After four-year delay, Red Bank could get its largest apartment building

RED BANK – A fence has gone up around the brick building at 176 Riverside Avenue, indicating that construction on the largest apartment building in the borough could begin after four years of delays and changes to its plans.

'I don't want to leave': Why Howell mechanic is closing shop after 30 years

The 212-unit apartment building, which will be built by developer Saxum Real Estate on the site of the former headquarters of the Visiting Nurses Association Health Group, was first approved in December 2019.

But, after a failed attempt to have the property redesigned as ‘in need of rehabilitation,’ which would have made it eligible for tax breaks, Saxum came back to the planning board in April 2022 with new designs after acquiring Colony House’s parking lot. Colony House is located across Bodman Place.

The new plans increased the number of apartments from 210 to 212 units and the number of parking spaces from 326 to 420 parking spaces. Sixty of the parking spaces would be reserved for Colony House residents. The apartment would also have 32 affordable apartments and a retail space that could be a small café.

Pizza: Zoni's in Middletown takes first place in Jersey Shore Pizza War

Of the 212 units, 87 would be one-bedroom apartments, 119 would be two-bedroom apartments and six would be three-bedroom apartments.

According to the Red Bank Building Department, a demolition permit was approved in January 2023.

Saxum Real Estate did not respond to a request for comment.

The developer had asked that the now-disbanded redevelopment agency redesignate the area of the VNA building an area in need of “redevelopment” as opposed to just “rehabilitation" in 2021.

With the redevelopment designation, the developer would have been eligible to seek a tax relief plan that could come in the form of payments in lieu of taxes, commonly known as a PILOT.

Dining: Jersey Shore Restaurant Week is back, with lunch and dinner deals at more than 60 spots

PILOTs could be controversial as the payments would go to the borough, but not the local school district. PILOTs could be used to encourage speculative investment in areas developers may otherwise ignore.

The borough planning board rejected the redesignation in October 2021.

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: Largest Red Bank apartment could come after over four years of delay