RED BANK: HABCORE PLAN FACES HURDLES

HABcore hopes to win approval to build a four-apartment addition to the rear of the two-family home it owns at 119 River Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A nonprofit housing organization’s proposed expansion of a house it owns on Red Bank’s West Side ran into some resistance at the zoning board last week.

While board members agreed that HABcore’s plan to add four apartments to what’s now a two-family house on River Street is “inherently beneficial” as defined by zoning law, at least one board member expressed concern that it would result in “a huge building for this neighborhood.”

April 24, 2018 - 10:20 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: RESTAURANTS IN CHURN

A well-regarded New Jersey chef has won borough approval to open a restaurant, called Café Loret, at the corner of Broad Street and Peters Place. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Downtown Red Bank is losing one restaurant and gaining another, redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has learned.

Also in this roundup of comings and goings at street level: a signmaker has a new space, though you wouldn’t know it given the absence, so far, of any signage on the storefront.

April 20, 2018 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: ROUND THREE FOR MEGA WAWA

[UPDATE: The zoning board hearing on the Wawa proposal was postponed Thursday at the applicant’s request, and is now scheduled to be held May 3, according to the borough planning office.]

A controversial plan to build a supersized Wawa convenience store and gas station at one of Red Bank’s busiest intersections returns for its third hearing by the borough zoning board Thursday night.

April 5, 2018 - 5:15 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: FOOD, CLOTHES & MORE IN CHURN

JJ’s Delicasies, at 21 West Front Street, features a swirling logo on the sidewalk out front, thanks to a projector. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, one of Red Bank’s hot vegan restaurants is building a separate takeout place, while a 24-hour gym, a barber shop and a cryotherapy spa all have plans to set up shop downtown.

Meantime, two businesses — a restaurant and a women’s clothing shop — have opened in recent days.

April 3, 2018 - 9:10 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: CONCESSION LEASE TO BE RE-BID

The Red Bank council will try again to find a vendor for the concession stand in Riverside Gardens Parks this summer.

Read More »

March 29, 2018 - 12:30 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: COUNCIL OKS ‘REVERSE’ APPEALS

Mayor Pasquale Menna shows off the 1925 and 1926 tax bills for a Red Bank property during Wednesday’s council meeting. How much were they? Read on. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The borough of Red Bank, hammered in recent years by tax appeals, is going “aggressive” at the urging of Mayor Pasquale Menna.

At its semimonthly meeting Wednesday night, the council approved hiring a law firm to sue commercial property owners whose assessments appear to be low relative to the real estate market.

March 29, 2018 - 9:23 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: RAYRAP PROJECT GETS UNDERWAY

Motorists passing through Five Corners in Red Bank in recent days might understandably have gotten the impression that a vacant house there had burned down and been demolished.

They’d be mistaken. So What’s Going on Here?

March 21, 2018 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: TWO NEW HOME LOTS APPROVED

The attorney for the property owners said they could theoretically build nine homes, though they were only seeking approval for two. (Image from Google Maps. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The infilling of Red Bank, where buildable lots are hard to find, continued with the approval by the zoning board Thursday night of a plan for two new homes on a West Side riverfront estate.

March 19, 2018 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: VACANT SHOP TO GET FACELIFT

The long-vacant building, last home to a seafood shop, is about to get a makeover, as shown in the rendering below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Rendering by S.O.M.E. Architects. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A Red Bank retail space that’s been vacant for decades may be on track to revival, starting with a facelift.

The borough zoning board gave unanimous approval Thursday night to a makeover plan for 203 Shrewsbury Avenue, the long-ago home of Bayshore Charlie’s seafood shop.
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March 16, 2018 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: BRITISH COTTAGE EXPANSION OK’D

The building at left will be torn down to make room for an addition to British Cottage’s main showroom, in the building at center. (Photo by John T. Ward. Architectural rendering by Matt Cronin. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The continual makeover of Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank is about to get another entry.

British Cottage, a furniture store, is planning the latest in a series of expansions over its three decades in town.

March 14, 2018 - 10:15 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SIDEWALK CAFÉ, STAND ON AGENDA

A proposed ordinance change would allow Catch 19, a seafood restaurant that’s zoned as a club, to set up sidewalk dining like other downtown eateries. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A downtown Red Bank restaurant that’s zoned as a club would be able to join the trend of sidewalk cafés under a law tweak up for consideration Wednesday night.

Also on the borough council agenda: a new vendor for the concession stand in Riverside Gardens Park.

March 13, 2018 - 12:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: CARLO’S STAYING PUT; PHO LE OUT

Carlo’s Bake Shop has a new partner, Mike DeStafano, who says the business isn’t going anywhere. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, there’s something a little different: news about a Red Bank business that’s neither freshly opened nor closing — Carlo’s Bake Shop, owned by TV ‘Cake Boss’ Buddy Valastro.

Plus, as usual, a few lines about businesses that have closed, as well as news about an Indian restaurant coming downtown.

March 8, 2018 - 10:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: TRAFFIC TALK SLOWS WAWA PLAN

The Wawa site plan, with the store at top and gas pump island shown in yellow, calls for the creation of a new center lane on Newman Springs Road allowing motorists traveling in both directions to make left turns. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Like a motorist stuck in rush-hour traffic, a supersized Wawa convenience store and filling station proposed for a problematic Red Bank intersection inched forward Thursday night.

