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RED BANK: HPC SPLITS OVER CENTURY HOUSE

Downtown Investors plans to demolish the house at 26 Wallace Street for parking. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njMembers of Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission split Wednesday night over its next steps regarding a developer’s plan to demolish a century house for parking.

The HPC also approved remodeling plans for a building at a key downtown intersection after the owner revised plans that were rejected a month ago.

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RED BANK: HPC REJECTS TWO PLANS, OKS ONE

The Dublin House Pub’s plan called for the enclosure of an existing porch and balconies. (Rendering by Michael Savarese Associates. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njRed Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission nixed proposed makeovers of two downtown buildings as inappropriate Wednesday night.

A third plan, to give a corner building a “midcentury modern” look, sailed to approval.

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RED BANK: MAKEOVERS TO GET HPC REVIEWS

Denholtz Properties plans to redo the existing building at Broad Street and Reckless Place. (Rendering by Rotwein + Blake. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Buildings at two high-visibility corners in downtown Red Bank would get makeovers under plans scheduled for review this week by the Historic Preservation Commission.

Here’s what’s on deck.

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RED BANK: ‘RE-ENTRY’ THROUGH THE KITCHEN

State Senators Declan O’Scanlon, left, and Vin Gopal flank ex-Governor Jim McGreevey as he speaks with Re-Entry participants at Soul Kitchen Thursday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

“Nobody should be defined by their worst decision,” former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey said on a visit to Red Bank Thursday.

That’s particularly true for ex-felons who may never have learned the basic skills needed to become self-sufficient members of society, he said.

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RED BANK: TAKEOUT, ANYONE?

red bank good karma 031520Good Karma Café on East Front Street doing takeout-only business Sunday. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

You need to eat, and restaurants, facing dire prospects during the COVID-19 pandemic, need customers more than ever before.

Downtown promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter has compiled a list of borough eateries showing which are open for takeout business and which offer delivery.

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RED BANK: SHELL GETS SHOP OK ON THIRD TRY

red bank shell stationThe car wash at left is to be replaced by a convenience store. (April, 2019 photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a favorable zoning change last year, Red Bank’s lone Shell station won approval to add a convenience store Monday night.

A neighbor called the proposal “lipstick on a pig.” The planning board’s chairman called it “a better pig.”

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RED BANK: SHELL TO TRY YET AGAIN

RED BANK NJ SHELLThe latest plan calls for replacing the car wash, at left above, with a convenience store. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Five months after yanking a plan to add a Dunkin’ coffee shop, the owner of Red Bank ‘s lone Shell station will once again try for a convenience store.

Station owner Waseem Chaudhary’s proposal is  the third he’s floated in the past seven years.

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RED BANK: SHELL YANKS DUNKIN’ PLAN

RED BANK NJ SHELLThe 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

hot topic red bank njA 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.

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RED BANK: PLAN WITH MICROBREWERY OK’D

42 monmouth st., red bank, njThe 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

hot topic red bank njDowntown 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.

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RED BANK: EXPANSION & BREWERY ON AGENDA

red bank 42 monmouthThe 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.

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RED BANK: DUNKIN’ CONTINUES SLOW DRIP

red bank shell dunkin 032119A rendering of the new Shell station and Dunkin’ shop at Newman Springs Road and Shrewsbury Avenue. (Drawing by Dynamic Engineering PC. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njAfter an 11-week lull, the owner of a Red Bank gas station continued his bid to build a Dunkin’ shop for Parkway-bound commuters Thursday night with a revised plan.

This one shrinks the proposed coffee shop, eliminates interior seating and adds more space for vehicles to use the drive-thru service.

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RED BANK: DUNKIN’ PLAN RAISES CONCERNS

red bank nj shell dunkin donutsThe Shell station at Newman Springs Road and Shrewsbury Avenue would be rebuilt with a Dunkin’ Donuts shop on site. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA bid to create a last-chance coffee stop in Red Bank for Parkway-bound commuters got underway at the zoning board Thursday night.

