Volunteer firefighters battling the blaze, as seen from the north side of the building. (Video by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Fire in a third-floor unit briefly emptied a seven-story apartment building overlooking the Navesink River in Red Bank Thursday afternoon.
Architect Adrian Melji with a rendering of the revised project’s Bodman Place side looking northwest from Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Filling in a horseshoe void, Saxum Real Estate won planning board approval Monday night for changes to a massive apartment project in Red Bank.
Saxum’s project would be built on the vacant former Visiting Nurse Association headquarter site at 176 Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two years after obtaining approval for a massive residential real estate project in Red Bank, Saxum Real Estate is heading back to the borough planning board in search of a booster.
Saxum’s project would replace the former Visiting Nurse Association headquarters at 176 Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s planning board kicked off a process Monday night that could result in a rezoning of prime real estate.
But while the ultimate goal of the effort – a tax break for a developer – was not under immediate consideration, it was clearly on the minds of objectors, including at least one board member.
Outline indicates the properties under consideration for “area in need of redevelopment” designation. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A possible zoning reclassification for the site of an approved 210-unit apartment project is scheduled go to the Red Bank planning board Monday night.
The review will offer the first public airing of a request by would-be developer Saxum Real Estate for tax breaks in order to proceed with the project.
A long-idle gas station at Riverside Avenue and Bridge Avenue will be included in a second review of the designation for the former VNA headquarters, at left above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The would-be developer of a massive apartment complex at Red Bank’s northern tip is now angling for tax relief in order to build the project.
Consultant Ken DeRoberts told the borough redevelopment agency Tuesday that Saxum Real Estate has submitted a new plan for the former Visiting Nurse Association property that’s driven by a need for a PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes agreement.
The owners of the Colony House apartments, at right, claim the plan for the VNA site, at left, violates their property rights. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two months after approving one of the largest development projects in Red Bank history, the borough planning board has been sued over the decision, redbankgreen has learned.
The suit arrives as the board is defending itself in a lawsuit concerning a proposed Hampton Inn just across the street.
The man did not reside at the seven-story apartment building, police said. (Click to enlarge)
A 26-year-old Red Bank man suffered “significant” injuries but was conscious and alert after he jumped from the roof of the Colony House apartment building in Red Bank Tuesday morning, NJ.com reported.
A plan to convert the Colony House failed, leading to a return to rentals, and new-tenant complaints about jacked-up rents. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Following a pattern reported on by redbankgreen back in June, the owner of the Colony House apartments has continued to illegally raise rents on tenants, some of whom may be afraid to pursue legal recourse, members of the Red Bank Rent Leveling Board said Thursday.
At their monthly meeting in a nearly empty council chambers, board members said that about eight residents had filed formal complaints in recent months alleging that the landlord, Park Ridge LLC of Lakewood, had rescinded incentive discounts given to new tenants since 2009, and then imposed cost-of-living improvements on the new base rent.
Only the cost-of-living adjustments are permitted under the borough rent ordinance, said board attorney Gene Anthony.
“We had three complaints in September alone,” said board chairman Vincent Light.
Red Bank Terrace is one of two apartment complexes with complaints pending before the borough’s Rent Leveling Board. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
The meetings of Red Bank’s Rent Leveling Board tend to fly under the radar, given the often sleepy agendas. But Thursday night’s meeting looks like an exception.
Lined up for the board’s consideration are three tenant complaints, making for a potentially packed evening for the five-member body.
The decision concerns a 50-year-old apartment building on Bodman Place that the owner wanted to convert to condos. (Click to enlarge)
The state appeals court has upheld the Red Bank zoning board’s rejection of a condo conversion plan for the half-century-old Colony House apartment building.
The plan would have exacerbated a “severe lack of available parking,” the board said in its July 2008 resolution on the rejection.
In a decision dated February 10, the appeals court found that the board had acted reasonably in coming to that conclusion.