Apartments on the Red Bank NJ Transit train station parking lots? Borough clears a path

RED BANK - Could apartments be built on Red Bank’s train station parking lots?

The Borough Council voted on Thursday night to designate the NJ Transit parking lots as an area in need of redevelopment, which could pave the way for development around the train station.

In total, 18 lots were included in the redevelopment area. They include the train station parking lots, NJ Transit’s rail yard, St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church’s parking lot, Mayo Auto Service next to Juanito’s Restaurant on Monmouth Street, a house at the corner of Oakland and West streets, the nonprofit theater Phoenix Productions, the Monmouth Conservatory of Music (both owned by the Count Basie Center for the Arts) and the borough’s public utility buildings. The planning board excluded Juanito’s from the study area due to not meeting the criteria for redevelopment.

In January 2019, the borough looked to apply for a state transit village designation. However, the state Department of Transportation required that the borough either pass a zoning ordinance or a redevelopment plan to obtain the designation.

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According to NJ Transit, the transit village initiative exists to incentivize municipalities to build apartments or retail locations around its train stations. In Red Bank, a proposed development by Denholtz Properties, which owns The Rail at Red Bank, is listed on NJ Transit’s website. The Centre at Red Bank would contain apartments, retail space and public parking.

In early April, the borough’s planning board agreed that the redevelopment study was in line with the borough’s master plan.

Susan Favate with BFJ Planning, who authored the study, called the parking lots “underutilized,” but said eminent domain was not on the table. That means, if the owner of one of the 18 lots does not want to develop on the lot, the borough cannot take the property. Denholtz currently owns NJ Transit Lot 8 and the parking lot next to St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church’s Parish Office on Oratory Way.

The total assessed value of all 13 acres is approximately $13.5 million, which resulted in a tax revenue of $109,530 in 2023.

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Red Bank resident Dan Riordan spoke against the redevelopment effort, stating that the borough is a desirable place and developers will approach the borough without any incentives. He said he was concerned about the possible PILOTs, or payments in lieu of taxes that could result in tax breaks for developers. Under a PILOT, a developer agrees to pay a set fee for a certain number of years, rather than the property tax, which can change every year.

The redevelopment study found that all the lots except the single-family home, Juanito’s Restaurant, Mayo Auto Service and the properties owned by the Basie Center were dilapidated or obsolete. It specifically found that the Department of Public Works buildings were “lacking both in condition and function.”

For anything to be built in the study area, the planning board would need to come up with a redevelopment plan. The plan would delineate what the board believes is acceptable to be built in those areas.

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Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Red Bank train station parking lots may get apartments under new plan