Among the issues: what if it’s really popular?

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RED BANK: ZONERS OPEN WITH BIG AGENDA

red bank nj 42 monmouth st. conceptTwo new floors are proposed for the former Fameabilia building on Monmouth Street, where a microbrewery and restaurant are planned for the first floor. (Rendering by Larry C. Johnson. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njShould a one-story building in downtown Red Bank be permitted to add two floors? Should a gas station at a busy corner be allowed to add a Dunkin’ Donuts shop to its site?

Those questions are scheduled to go before the borough zoning board at its first meeting of 2019 Thursday night.

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RED BANK: FRESH “JAM” AT PARK STAND

Steve Farley, left, and Bill Huwyler at Riverside Park Jam, the former concession stand in Riverside Gardens Park that they’ve reinvented as a gourmet-quality takeout restaurant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Two years after it ended decades of underutilization, the concession stand in Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank has a radically new mission.

Call it the no-concessions stand, because it’s not summer-only, and it’s not hot dogs and sodas — not by a long shot.

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RED BANK: BREWERY PLAN UP IN THE AIR

The building, formerly home to Fameabilia store, has been vacant since October, 2008. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The fate of a microbrewery proposed for a long-vacant storefront in downtown Red Bank appeared cloudy Thursday night.

The hangup? The two floors of apartments the landlord wants to add to the one-story building.

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RED BANK: INDIAN, WITH A MEXICAN TWIST

Sourabh ‘Sam’ Jain plans to open Bombay River Indian Restaurant Saturday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After just two months of vacancy, the space that held Red Bank’s only Vietnamese restaurant is about to open as an Indian restaurant — with a culinary twist.

Also in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn: news of a beauty supply shop putting the cap on its lipstick one last time.

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RED BANK: RESTAURANT SCENE IN CHURN

After months of idleness, gut-job renovations are underway at the Melting Pot in the Galleria on Bridge Avenue. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A Red Bank restaurant is preparing to reopen after a long hiatus and change in ownership.

Meantime, another eatery has shut its doors after only six months in business, and a bicycle retailer has pedaled off into the online ether.

Details are below in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

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RED BANK: KEEPING IT ALL UNDER ONE ROOF

Butcher Stew Goldstein is the new owner of 110 Monmouth Street, where Max Olivera and Alberto Bautista, below, plan to open a restaurant called El Azteca Grill next door to Monmouth Meats. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

With a butcher shop, recording studio and, until recently, a restaurant under its roof, 110 Monmouth Street could serve as a neat little microcosm of downtown Red Bank.

Now, with butcher Stew Goldstein‘s recent acquisition of the modest-sized two-story brick building, plus a deal to fill the first-floor restaurant vacancy with a new Mexican-American eatery, the tableau seems to have been secured for the foreseeable future.

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RED BANK: CATCH TO TAKE GOTHAM SPACE

Catch will relocate from its present spot at 9 Broad Street to the home of Gotham, five doors away, and will be replaced by a Mexican restaurant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has a plateful of news from the Red Bank food scene, with two food-related businesses closing, one moving and another opening.

Also: pet acupuncture.

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RED BANK: CRAFT BREWERY, TAKEOUT PLANNED

The former Fameabilia store space will be divided in two to house a craft brewery and a take-out restaurant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

[SEE CORRECTIONS BELOW]

By JOHN T. WARD

Nine years after its last tenant departed, and four years after it was approved for restaurant use, a large retail space in downtown Red Bank is slated to get two new tenants, redbankgreen has learned.

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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.

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RED BANK: BEER GARDEN, VEGAN PLANS OK’D

img_5866Birravino’s proposal for a 1,500-square-foot beer garden, as shown to the left of the existing restaurant in renderings below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Renderings by Michael James Monroe. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

birravino-plan-120516Two Red Bank restaurants won approvals for expansion plans Monday night.

• The borough planning board gave unanimous a OK to Good Karma Café, the only vegan restaurant downtown, to triple in size by leasing vacant retail space next door.  More →