Volunteer firefighters battling the blaze at 87 Washington Street in May, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Plans to remodel a fire-damaged home in Red Bank’s historic district are slated for review by the Historic Preservation Commission Wednesday night.
After months of abandonment, a downtown Red Bank site is on its way to becoming home to 24 individuals and families.
What’s Going On Here? Read on…
Construction fencing surrounds RayRap Real Estate’s Azalea Gardens project site at Harding Road and Clay Street in Red Bank this week. The development has been in the works for seven years, though there’s been little activity since half a block of rundown houses and garages were demolished in early 2018.
What’s Going On Here? Read on…
The Grandville Towers pool remained closed throughout the summer. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After months of hearings, Red Bank’s rent leveling board ruled Thursday night that four tenants at Grandville Towers were entitled to money for being deprived access to the swimming pool this summer.
The judgment? A one-time rent credit of $33, plus $3.96 for missed use of the gym at the 91-unit highrise.
Monday was demolition day in Red Bank, it seemed, as heavy equipment tore down old structures at two building sites. (Reader photo. Click to enlarge.)
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
A concept drawing of a new police station on Fisk Street, above; below, an aerial view superimposing the station at top, as well as a new rec center and parking lot. (Visuals by The Goldstein Partnership. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven residents got their first peek at concept plans for a trio of new borough facilities Tuesday night.
They also got the first hint of what some of it might cost.
A plan for bike lanes would advance with a parking ban on the north side of River Road between Lake Avenue and Hance Road. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Parking, borough facilities and more will keep Fair Haven’s elected officials busy on their Zoom session Tuesday night.
Also on the agenda: a plan to terminate an “interlocal services” agreement under which Fair Haven disposes of Rumson’s collected yard brush.
The interior of one of the four new HABcore apartments at 119 River Street. (Photo by HABcore. Click to enlarge)
HABcore press release
On Tuesday, September 29, 2020 HABcore celebrated the grand opening of its 4-unit expansion project on River Street in Red Bank. This project was funded through donations by generous community individuals as well as New Jersey Natural Gas, the Lydia Collins deForest Charitable Trust, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ National Housing Trust Fund, and the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation.
The Grandville Towers pool remained closed throughout the summer. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After three hearings, a partial verdict is in: tenants at Red Bank’s Grandville Towers received “reduced service” when the swimming pool didn’t open this summer.
Up next: the borough rent leveling board tackles the question of what that means in rent to be refunded, if anything.
Borough hall remains closed for public meetings to limit the spread of COVID-19, so the council will again meet via Zoom. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Missing, once again, from the agenda for the Red Bank council session Wednesday are dueling versions of a resolution calling for an investigation.
Borough Engineer Rich Gardella, at upper right, discussed concept plans for the public works yard on Third Street during the council meeting Monday night. Below, a 2019 rendering showing a DPW building repositioned to Third Street. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
It’s back-to-the-drawing board time as Fair Haven officials try once again to advance two significant capital projects.
One is a proposed new police station, which was the driving factor behind two controversial, and failed, property acquisition efforts in recent years.
The other is a public works yard makeover that not long ago appeared on track to yield residential lots the town could sell to fund later projects. That may no longer be the case.
The Grandville Towers pool has not opened all summer. (redbankgreen photo. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Thursday’s meeting of the Red Bank rent leveling board included a sharp disagreement over whether capital improvements to an apartment building’s pool enhanced the property’s value.
The police department has outgrown the former schoolhouse that houses it, officials say. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Six weeks after Fair Haven’s council killed a controversial plan for a new borough hall and police station, the question of what to do instead may have an answer.
On Wednesday, officials announced the council will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, August 25 “for a borough facilities review and discussion.”
The former Anderson Storage building, above. Below, Chris Cole in the space being readied for Glen Goldbaum’s Lambs & Wolves salon.(Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
With the opening last week week of Sickles Market and Booskerdoo, Red Bank’s Anderson Storage building has all but completed a transformation in the works for almost two decades.
But for developer Chris Cole, who oversaw the project, it’s just another day at the office.
A two-family home would be created in a structure now used for offices at 234 Maple Avenue. (Google Maps photo. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Sidelined for five montD-19 pandemic, Red Bank’s zoning board is scheduled to get back to the business of deciding variance requests Thursday night.
On the agenda: a marina fuel tank and the conversion of offices to residential use.
The proposal called for a $3.4 million purchase of the office complex at 623 River Road, followed by an estimated $9.6 million in site redevelopment. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven’s council has scrapped a controversial plan to buy a River Road office building for $3.4 million.
Monday’s action marked the second time plans for a proposed home for a new borough hall and police station have fallen through, and left officials turning to plan C.
Under a spray of water to keep dust down, demolition work on several buildings at the corner of East Front Street and Spring Street in Red Bank began Thursday.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
Grandville Tower has two residents who are self-quarantined, but neither’s test results have come back yet, says a health official. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Contrary to notices issued to tenants, a Red Bank high-rise apartment building does not have any known COVID-19 cases, officials said Wednesday.
Fair Haven Administrator Theresa Casagrande at Thursday night’s event. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven residents found a lot to dislike about a proposed $3.4 million purchase of real estate for borough use when they gathered at Bicentennial Hall Thursday night.
They barraged borough Administrator Theresa Casagrande with questions and complaints about the plan’s financial impacts, the displacement of business tenants and more.
The consolidation plan contemplates the borough buying 623 River Road for $3.4 million. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With little more than a day’s notice, Fair Haven has announced a public presentation over a proposed plan for a new borough hall and police station.
One council member called the alert “terribly short notice” and asked that a key vote on the proposal be tabled.
Work was underway on at least one of two long-vacant buildings abutting the Red Bank Public Library Monday. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
The council won’t renew the lease on the snack stand at Riverside Gardens Park under a measure on Wednesday’s agenda. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After several years as a seasonal commercial operation, the concession stand in Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park has proven to be a fiscal dud.
So suggests a proposal to nix an extension of the soon-to-expire lease on the building. That, along with an ordinance tightening up the property maintenance law governing lawns and window screens, is among the items of interest up for consider at for the council’s regular session Wednesday.
Here’s a quick rundown.
The borough plans to buy 623 River Road, outlined in red. The star indicates the firehouse property. (Google Maps image. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Over the objections of business owners and residents, Fair Haven’s council initiated a plan Monday night to buy a River Road site, where it would create a new borough hall and police station.
Even the council’s two newest members, Democrats whose November election signaled a change in the status quo, agreed that the new facilities are “a need, not a want.” But tenants of the target building said the changes would tear at the fabric of the town.
The borough plans to buy and raze the office building at 623 River Road, the mayor says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
[See clarification below]
By JOHN T. WARD
After getting derailed last year, Fair Haven’s ambitious plan to consolidate borough facilities in new locations are expected to get back on track Monday night.
The town now plans to acquire and demolish the office building at 623 River Road and replace it with a new borough hall and police station, Mayor Ben Lucarelli told redbankgreen Friday morning.
It’s been almost six years since Red Bank sold the former firehouse on White Street to a private developer. More than two years have passed since a start-up brewery announced plans to set up in the space. And yet, the 109-year-old structure remains idle and empty.
What’s Going On Here? You ask, and redbankgreen answers…