At issue as the zoning board weighs the plan: whether the project would make congestion worse or improve traffic flow near the intersection of Newman Springs Road and Broad Street.

March 2, 2018 - 8:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: OLDEST FIRE COMPANY RETIRED

Relief Engine Company retains the second-floor meeting space in its longtime home on Drummond Place. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

[CORRECTIONS: The original version of this post mistakenly identified the Relief Engine Company as the oldest firefighting unit in Red Bank. That honor belongs to the Navesink Hook and Ladder, which was established in 1872, eight years before Relief, which was the town’s second fire company. Additionally, the Drummond Place firehouse is now owned by St. James Church, not the borough, as previously reported.redbankgreen apologizes for the errors.]

By JOHN T. WARD

Making Red Bank history, one of the borough’s six volunteer fire companies is being retired from active duty.

Under a consolidation plan in the works for three years, the Relief Engine Company, stranded for the past two years without a firetruck, will become a keeper of borough firefighting history, Chief Stu Jensen announced Wednesday.

March 1, 2018 - 12:25 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: FIREHOUSE PLAN OK’D

A memorial mounted above the door of the former Independent Engine House on Mechanic Street. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After more than a century of service, a Red Bank firehouse is about find new uses within its red brick walls.

And thanks to a recently razed house in Brooklyn, it will get some additional new — or rather, quite old — brickwork.

February 19, 2018 - 7:45 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: TRIUMPH TO OPEN… ‘SOON’

Triumph Brewing won approval to add outdoor dining on the Edmund Wilson Boulevard side of the building, facing the Two River Theater. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

It’s been a couple of years, literally, in development, and yet the only person who can say when Red Bank’s Triumph Brewing Company might open has been steadfastly mum.

Well, finally, there’s some news.

February 16, 2018 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: UGLY BUILDING RAZED

Nominations are now being accepted for the designation of downtown Red Bank’s ugliest building, now that unofficial title holder has been razed.

What’s Going On Here? Click ‘read more’ for the answer. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)

Read More »

February 14, 2018 - 10:50 am | Comments ()

SHREWSBURY: GOODWILL OPENING SLATED

A former gas station in Shrewsbury that sat idle for more than a decade has gotten a new lease on life, and it’s now all about helping the less fortunate.

What’s Going on Here? Click ‘read more’ to find out.
Read More »

February 12, 2018 - 2:30 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: SECOND FIREHOUSE REDO PLANNED

The former Independent Engine House on Mechanic Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank could see two nearly identical former firehouses getting makeovers in coming months.

The new owner of the former Independent Engine Company firehouse, at 32 Mechanic Street, is planning to create commercial space in the bay where firetrucks were once parked.

February 9, 2018 - 11:45 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: WAWA TOUTS TRAFFIC PLAN

A site plan for the proposed project shows the store at center, the fueling area as the yellow rectangle, and center lane left-turn markings on Newman Springs Road, at bottom. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rather than worsening conditions for motorists, a proposed Wawa convenience store and filling station in Red Bank would come with roadway upgrades to improve traffic flow and safety near a busy intersection, witnesses told the borough zoning board Thursday night.

February 2, 2018 - 8:46 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: FRAMED & READY FOR DISPLAY

Detour Framing owner Erin Crinigan in her new shop, a former staircase factory. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Seventeen months after Detour Gallery debuted with a splash in downtown Red Bank, a spinoff framing shop has now opened on the West Side, completing the transformation of a former amplifier factory and staircase builder.

And this weekend, Detour Framing kicks things off with an art exhibit of its own.

January 31, 2018 - 12:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: SICKLES ENTERING LIQUOR BIZ

With a ’boutique’ liquor store now part of the plan, Sickles Market Provisions will take the entire first floor of the former Anderson Storage building on Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a century-plus of operation, Little Silver-based Sickles Market will get into the liquor business when opens its new store in Red Bank, redbankgreen has learned.

January 30, 2018 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SUPERSIZED WAWA ON AGENDA

The Auto Exotica site on Newman Springs Road would be redeveloped as a combination WaWa convenience store and gas station if approved by the zoning board. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A supersized convenience store and gas station proposed at one of Red Bank’s busiest intersections is scheduled to go before the borough zoning board Thursday night.

With no residential neighbors directly impacted, the board’s consideration of variances may turn on matters related to traffic impact at a crossing where motorists typically sit for three minutes or more waiting for a green light.

January 29, 2018 - 8:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SALE PUTS BUILDING ON TAX ROLLS

The former VNA headquarters building on Riverside Avenue has been acquired by an office developer. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s municipal coffers are about to be bolstered by the addition to the tax rolls of a major office building.

“It is now taxable,” Mayor Pasquale Menna said Wednesday about the former VNA Health Group headquarters, following a report by app.com that the property had been acquired by a private developer for $7.4 million.

January 25, 2018 - 6:00 am | Comments ()

SHREWSBURY: SLAUGHTERHOUSE LEVELED

Demolition has gotten underway at the longtime site of a slaughterhouse on Broad Street (Route 35) in Shrewsbury.

What’s going on here? Click ‘read more’ to find out.

January 24, 2018 - 10:00 am | Comments ()

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