Ivan Lopez and friend outside the newly opened Toro Rojo Parrilla Mexicana on Shrewsbury Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two food-based businesses departed Red Bank last month – one after 21 years, the other after just a few days.
But the shopping and dining scene also saw the quick revival of a vacant restaurant space, the opening of a new Pilates studio and more activity.
Read all about it in this edition of Retail Churn.
Among the three is Monteverde NJ, planning to open at 45 North Bridge Avenue. (redbankgreen photo. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s new Cannabis Review Board has completed scrutiny of its first three applications, and was like totally cool with all of them.
That means three pot shops have cleared all the local licensing requirements, borough officials said Thursday night.
The house at 211 River Street, above, is to be demolished and replaced with the structure below. (Photo by John T. Ward; rendering by Catherine Franco. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank bungalow would be replaced by a modern three-story home overlooking the Swimming River under a plan approved by the zoning board Thursday night.
Meanwhile, the owner of a postage-stamp-sized lot will have to wait to find out if a neighbor makes a purchase offer before he can proceed with his plans for a new house.
See CORRECTION below
Plans for two single-family homes, both needing variances, are scheduled for review by the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night.
Navesink Riverside Residences and Marina (formerly Riverview Towers), center, and the Atrium at Navesink Harbor, to its right, are in the waterfront zone. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s planning board made quick work of approving two pending ordinances Monday night.
At a meeting that lasted just 13 minutes, the board found proposed changes to maximum building heights, and fees paid by developers in lieu of planting trees, did not conflict with the borough’s Master Plan.
A rendering of the proposed Thrive Red Bank project, as seen from Shrewsbury Avenue. (Rendering by CPA Architecture. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed apartment building for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities won approval from the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night.
Advocates called the approval historic, and said it would allow them to create a model for desperately needed housing for neuro-diverse adults.
Catch 19 will close and a new restaurant will replace it, its owner says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn: piping-hot news of changes at two restaurants in downtown Red Bank.
Though one is closing and the other is newly opened, for the owners of both, the appeal of the Broadwalk seasonal dining and shopping plaza remains strong four years in.
Seen on a monitor, an architect discusses the design of the proposed Shrewsbury Avenue project. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed apartment project for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities would be the first of its kind in New Jersey, which has a critical need for it, sponsors told the Red Bank zoning board Thursday night.
Board members had questions about parking and unit size, but showed no immediate sign of opposition.
Rendering shows the Shrewsbury Avenue side of the proposed building. Access to an interior garage would be at the far left. (Rendering by CPA Architecture.Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
When Karen Fluharty moved her special-needs adult son to a neuro-diverse housing complex in Phoenix two years ago, she was both relieved and devastated. There simply was nothing anywhere near her Rumson home that would allow young Ryan to live an independent life with an overlay of needed support, she said.
“I had to make the choice as a parent, to leave my 19-year-old son, my only child, in Arizona,” she said. “I had to make the choice between the right program and being near family. And no parent should have to make that choice.”
On Thursday night, a nonprofit entity Fluharty created will go before the Red Bank zoning board with an alternative.
Black construction fencing surrounds a narrow lot Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank.
What’s Going On Here? redbankgreen sneaks a peak through a hole in the fence…
The Plug Naturals shop would replace a single-family house at 156 West Front Street if approved. (Google Maps photo. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Facing possible rejection over parking issues, representatives of a proposed Red Bank cannabis shop asked for time to revise their plans Monday night.
Plug Naturals hopes to create a retail cannabis shop in an existing house on West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Plans for yet another cannabis shop and an expansion of a popular bar are on the agenda when Red Bank’s newly reconstituted planning board meets for the first time Monday night.
A plan to redevelop a stretch of Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank was withdrawn almost two years ago. So why is a house on the site boarded up, with a bright red X painted on the front door?
Two new retail tenants will be coming to the building at the corner of Broad and Monmouth streets, says the landlord. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
One of downtown Red Bank’s landmark buildings appears on the verge of filling two retail vacancies, redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has learned.
Also in this edition of Churn: a restaurant is now dual-branded; an Italian ice shop opens; and a smoke shop plans to replace a “sip-and-paint” studio.
Monteverde NJ, at 45 North Bridge Avenue, hopes to strike a deal for 11 borough-owned spaces at the bend in Morford Place (marked in red at right). (Google Map. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Though none have yet opened, Red Bank now has three approved cannabis shops, following action by the planning board Monday night.
With an OK for Monteverde NJ to convert a former dry-cleaning shop, two pot retailers could open just steps apart on North Bridge Avenue.
Monteverde NJ hopes to open a marijuana store in a former dry cleaning shop on North Bridge Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Another would-be cannabis retailer goes before the Red Bank planning board Monday night.
The applicant, Monteverde NJ, seeks an OK to convert a former dry-cleaning shop on North Bridge Avenue to a pot shop.
A 40-foot-tall digital billboard would replace the existing display at 187 Riverside Avenue if approved. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
A hearing on a plan to erect a giant digital billboard at Red Bank’s northern gateway has been put off until late summer.
UPDATE: The May 18 zoning board meeting has been cancelled, according to a May 17 notice on the borough website.
Canopy Crossroad plans to lease 9 West Street, a portion of a building that also houses Red Bank Liquors. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed Red Bank marijuana shop that’s been a focal point in a running debate over cannabis zoning won approval from the borough planning board Monday night.
With a more welcoming council set to take office July 1, Canopy Crossroad now appears to have a clearer path to opening next door to Red Bank Liquors, though hurdles remain.
Plug Naturals LLC seeks board approval to create a cannabis store in a house on West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
An effort to tighten Red Bank’s controversial cannabis business zoning law faces a double-barreled challenge Monday night.
That’s when the owners of two proposed pot shops that would be less than 350 feet apart go to the planning board. Both are expected to argue they comply with the 2021 law.
A rendering of the proposed home of Canopy Crossroad at 9 West Street, next door to Red Bank Liquors. (Rendering by Stephen Raciti Architect. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan for a retail cannabis shop in Red Bank ran into some of the same objections fueling an effort to rewrite where such businesses can operate in town Monday night.
Among them: that it’s too close to a school.
An application to open a retail cannabis dispensary on West Street in Red Bank goes to the planning board Monday night – in the midst of a council effort to block it.
Formerly known as Azalea Gardens, the project will feature townhouses and two cottages. (Renderings by Thomas J. Brennan Architects. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
In the works for more than two decades, a housing development featuring a lush garden in downtown Red Bank will finally begin construction this summer, its principals said Thursday night.
Formerly known as Azalea Gardens, with a new name to be determined, the 16-home project now pairs longtime owner Ray Rapcavage with borough-based developer Roger Mumford, who’s built more than 4,000 homes in his career.
A proposed cannabis dispensary next door to Red Bank Liquors on West Street would be barred because it is within 1,000 feet of the Red Bank Charter School. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s pending cannabis zoning law does not comply with the borough’s Master Plan, the planning board found Monday night.
On a unanimous vote, the board rejected the controversial law, finding that it violates the plan’s goal of furthering economic development.
Azalea Gardens would be built on Harding Road, between Clay Street and Hudson Avenue. (Google Maps photo. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank may get an update on a long-pending downtown housing project this week.
Also on planning and zoning agendas: an EV charger law, and proposed zoning for cannabis businesses.
Gleaming displays at Salt & Smoke, on Prospect Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank may have lost one of its oldest neighborhood butcher shops last summer, but new owners are giving the space a new, spicier lease on life.
Also in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, a pottery instruction business takes over a tiny, hard-to-see spot in the heart of downtown.