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: TACOS & SUSHI SLIDE INTO TOWN
Yumi, at 9 Broad Street, hopes to replicate the success it’s had in Sea Bright. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Foodies have two new dining-out options in downtown Red Bank, with the openings last week of taco and sushi restaurants.
Read all about them in this quick-read edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: ENGLISH PLAZA MAKEOVER WRAPS
Except for a few punchlist items, a four-month, $1.53 million streetscape project in downtown Red Bank is now completed, according to business promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
RED BANK: FLOWERS & PHONES IN, PIZZA OUT
Abby Lawal outside Supreme Floral, which she opened with her husband in August. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Downtown Red Bank has added a new flower shop and lost a longtime restaurant, while another plans to expand.
Read all about them, plus a phone store that’s cloning itself, in this summer-closing edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: MURAL REQUESTS TO GET REVIEW
Pearl Street Consignment and Custom Clothes owner Emily Natale working on a mural on the Monmouth Street side of her shop last week. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials plan to create a committee to formally review requests for murals and other forms of public art, something that hasn’t previously existed, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady said last week.
FAIR HAVEN: NEW RESTAURANT LAW TABLED
Mayor Ben Lucarelli, right, with Council President Jon Peters at Monday’s council meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Steam continued to rise Monday night from last month’s controversial planning board decision to allow a Dunkin’ coffee shop to open in Fair Haven.
At issue at the council’s semimonthly meeting was a proposed ordinance that would all but ban fast-food restaurants, even as advocates acknowledged it was no more than a “stopgap” measure.
RED BANK: STREETSCAPE PROJECT NEARS END
A summer-long streetscape project in downtown Red Bank neared completion this week. But it will take one last, extended disruption to get there, says Red Bank RiverCenter.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
RED BANK: THAI, MINI-DRONES, TACOS & MORE
The space vacated by Siam Garden, at the north end of the Galleria Red Bank, will soon get a new Thai restaurant run by a familiar chef. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fans of Red Bank’s recently closed Siam Gardens will soon have a new Thai restaurant to check out, and won’t have to change their routes to get there.
This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has the dish, as well as word about a new indoor, mini-drone-flying course and other business churnage.
RED BANK: LADLE HANDOFF FOR SOUP MAVEN
After almost a quarter-century and countless pints of soup, That Hot Dog Place in Red Bank is about to undergo a ladle handoff.
What’s Going on Here? Read on for the answer.
RED BANK: CRASH CUTS RESTAURANT POWER
A Manalapan man was charged with driving while intoxicated after his Merccdes sedan struck a Red Bank restaurant Sunday, knocking out its electrical service.
FAIR HAVEN: DUNKIN’ WINS BOARD APPROVAL
Though turns would still be allowed in both directions on River Road, the shopping center’s eastern driveway will be changed to exit-only, under a condition set by the board. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
More than a year after it was proposed, a Dunkin’ coffee shop won approval to operate in Fair Haven Monday night.
The 6-2 planning board vote, shortly before 11 p.m. capped months of passionate debate over traffic safety, a fast-food law that went MIA and the shop’s potential impact on the small-town character of the borough.
RED BANK: HEMP-BASED CBD SHOP OK’D
CBD For Life plans to open in the former Katsin’s Drugs at 192 Shrewsbury Avenue. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A high-profile Red Bank building that’s been vacant for 15 years has been cleared for a new tenant: a seller of trendy CBD-based health and beauty products, redbankgreen has learned.
RED BANK: TACO & CLOTHING SHOPS SLATED
A taco restaurant plans to open in the long-vacant building now getting a facelift at the corner of Broad and East Front streets. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A taco restaurant and a men’s clothing shop may be opening within doors of each other in downtown Red Bank.
Read all about them and more in this dead-of-summer edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
FAIR HAVEN: DUNKIN’ TRAFFIC FIXES OFFERED
A consultant to the planning board recommends that left turns from the shopping center’s eastern driveway, above, be prohibited. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Attempting to address concerns over traffic safety, an engineer for a hotly debated Dunkin’ coffee shop proposed in Fair Haven has offered an idea he says will safeguard pedestrians.
Another traffic engineer, this one hired by the borough planning board, has also made some suggestions, redbankgreen has learned.
RED BANK: SHELL YANKS DUNKIN’ PLAN
The plan called for remodeling the gas station and replacing the car wash, at left above, with a drive-thru Dunkin’ shop. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan to create a Dunkin’ coffee shop in Red Bank for Parkway-bound commuters is dead.
A lawyer for the owner of the Shell gas station at Newman Springs Road and Shrewsbury Avenue tells redbankgreen the proposal has been withdrawn.
RED BANK: RESTAURANTS FEED THE CHURN
The Galleria is losing two restaurants: West Side Eatery and Siam Garden. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A salad-bar restaurant and a “general store-slash-coffee bar” prepare to open in Red Bank as two other eateries close their doors.
Read all about those changes and more in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: LONG-VACANT BUILDING GETS TLC
Dormant for decades, a building that would be key to a Broad-to-the-river project in downtown Red Bank was suddenly getting some TLC Thursday.
What’s Going On Here? Read on… (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
FAIR HAVEN: DRIVE-THRU, BAG BANS INTRO’D
By JOHN T. WARD
Stopping short, for now, of re-banning fast-food restaurants, Fair Haven officials took steps Monday night to instead prohibit drive-thru restaurants.
The borough council also plans to have the town join a rapidly growing list of New Jersey towns that have banned single-use plastic shopping bags.
FAIR HAVEN: DUNKIN’ RETURNS, HOT AS EVER
Shopping center principal Dan Hughes listens as objector Tracy Cole speaks. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After a four-month detour over legal issues, a hearing on a plan to open a Dunkin’ coffee shop in Fair Haven resumed Tuesday night, just as hot as before.
For three hours, opponents predicted traffic and safety problems at the Acme-anchored shopping center on River Road where the shop would operate. The site’s principal owner called that scenario “ridiculous.”
RED BANK: SPEAKEASY & MARKET PLANNED
The building at 21 Broad Street has been vacant since Agostino Antiques moved out in 2012. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
One of downtown Red Bank’s largest buildings would be converted to a food market and speakeasy if a pending proposal passes muster with town zoners.
Also in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn report: a women’s clothing store opens, two vacancies open up, and a building changes hands for the fourth time in 11 years.
RED BANK: STREETSCAPE PROJECT BEGINS
Heavy construction equipment began tearing up one end of White Street in Red Bank Monday morning. What’s Going On Here? Read on.
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: EXPANSION & BREWERY ON AGENDA
The building at 42 Monmouth Street would get two additional floors as shown above if the plan is approved. (Rendering by Larry C. Johnson. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
On pause since last September, a proposal to triple the size of a downtown building — and install a microbrewery on the ground floor — is scheduled to return to the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night.
FAIR HAVEN: FAST-FOOD LAW NEEDS RE-DO
Borough attorney Sal Alfieri and planning consultant Fred Heyer at Monday’s council meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A missing-in-action law that banned fast food restaurants in Fair Haven is effectively revoked and will have to be rewritten, the borough’s attorney said Monday night.
In that case, the next one needs to address “ambiguities” that enabled a proposed — and controversial — Dunkin’ coffee shop to clear the first hurdle to possible approval, officials and residents said.
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.