Cherron Rountree, bottom left, during the Redevelopment Agency’s June 22 meeting Tuesday. (Zoom screengrab. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council hired a new executive director for the borough redevelopment agency Wednesday night over objections based on her inclusion in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
The dispute highlighted competing interpretations of who should get the benefit of doubt in a so-called “me-too” case.
Additional facilities and parking would be created on lots adjacent to Lunch Break’s home on Drs. James Parker Boulevard. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Lunch Break, the food security and social services resource, announced the start of a $12 million capital campaign to fund an expansion of its Red Bank home Monday.
An addition to its facilities at at 121 Drs. James Park Boulevard is needed “to accommodate the growing needs of the community,” the nonprofit said in an announcement.
The proposed luxury car rental showroom would occupy the storefront at 21 East Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Need a Lamborghini for a day? A luxury car club approved for space in downtown Red Bank Thursday night will rent you one for just $1,300 per.
Also OK’d by the zoning board: a personal training gym in a residential neighborhood.
The site, at the corner of West Front Street and Maple Avenue, was cleared for construction last October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Zoning board hearings on a new plan to redevelop property next door to the Red Bank Public Library got underway without conclusion Thursday night.
A customer checks her email at one of the new seating areas at Coffee Corral. (Photo by Chris Ern. Click to enlarge.)
By CHRIS ERN
It’s a warm summer night as Jessica Olszewski relaxes in an Adirondack chair while her wife and young daughter dance to live jazz under glimmering lights outside the Coffee Corral in in Red Bank.
A new, post-pandemic vibe has captured the attention of locals at the busy corner of Shrewsbury Avenue and Drs. James Parker Boulevard. There, owners Courtlyn Crosson and Erich Reulbach have developed their business into what Reulbach said is now “more than just a coffee shop on the corner.”
“It’s family-friendly. I have my wife and daughter here, and she’s able to run around and enjoy the live music,” says Olszewski, of Tinton Falls. “It’s a lot of what we couldn’t do for so long.”
A view of the Rail project from Chestnut Street, with the existing office building at right and the new residential portion at left. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By CHRIS ERN
For nearly four years, it’s been slowly emerging from the ground alongside the Red Bank train station. Now, most of the block bounded by Bridge Avenue, Chestnut and Oakland streets is a teeming site of construction activity.
So What’s Going On Here? Here’s the latest.
The latest changes to plan for 234-240 Shrewsbury Avenue reduced the building to three stories, from four, shown below. (Renderings by Thomas J. Brennan Architects. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Developer Roger Mumford has again reduced the size of a proposed apartment building on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank.
Whether the zoning board will hear the details at its July 15 meeting is unclear, however. Also on the ambitious agenda: a mixed-used project next door to the borough library; an “exotic car rental” business in a downtown office building; and a gym on residential property.
Samantha Bowers-Crader with her father, John Bowers, at the Mayor’s Ball in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank RiverCenter‘s new chairperson is filling a seat held three decades ago by her father.
Cherron Rountree, bottom left, during the agency’s meeting Tuesday. (Zoom screengrab. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The prospective new manager of the Red Bank Redevelopment Agency appeared onscreen without introduction during its monthly meeting Tuesday evening.
Cherron Rountree, who now serves as township administrator in Holmdel, also did not speak, even as former council member Cindy Burnham said her appointment should be halted by a pending sexual harassment lawsuit in which Rountree is a defendant.
Twenty apartments would be built above stores at 234-240 Shrewsbury Avenue under a revised plan by developer Roger Mumford. (Rendering by Thomas J. Brennan Architects. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan for 20 apartments and new retail space on Shrewsbury Avenue found no support from the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night.
It’s too tall, too dense, and too out of step with where things should be going, board members told developer Roger Mumford after three hours of testimony.
Elli’s Backyard plans to open in the space vacated last year by Via 45. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Going all-in, a young restaurateur plans to open his first business venture in downtown Red Bank in coming weeks.
