEEPING CHANGES COMING
Rules would be modified for streets where parking is now prohibited on one side, such as Spring Street, to allow for alternate-side parking, officials said. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A pending alternate-side parking law for Red Bank won’t be enforced until the borough has an online streetsweeper-tracker up and running, an official said Wednesday night.
Still, the plan to mandate one-side-only parking throughout the town twice a week ran into objections.
RED BANK: WHAT’S ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA?
The track at Count Basie Fields would be replaced under a plan up for adoption by the council. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed alternate-side parking ordinance is up for consideration at the Red Bank council’s only regular session this month.
Also on the agenda as the council moves into its summer meeting schedule: taxes, a new track for Count Basie Fields, the settlement of a disputed records request and more. Read More
RED BANK: JAZZ BAR/OPEN MARKET PLAN OK’D
A concept drawing of the proposed basement jazz bar. (Rendering by George Fett. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A food market and jazz bar proposed for downtown Red Bank won praise from the business community and approval by the zoning board Thursday night.
RED BANK: SPEAKEASY ON ZONING AGENDA
The former Agostino antique store space at 21 Broad Street, vacant for seven years, is the site of a proposed food market and ‘speakeasy.’ (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
On Thursday’s Red Bank busy zoning board agenda: a proposal for a downtown food market and speakeasy, plus a plan to build a new house on the site of a devastating fire, and changes outside the Two River Theater.
RED BANK: DOWNTOWN APARTMENTS DEBUT
Residents of all 35 units at the Element will have access to the deck, and five will have balconies that immediately adjoin it. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Finalizing a development process that began a dozen years ago, a new 35-unit apartment building made its debut in downtown Red Bank Wednesday.
The near-completion of the Element, built on a former rubble-strewn West Front Street lot, marks the end of an odyssey that included a market pivot and pitched battles at the borough council.
RED BANK: FORTUNE CULTURAL CENTER OPENS
Dozens of supporters gathered on the front lawn for the opening of the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center. Below, a view of the ceremony from inside the restored house. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
More than a century after the departure of its most famous resident, the T. Thomas Fortune House in Red Bank reopened Thursday as a cultural center dedicated to his mission of advancing civil and human rights.
RED BANK: PLAN WITH MICROBREWERY OK’D
The long-vacant former home of Fameabilia will get one additional floor instead of two under the approval. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Downtown Red Bank may soon be home to another microbrewery.
Matawan restaurateur Florin Lupu won zoning board approval Thursday night for his plan to build one on Monmouth Street after volunteering to lop one story off a proposed two-story addition.
RED BANK: MASSIVE SAXUM PLAN FILED
A rendering of the Riverside Avenue side of the multiuse project proposed for the former Visiting Nurse Association headquarters site. (Plan by Dynamic Engineering. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
What could be the largest development project in Red Bank history would put 210 living units and more on a 2.7-acre parcel, redbankgreen has learned.
The project proposed by Saxum Real Estate would also include a 326-vehicle parking garage, co-working space and retail or restaurant space, according to a detailed plan filed last month.
RED BANK: SIGNAGE MARKS COUNCIL AGENDA
The council plans to allow sandwich-board signs on downtown sidewalks through 2021. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council is expected to take up a number of housekeeping measures concerning signs, false alarms and more Wednesday night.
Here are the highlights.
RED BANK: RED ROCK, SECRET STASH WIN OKS
Red Rock Tap + Grill will be permitted to enclose some of its rooftop seasonally and make other site changes. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Rock Tap + Grill can convert some of its rooftop space to year-round dining under a decision by Red Bank’s planning board Monday night.
Also, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash can keep its splashy, ordinance-breaking window treatment, the board ruled.
RED BANK: BANK STREET SHITHOLE PERSISTS
The porch and yards surrounding 90 Bank Street are crammed with items and vehicles that the owner calls “assets.” (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Nine months after Red Bank’s most prominent residential shithole was in a media spotlight, the situation just keeps getting worse, neighbors say.
Now, after years of litigation over summonses, the borough is going after the owners in civil court, hoping to win an order allowing the town to remove all the junk at their expense.
RED BANK: HOUSING & MORE PACKS AGENDA
The former home of the Visiting Nurse Association is seen as the answer to a chunk of Red Bank’s affordable housing obligation. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan to resolve Red Bank’s so-called Mount Laurel affordable housing obligation is up for resolution Wednesday night.
Also up for votes: a series of small-bore zoning changes, help for motorists at a dicey corner and more. Here’s a look at the busy agenda.