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.

May 14, 2019 - 11:45 am | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: FAST-FOOD LAW GOES M.I.A.

Former Councilwoman Bea Sena reads minutes from a 2002 council meeting at which she voiced concern that parts of the borough code had gone missing. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Fast food joints in Fair Haven? Why, there oughta be a law, say some residents, angered by a pending proposal for a Dunkin’ coffee shop.

Well, it turns out there is — or was — a borough ordinance explicitly prohibiting fast food restaurants. But it seems to have vanished from the town’s official code book, a resident told the borough council Monday night.

What that means to the most controversial planning board application in recent history, as well as others expected to soon follow, immediately became a lightning rod issue.

April 30, 2019 - 9:40 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: 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: NEW BOUTIQUE OPENS ON BROAD

Maria Elizabeth Diaco in her new Broad Street boutique, the Haute Maven. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A long vacancy in the heart of downtown Red Bank ended with the opening of a new women’s clothing boutique this week.

redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn also has an update on the long-awaited conversion of the Anderson Building, which has been vacant for more than three decades.

October 6, 2017 - 12:03 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: SICKLES BREWS BOOSKERDOO DEAL

The Anderson Storage building, where ‘Sickles Market Provisions’ plans to occupy the ground floor. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Sickles Market, the Little Silver grocer that traces its roots back 350 years, has partnered with the fast-growing Booskerdoo coffee-shop chain on its planned foray into Red Bank, the two companies announced Tuesday.

May 2, 2017 - 5:20 pm | Comments ()

SHREWSBURY: TAPAS AND WINE BAR COMING

Shrewsbury is set to get a tapas and wine bar in coming months, redbankgreen has confirmed.

Terra Momo Restaurant Group, which operates several restaurants in and around Princeton, has leased 2,000 square feet in a new Metrovation-owned building on Broad Street, opposite the Grove shopping center, principal Chris Cole confirmed Wednesday.

Read More »

December 14, 2016 - 1:09 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: COMINGS AND GOINGS DOWNTOWN

Freshica’s, above, and Soul Strong have opened in the West Side Lofts. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has news about:

• two new businesses in the West Side Lofts;

• a retailer taking over a building in the heart of downtown;

• and a sizable player in Red Bank’s vaunted antiques district putting its home up for sale. Read More »

September 1, 2016 - 11:59 am | Comments ()

SHREWSBURY: SWIMWEAR, PIZZA & MORE

Lilikoi set up shop recently in a Broad Street storefront in the Franklin Commons strip mall. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn takes a spin around Shrewsbury and finds — no surprise — that this retail-centric borough has no shortage of stores coming and going.

August 16, 2016 - 12:00 pm | Comments ()

SHREWSBURY: METROVATION BUSY HERE, TOO

Country Curtains opened last month after relocating to a new space across Broad Street from its former home in the Grove shopping center. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

There’s lots of Retail Churn activity to report concerning three Metrovation-owned properties in Shrewsbury.

The development firm, which built Red Bank’s 91-residence West Side Lofts apartment-and-stores project and is about to transform the long-vacant Anderson Building at the borough train station into a second Sickles Market store and office building — as reported Thursday by redbankgreen — has also been involved in a flurry of leasing deals one town over.

April 8, 2016 - 8:13 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SICKLES TO OPEN WEST SIDE STORE

Sickles Market plans to lease nearly the entire first floor of the Anderson Storage building, seen here looking south on Bridge Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

HOT-TOPIC_03 Sickles Market, the Little Silver farm market that traces its roots back 350 years, is planning to open a second store in Red Bank’s former Anderson storage building, redbankgreen has learned.

Store owner Bob Sickles told redbankgreen on Wednesday that his company plans to lease nearly all of the 8,000-square-foot ground floor of a building that will have three upper stories of offices.

April 6, 2016 - 11:06 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: DUXIANA DEPARTS; SUSHI COMING

The Duxiana store has vacated the building dubbed the Temple of Fashion, built in 1894. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn: a flurry of activity to report from Broad Street in Red Bank, including:

• a new vacancy in a historic building in the center of the downtown

• the recent opening of Red Bank Family Pharmacy

• plans for a new sushi restaurant

Plus, there’s interesting news about a new restaurant coming to the Grove in Shrewsbury.

January 19, 2016 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: WEST ELM PUTS DOWN ROOTS

The new West Elm furniture store at West Front Street and Bridge Avenue in Red Bank opens for business at 10 a.m. Thursday. redbankgreen got inside for a sneak peak on Wednesday.

With nearly 11,000 square feet of floor space, West Elm is among the largest retailers in town by floor space. It’s one of two businesses that will anchor the new, 91-unit West Side Lofts residential project — the other being Triumph Brewing Company, slated to open early next year, according to project developer Metrovation. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

October 22, 2015 - 7:00 am | Comments ()

CHURN: BUZZ @ WEST ELM, CHIPOTLE & THE BEE

Letters for a West Elm sign were laid out on the sidewalk for an installer last Thursday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

In this edition of Retail Churn:

• News about Brooklyn-based boho furniture retailer West Elm‘s new store…

• a women’s clothing store called the bee plans to build a nest in a long-vacant space downtown…

• and signs of movement at the yet-to-open Chipotle Mexican Grill…

all here in beautiful Red Bank, New Jersey.