That story and more in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
Twenty apartments would be built above stores at 234-240 Shrewsbury Avenue under a revised plan by developer Roger Mumford. (Rendering by Thomas J. Brennan Architects. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two proposed apartment buildings just blocks apart on Shrewsbury Avenue return to Red Bank zoning board for possible approval Thursday night. Read More
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank will move quickly to set zoning rules on the growth, distribution and retail sale of cannabis, the council informally agreed Wednesday night.
The decision will enable the borough to dictate where cannabis commerce can occur, and eventually generate some tax revenue.
The former Anima space at 37 Broad is getting a new tenant, while the facade of the now-vacant storefront next door (at left) is getting a makeover. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Epoxy-and-wood tables; “occult” bath products; and news about two downtown restaurants get the spotlight in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
The latest proposal for 141 West Front Street includes a restaurant atop the existing office building, at left, and stepped-back apartments and parking with faux windows above the existing Pazzo MMX restaurant. (Rendering by Feinberg & Associates. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
PRC Group will have to wait at least two more months for a zoning board decision on its proposed makeover of a prominent Red Bank property.
At the latest hearing on the plan Thursday night, board members continued to challenge the scale of the project, even after two rounds of shrinkage.
The latest proposal for 141 West Front Street includes a rooftop restaurant. (Rendering by Feinberg & Associates. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Three months after it went to the brink of rejection, a planned massive addition to an existing Red Bank building has once again seen some shrinkage.
Under the latest proposal, the project would put 99 apartments above Pazzo MMX restaurant on West Front Street. There would also be a new restaurant on the roof.
Glenn Carter and OceanFirst Bank’s Robin Fitzmaurice at the Mayor’s Ball at the Oyster Point Hotel in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A familiar face has been hired to run Red Bank RiverCenter, the downtown promotion organization: former borough planning director Glenn Carter.
A Google Maps satellite view of the public works yard and adjoining property to the east, roughly outlined in red. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank should move quickly to bond for an overhauled public works facility, according to a recommendation adopted by the Redevelopment Agency Tuesday evening.
Estimated cost, including the acquisition of property adjacent to the Chestnut Street site: $9.3 million.
Melvin and Anita Pierce outside their healthy-eating restaurant at 60 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Sweethearts since high school, a Shrewsbury couple has staked a claim in downtown Red Bank with their first-ever business venture.
Read all about them and other news in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
After revisions, a plan to build a house in front of the existing four-family at 70 Locust Avenue was approved. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Much of Red Bank’s zoning board agenda was scrapped Thursday night, when hearings on plans for several large apartment projects had to be rescheduled.
But the board got some work done, approving a plan for new house single-family house on Locust Avenue.
The bank plans to remove the pylon that’s topped the building since it opened as a supermarket 70 years ago. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A ’50s-style rooftop pylon can go, but the paint colors proposed for a makeover of a downtown bank proved an issue for the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission Wednesday night.
A southward view of Broad Street from 2012. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank embarked on a full-scale rewriting of its Master Plan for the first time in 25 years Monday night.
At a meeting via Zoom that lasted less than 12 minutes, the planning board initiated what could be a two-year process of rethinking the town’s zoning for the next generation.
Ten apartments would be built above new stores at 273 Shrewsbury Avenue under a pending plan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two multi-use developments that would add 42 apartments to the market top a busy Red Bank zoning board agenda this week.
Also on the board’s busy to-do list Thursday night: review revised plans for new house in front of an existing one on Locust Avenue.
Students working on a mural in the background as new plants soak up the sun in the community garden at the Coffee Corral. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
On a mostly vacant corner lot in Red Bank that was to have been the home of a new restaurant, the kids have taken over.
In recent weeks, students from the borough’s middle school have planted a community garden behind the Coffee Corral, at the corner of Shrewsbury Avenue and Drs. James Parker Boulevard. Others are in the process of transforming two sides of a garage into lush, coffee-themed murals.
Laura Kirkpatrick addressing the Red Bank council in March, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[See UPDATE below]
By JOHN T. WARD
For the second time in just 17 months, the downtown promotion organization Red Bank RiverCenter is losing its executive director.
After just one, pandemic-filled year, Laura Kirkpatrick has resigned as operational head of the agency that manages the borough’s special improvement district, redbankgreen has learned.