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.
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?
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
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.
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.
Piero Vescio swears the oath as a policeman as his father, Lieutenant Errico Vescio, watches with other family members. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Here are some highlights from last week’s Red Bank council meeting.
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.
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.
A new overlay zone centered on the western business district would encourage development of low- and moderate-income housing, officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven residents packed a hearing on zoning changes written to show “the right gestures” toward providing 370 new homes for low- and moderate-income earners Tuesday night.
But the planning board board’s determination to immediately vote on a complex proposal it had just unveiled irked many who sat through the three-hour session as much as the substance of the changes.
The proposed Rivermark building shown above was modified before approval. (Rendering by Michael Monroe. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s planning board gave swift approval Monday night to a proposed commercial and residential building at a key downtown corner after it was downsized.
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank homeowners who long to transform their garages into living space: take note. The borough zoning board summarily nixed a plan to convert a garage behind a Maple Avenue office building into a single-family home Thursday night.
Several units at River’s Edge, like the one above at the western end of Bank Street, offer expansive views of the Swimming River. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A long wait is about to an end as builder Charlie Farkouh puts the finishing touches on the most ambitious housing development Red Bank’s West Side has seen in years.
Farkouh tells redbankgreen he’s nearing completion on the 15-unit River’s Edge project, replacing several derelict houses at the western ends of Bank Street and Drs. James Parker Boulevard.
The project, dubbed the Element, would be built on West Front Street next door to Trinity Episcopal Church. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed 35-unit apartment building rejected by the Red Bank zoning board last week may end up getting built anyway.
The borough council on Wednesday night began a process that could lead to the construction of the Element apartments on West Front Street, opposite Riverside Gardens Park, without the developer having to appeal the zoning board’s denial of last Thursday.
And the council was acting, said Mayor Pasquale Menna, on a request made by the developer less than 24 hours after the zoning board rejection.
The project, dubbed the Element, called for 35 rental units on a site previously approved for 27 condos. (Architect’s rendering. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s zoning board rejected plans for a 35-unit apartment building on a long-vacant downtown lot Thursday night.
The proposed structure — at 55 West Front Street, opposite Riverside Gardens Park — was shot down on a motion by presumptive Democratic council candidate Erik Yngstrom, who said it was too dense.
Mayor Pasquale Menna, who was in the audience, was sharply critical of the decision.
Builder Charlie Farkouh on the Bank Street portion of the project earlier this week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A planned condo complex with a knotty, decade-long history of false starts is finally going into the ground on Red Bank’s West Side.
Rumson builder Charles Farkouh, who acquired the project in August, tells redbankgreen he’ll have the 15-unit River’s Edge project, which spans several lots at the western ends of Bank Street and Drs. James Parker Boulevard, finished in 12 to 14 months.
“Full steam,” said Farkouh, as workers prepared footings in a large excavation abutting a steep bank overlooking the Swimming River on Tuesday. “It’s happening.”
An architect’s rendering, above, shows the elevated patio of the proposed Element apartments, with parking underneath. Below, a view of the property, which includes a strip alongside the old Liberty Hose firehouse on White Street. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Questions about parking adequacy and affordable housing continued to dominate as the Red Bank zoning board resumed hearings on a 35-unit apartment building proposed for West Front Street Thursday night.
Dubbed the Element, the project would be built on an irregularly shaped, three-quarter-acre vacant lot facing Riverside Gardens Park at one end and White Street, alongside the former Liberty Hose firehouse, on the other.
Demolition of a gas station at the corner of Monmouth and West streets was completed in August to clear the way for 57 new homes. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Officials of the bank that owns the rights to build the Courtyards at Monmouth housing development told Red Bank officials Thursday night that the project will begin going into the ground at a blighted corner this year.
They also pledged to be better neighbors, after a demolition contractor failed to fulfill a pledge by the bank to give adjoining homeowners advance notice of demolition work last August. Neighbors complained at the time about dust that had infiltrated their homes.
“We admit it, our wrecking contractor blew it,” said Amboy Bank chief operating officer Stanley Koureyva, who apologized to neighbors who turned out for a meeting of the borough zoning board.
The council reached a settlement with the owner of Gaiter’s to rezone the property for affordable housing. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
A year of negotiations between local officials and a restaurant and marina owner, who hit the borough with a lawsuit for not meeting its affordable housing requirements, has resulted in the creation of a new affordable housing zone in Sea Bright, clearing the way for an anticipated plan for condos at the north end of town.
The settlement, memorialized by an ordinance creating a new housing district near the foot of the new Route 36 bridge, sent neighbors of the property into an offensive against the council, accusing the governing body of poor planning and buckling under the pressure of the suit.
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
It took a little longer than expected, but the Cedar Crossing affordable housing project is a done deal. Just needs to be built.
The Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation closed on the property, right, Wednesday, and by this morning, workers started turning soil on the two-acre tract at Catherine, Cedar and River streets.
“The first feeling that came to mind, the emotion, was relief,” said Rev. Terrence K. Porter, pastor of the Pilgrim Baptist Church and head of the borough’s housing corporation.
Rev. Terrence Porter shows off a drawing of the Cedar Crossing affordable housing project, which is likely to get started in the next several weeks. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
Barring any bureaucratic glitches, Red Bank’s Cedar Crossing affordable housing project will start shaping into reality next month.
There’s just a little more red tape to get the borough’s most ambitious effort at creating affordable housing in decades through, says Rev. Terrence K. Porter, president of the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation, the nonprofit entity overseeing the much-anticipated project.
“Things are moving as well as expected,” said Porter, pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church. “I really feel great about the progress we’ve made.”
The overlay zones reflect areas of potential development and redevelopment, borough officials say. (Click to enlarge)
Red Bank moved closer to resolving issues with the state Council on Affordable Housing last night when the borough planning board approved a new overlay zone covering multi-unit residential development.
The new rules require developers who want to build five or more housing units at a density of six units per acre or more to set aside 20 percent of the units for low- and moderate-income buyers, said Mayor Pasquale Menna.
But a map delineating the areas where the rules would apply prompted questions from Councilwoman and planning board member Sharon Lee, who said she was concerned that the zones were weighted toward the town’s West Side.
A rendering of some of the 36 homes to be built on the West Side, as shown at a borough zoning board meeting in January.
Cedar Crossing, Red Bank’s most ambitious effort at creating affordable housing in decades, has gotten a major financial boost.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York has awarded the planned 36-unit project $400,000 for construction costs, the bank announced last week.