October 13, 2015 - 11:10 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: FOUR MAYORS… AND SOME FRIENDS

The first-ever Red Bank Mayor’s Charity Ball brought together three ex-mayors, the current one and some 250 of their friends at the Oyster Point Hotel Friday night. Among those in attendance: former Councilwoman Sharon Lee and restaurateur Victor Kuo, above, and Pastor John Lock, with Mayor Pasquale Menna, at right.

Proceeds from the $125-per-head event were earmarked for the Red Bank Public Library and the Parker Family Health Center.

redbankgreen grabbed dozens of photos during the cocktail hour overlooking our beautiful Navesink River. Click the “read more” to see who else was there. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

May 4, 2015 - 7:51 am | Comments ()

CHURN: SHREWSBURY TO GET FAST GREEK EATS

Greek Eats has signed to take the corner space, at right above, at the three-store 89 Newman Springs Road, now under construction. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508 For about five years, Red Bank restaurateur George Lyristis has been developing an idea for a casual fast-food restaurant based on his ethnic heritage, he tells redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

Well, the time has come to make the concept real, he says. With the sale of their Zoe Bistro in Little Silver, effective Wednesday, Lyristis and his brothers Charlie and Taso are planning to open a new place called Greek Eats in Shrewsbury in coming months.

March 31, 2015 - 10:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: LOFTS LAND WEST ELM AS TENANT

The furniture retailer will occupy the ground-floor corner at West Front Street and Bridge Avenue, as shown in this rendering. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s West Side Lofts project now under construction has landed upscale furniture retailer West Elm as an anchor tenant.

The pending arrival of the store, slated for next August, was at the center of a handful of changes to the massive project the borough zoning board approved Thursday night.

December 5, 2014 - 7:56 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: ANDERSON SAILS TO APPROVAL

An architect’s rendering of the proposed Anderson Storage building, as seen from Bridge Avenue. Below, zoning board member Jesse Garrison, left, congratulates developer Chris Cole after the vote. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The second plan to transform the Red Bank’s former Anderson storage building in a decade cruised to approval Thursday night.

The earlier approval, obtained in 2006 and never followed up on, was to convert the long-vacant, 27,000-square-foot structure into 23 condos. This one calls for a four-story addition and other changes to produce a 48,600SF office structure with a stores and a restaurant on the ground floor, a greenhouse on the roof, and a small shop made of shipping containers in the rear parking lot.

The new plan had some tailwind created by its predecessor.

October 17, 2014 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: CLOSING IN ON WEST SIDE LOFTS

A fifth-floor view of the “mews” between two buildings at the West Side Lofts, looking toward the Two River Theater. Below, developer Chris Cole. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After years on the drawing board, one of the biggest – and architecturally boldest – residential projects ever conceived for Red Bank is nearing completion.

While area merchants and restaurateurs anxiously await their arrival, West Side Lofts developer Chris Cole said he’s planning on having the first tenants move in as early as February.

Designed by David Baker Architects in San Francisco, the project features 92 rental units in a Rubik’s-cube-like amalgam of bold color and jutting facades that dominates the corner of West Front Street and Bridge Avenue, in what’s sometimes referred to as the Arts and Antiques District of town.

But “it’s not trying to make a statement,” Cole told redbankgreen on a recent tour. “It’s more trying to embrace the arty side of town.”

October 16, 2014 - 9:44 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: PLAN ‘SPICES UP’ ANDERSON SITE

Metrovation partner Chris Cole with a rendering of the proposed project. Below, a freestanding structure in the parking lot would be be made of shipping containers. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A plan to transform the former Anderson storage building in Red Bank into stores and offices reflects years of thinking about how to integrate it into the surrounding neighborhood, proponents told the borough zoning board Thursday night.

Testifying for developer Metrovation, architect Terry William Smith detailed a plan that he said “honors the integrity and the authenticity of the original building” via a four-story addition with a red brick exterior and lots of exposed wood and steel inside. “We’re not tampering with that,” he said.

Still, the project includes some giddy touches, including a small, freestanding structure made of shipping containers in the center of the parking lot and a century-old greenhouse on the roof.

October 3, 2014 - 9:24 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: ANDERSON MAKEOVER RETURNS

The former Anderson storage property on Monmouth Street abuts the North Jersey Coast Line. Below, an architect’s rendering of the remodeled building. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Two years after scuttling plans that would have transformed the long-vacant Anderson Brothers warehouse in Red Bank into luxury condos, developer Metrovation is back, minus the living units.

A plan to instead turn the three-story, red-brick structure into two floors of office space above street-level stores and a restaurant is scheduled to be heard by the borough zoning board Thursday night.

October 2, 2014 - 9:21 am | Comments ()

METROVATION KILLS ANDERSON PROJECT

The developer has officially abandoned its approval for condos in the former West Side warehouse temporarily serving as a display location in the ‘Heads’ outdoor art installation but plans a “creative” repurposing of the site, says a partner. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Anderson building and the West Side lofts: they were to have been fraternal twins anchoring nearby corners in Red Bank, injecting an instant, upmarket demographic into a part of town that could use a nudge to reach its potential as an arts and nightlife mecca.

Now, however, as one half of that twosome finally nears an official start, the other one has been nixed.

At last Thursday’s meeting of the borough zoning board, developer Metrovation officially abandoned its six-year-old approval for 23 condos and two street-level stores in the former Anderson Brothers Moving and Storage structure at Bridge Avenue and Monmouth Street, citing poor economic conditions.

At the same time, company officials sought, and won, a minor lot-line change that they said would enhance whatever new plan might follow.

August 20, 2012 - 1:01 pm | Comments ()

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