RED BANK: DOWNTOWN APARTMENTS DEBUT

May 29, 2019

Residents of all 35 units at the Element will have access to the deck, and five will have balconies that immediately adjoin it. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Finalizing a development process that began a dozen years ago, a new 35-unit apartment building made its debut in downtown Red Bank Wednesday.

The near-completion of the Element, built on a former rubble-strewn West Front Street lot, marks the end of an odyssey that included a market pivot and pitched battles at the borough council.

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May 29, 2019 - 4:20 pm |

RED BANK: APARTMENT PROJECT BEGINS

Dec 27, 2017

A decade after a nursing home was demolished there, site work has begun on an empty lot near the heart of downtown Red Bank.

What’s Going On Here? Click ‘read more’ to find out. (Photo by John T. Ward.. Click to enlarge)

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December 27, 2017 - 8:30 am |

RED BANK: DOWNTOWN APARTMENTS OK’D

Mar 6, 2017

Mayor Pasquale Menna explains his vote to approve the project, a rendering of which is seen on a computer screen in the foreground. At left is board Engineer Ed Herrman. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A proposed 35-unit apartment building in downtown Red Bank won unanimous planning board approval Monday night.

First, however, several critics, including two board members, took parting shots at a process that kept the controversial plan alive for a year after it was rejected by the zoning board.

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March 6, 2017 - 9:37 pm |

RED BANK: APARTMENTS & EATERY ON DECK

Mar 6, 2017

Up for review at Monday night’s meeting of the Red Bank planning board: the Element, seen above, a 35-unit apartment complex proposed for a vacant lot at 55 West Front Street, opposite Riverside Gardens Park. The controversy-stirring plan could go to a final up-or-down vote.

Also scheduled: a proposed makeover for 26 West Front Street, right, last operated as Caliente Cantina, and not long before that, 10th Ave. Burrito Co. The plan calls for the addition of a 1,000-square-foot outdoor deck with views of the Navesink River. Here’s more info about the plan.

And here’s the full agenda for the meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street. (Renderings by Rotwein + Blake, above, and Cahill Studio, right. Click to enlarge)

March 6, 2017 - 5:40 am |

RED BANK: PLAN PANNED FOR LOOKS, PARKING

Feb 23, 2017

An architect’s depiction of the Element, as seen from the north side side of West Front Street. (Rendering by Rotwein + Blake. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A new round of hearings on the Element, a proposed 35-unit apartment building in downtown Red Bank, began Wednesday night with concerns raised about parking adequacy and aesthetics.

Mayor Pasquale Menna called the appearance of the structure “bulky and not very inviting,” while several residents challenged a traffic consultant’s claim that the project’s on-site parking was sufficient.

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February 23, 2017 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN RETURNS

Feb 17, 2017

A view of the proposed project, as seen from the opposite side of West Front Street. (Rendering by Rotwein + Blake. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After several months of dormancy, one of Red Bank’s more hotly disputed land-use proposals is expected to return next week.

The owners of the vacant downtown lot at 55 West Front Street are scheduled to try once again to win approval for a 35-unit apartment building that the zoning board shot down almost a year ago, triggering a series of measures that split the borough council for much of the year.

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February 17, 2017 - 12:59 pm |

RED BANK: REJECTED PLAN GETS SECOND SHOT

Mar 24, 2016

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.

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March 24, 2016 - 8:27 am |

RED BANK: ZONERS NIX APARTMENT PLAN

Mar 17, 2016

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.

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March 17, 2016 - 11:28 pm |

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN BACK ON AGENDA

Mar 15, 2016

Alone at last on Thursday night’s Red Bank zoning board agenda is a proposal for a 35-unit apartment building at 55 West Front Street, opposite Riverside Gardens Park. A hearing on the plan, dubbed the Element, began last April, but has since been postponed numerous times since its last public airing in September. (Architect’s rendering. Click to enlarge)

March 15, 2016 - 5:45 am |

RED BANK: WHAT’S NEXT FOR RAYRAP SITE?

Dec 11, 2015

The zoning board shot down a plan to build 22 townhouses and condos on a parcel bound by Clay Street, Harding Road and Hudson Avenue, throwing the future of the site into uncertainty. (Google Earth image courtesy of Ray Rapcavage. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

It’s hard to avoid the use of the word “eyesore” when talking about the RayRap site at the Five Corners in Red Bank.

With a vacant lot that was once home to a gas station; the burned husk of a house destroyed by fire; and another notorious for having once been spray-painted black — windows, shingles and all — it’s easily one of the borough’s least visually gratifying parcels. The fact that it sits on a heavily traveled street bordering the downtown and a residential area only heightens the effect.

So now that the zoning board has shot down a plan to develop the site with 22 new homes, what happens? Are we stuck with an eyesore forever?

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December 11, 2015 - 2:00 pm |

RED BANK: ZONERS ZAP RAYRAP PLAN

Dec 3, 2015

Resident Bill Brooks studies a RayRap exhibit prior to the zoning board hearing. Below, a rendering of the proposed six-unit condo building that would front on Harding Road at Hudson Avenue. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a half-dozen hearings over 16 months and numerous revisions, a plan for 22 condos and townhouses on the edge of downtown Red Bank failed to win zoning board approval Thursday night.

Board members told developer Ray Rapcavage that though they appreciated his flexibility in accommodating the concerns of nearby residents, he hadn’t gone far enough.

“It’s just too dense,” said board chairwoman Lauren Nicosia, whose motion to reject the plan was backed by all but one other board member. More →

December 3, 2015 - 11:14 pm |

RED BANK: RAYRAP TRAFFIC PLAN RAPPED

Nov 6, 2015

Planning consultant John Jahr addresses a question from Hudson Avenue resident William Hartigan as builder Ray Rapcavage props up an exhibit Thursday night. Below, a view of the six-unit condo building fronting on Harding Road, which was to have been a greenmarket. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

For the fifth time, developer Ray Rapcavage has revised his plans for a residential development on the edge of downtown Red Bank, this time to accommodate complaints that eight homes on Hudson Avenue were too close to the street.

But nearby residents voiced concerns at a zoning board hearing Thursday night that the 22-unit project would worsen traffic and parking on an already busy and narrow street.

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November 6, 2015 - 8:00 am |

RED BANK: RAYRAP PLAN ON ZONING AGENDA

Nov 5, 2015

Developer Ray Rapcavage is scheduled to return to the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night with his proposal to build 22 homes on a block bounded by Harding Road, Hudson Avenue and Clay Street. Hearings on the original plan began in August, 2014, with a nine-month interim during which the proposal was revised.

Another project, the proposed 35-unit Element, opposite Riverside Gardens Park at 55 West Front Street, was also to have been heard, but has been rescheduled for December 10, according to a revised board agenda. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

November 5, 2015 - 5:52 am |

Red Bank Green

Serving Red Bank and Greater Red Bank, NJ

RED BANK: DOWNTOWN APARTMENTS DEBUT

RED BANK: APARTMENT PROJECT BEGINS

RED BANK: DOWNTOWN APARTMENTS OK’D

RED BANK: APARTMENTS & EATERY ON DECK

RED BANK: PLAN PANNED FOR LOOKS, PARKING

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN RETURNS

RED BANK: REJECTED PLAN GETS SECOND SHOT

RED BANK: ZONERS NIX APARTMENT PLAN

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN BACK ON AGENDA

RED BANK: WHAT’S NEXT FOR RAYRAP SITE?

RED BANK: ZONERS ZAP RAYRAP PLAN

RED BANK: RAYRAP TRAFFIC PLAN RAPPED

RED BANK: RAYRAP PLAN ON ZONING AGENDA