Plans for West Front Street Project Atop Pazzo Reconsidered

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By Allison Perrine

This rendering by Feinberg & Associates shows what was once under consideration for 141 West Front St. – a multistory mid-rise residential structure atop the existing Pazzo MMC restaurant downtown. Courtesy FEINBERG & ASSOCIATES P.C.

RED BANK – Concerns expressed by residents and zoning board members about a proposed mid-rise residential project atop the existing Pazzo MMX restaurant and adjacent parking garage on West Front Street have led its developer back to the drawing board.

At the Aug. 5 Red Bank Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, officials announced that the applicant, PRC Group of West Long Branch, requested an adjournment of the continued public hearing scheduled for that evening after “thoughtfully and reflectively” considering past comments and concerns from past meetings. Some of those concerns centered around the building’s proposed height and density.

The goal is to allow the applicant to “revise and rework” the scope of the proposal and revamp some elements “with an eye to- wards realizing the salutary public benefits and advantageous attributes” the project can bring to surrounding neighborhoods, wrote Peter Wersinger, the applicant’s attorney, in a letter to the board dated Aug. 5.

The board does not have a set date for the hearing to resume but it will, once revised plans from the applicant are submitted; a new notice will be issued prior to the hearing the existing parking garage would have been expanded with new lobby areas, elevators, revised vehicular and pedestrian access to the site and additional site and open space area upgrades, the application states. The vacant former Sandford Auto Body Service at 21 West St. would be demolished.

The applicant later returned before the board with revisions, some of which included decreasing the number of stories proposed from nine to seven; decreasing the number of residential units proposed from 150 to 137, all of which were slightly reconfigured in size; a reduction of the total height of the project from 125 feet to 122 feet; and a pull-back of the façade of the building on West Street by 8 feet.

Plans were again revised in 2021, most notably decreasing the height of the structure to 92 feet with 99 residential units proposed, 10 of which would be designated as affordable. Additionally, the application called for 461 parking spaces where 632 would be required. A 5,000-square-foot rooftop outdoor dining space was to be included atop the structure.

The board will meet again Aug. 19 at 6:30 p.m. Public hearings are also scheduled for the following applications:

211 Shrewsbury Ave., The Parker Family Health Center – seeking to add 1,328 square feet of first floor area to its building.

120 Monmouth St., Park Valley Monmouth, LLC – seeking preliminary and final major site plan approval to construct a mixed-use structure containing residential and retail features.

This article originally appeared in the Aug. 12-18, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.