By Sunayana Prabhu
RED BANK – The borough’s planning board voted to approve a scaled-down version of the mixed-use train station redevelopment plan at its June 11 meeting, once again coming face-to- face with both hope and hesitation from the public about affordable housing, traffic and community character.
The area around the train station is one of the largest to be redeveloped in the borough and is now much closer to fruition after years of investment in the studies, community engagement workshops and public input sessions.
The only significant change to the borough’s redevelopment plan discussed at the meeting was a reduction in building height for the north parcel near Monmouth Street, according to Susan Favate, the borough’s planner for the project.
The updated plan now caps building height at five stories, or 60 feet, for the entire parcel across both the north and south sections – a revision from the originally proposed six stories for the northern parcel. New renderings reflecting the change were submitted, and to accommodate the height reduction, the developer revised the unit mix. Ground-floor residential space along West Street was increased, while retail and commercial space was reduced.
Favate said the added residential frontage gives the area a more low-density feel.
The plan, to be developed by Denholtz Properties, would create about 350 residential units – down from the original 400 – on NJ Transit property. Of those, approximately 70 would be designated as affordable housing units, reflecting a reduction from the previously planned 80 units.
Congestion Concerns
Despite the changes, the project continues to face significant pushback.
Parking issues came under scrutiny during the meeting.
Jamie Learn, a local commuter, told the board she can’t walk to the train station and, while she doesn’t have to commute every day, she wanted to ensure commuters will “be able to access parking and the pricing isn’t going to go up to something totally insane.”
NJ Transit, the property owner, requested 150 commuter parking spaces in the development, but, “nobody here is going to guarantee you a parking spot,” board chair Dan Mancuso replied bluntly. “I hope (to) have someone from New Jersey Transit testify to all of that when we do the site plan later this year. But guaranteed response isn’t going to happen, and we don’t know how much it’s going to cost right now.”
Some residents feared the development would exacerbate existing other parking challenges and congestion in the borough. “People are ready to kill each other for a parking spot,” said Linda Cohen, a local business owner. “What I see happening in Red Bank is very disturbing. It was a beautiful town. It was very, very enjoyable walking around. Now you dodge bullets (traffic) every time you walk across the street.”
David Cookson said the train station plan “is going to create even more traffic, and I haven’t heard one plan about addressing the traffic issue.”
Mayor Billy Portman argued that “the majority of traffic issues are people cutting through Red Bank, not necessarily the people that live here.” Portman cited upcoming developments, including 300 units at Monmouth Park and the redevelopment of Monmouth Mall and Fort Monmouth. “I think if we never built another unit in Red Bank, traffic would continue to get worse.”
The board suggested that future site plan reviews would provide more detailed information about parking logistics, but offered no immediate assurances to concerned commuters worried about maintaining their current transit access.
Resident Alan Hill said he feels NJ Transit, which owns the property, has not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. “In fact, New Jersey Transit has one of the worst recovery figures in the country,” said Hill, who believes NJ Transit is hopeful the project will bring in more commuters, similar to proposals at Princeton Junction and Aberdeen stations. Although those had “not delivered the improvement they need,” he said.
Housing Needs
“The problem is bigger than Red Bank,” resident Mary-Ellen Mess said. “See all the big box buildings going up all over the state and, ultimately, it’s really not going to solve the housing crisis, because we have too much luxury housing and not enough housing for working people with families.”
Some residents, however, supported the project. Frank Bontempo praised the development’s potential to provide housing for young professionals and contribute to the town’s diversity. John Anderson, chairman of the Red Bank RiverCenter, appreciated the housing component. “We believe that the people that are going to live in these units will dine in our restaurants and will shop in our shops,” he said.
“I think anybody that cares about what’s happening here knows that this is a great, great addition to the town,” resident Drew Logan said. “We should be building as many affordable units as possible. An influx of 400 units worth of new residents will dramatically affect the businesses in downtown Red Bank.”
The vote on Wednesday to move the plan forward for borough council approval passed eight to one, with the only dissenting vote coming from board member Itzel Hernandez, who objected to a reduced number of affordable homes in the scaled-down version of the plan.
“Affordable housing is the first thing to get negotiated away in any project,” said Hernandez. “I disagree fundamentally that affordable housing is the easiest thing to consider giving up here. I’d give up not liking the look of a building to provide housing for more people, if I could. If more people did that, there wouldn’t be a housing shortage.”
The borough is obligated to allow zoning for the construction of a state-mandated 154 affordable units in the next 10 years to comply with the Fair Share Housing Law.
The planning board’s recommendation now goes to the borough council for final approval, with site plan details to be reviewed in future meetings.
Details of the Approved Plan
The redevelopment plans include approximately 350 residential units.
The exact number of parking spaces will be determined during future site plan approvals. However, according to the March 2025 redevelopment plan, a minimum of 150 parking spaces will be provided for commuters and the general public, both on-street and within garages. On-street parking will be limited to a maximum of 75 spaces in the North Parcel and 55 spaces in the South Parcel, both located along newly proposed north-south streets. The total number of parking spaces for residents, commuters and the public is estimated at 725.
The existing Bridge Street commuter lot will remain unchanged. Additional parking spaces for NJ Transit rail yard employees will be added in the South Parcel and are not included in the 725-space maximum.
Additionally, the plan includes 50,000 square feet of retail space, traffic-calming measures, pedestrian-only streets, and significant green spaces.
The entire redevelopment area, approximately 25 acres, incorporates parcels on either side of the railroad tracks, generally between Monmouth Street to the north and Drs. James Parker Boulevard to the south, including the east-west cross streets of Oakland, Chestnut, Herbert, Leonard, Catharine and River streets.
The redevelopment focuses on two primary areas around the train station: the north and south sides of the tracks, which are primarily used as commuter parking lots, infrastructure serving the commuter train station and adjacent rail yard, and the borough’s Department of Public Works (DPW) facilities. It also covers several commercial buildings and associated parking lots.
The plan envisions a mixed-use development and a community gathering hub that bridges the divide between the east and west sides of Red Bank.
Denholtz Properties is the official developer of the transit village and listed online as NJ Transit’s development partner. The properties are owned by a mix of several public, private and nonprofit entities: NJ Transit owns 8.42 acres, Denholtz Properties owns 1.73 acres, the Borough of Red Bank owns 1.19 acres, Count Basie Theatre Inc. owns 1.52 acres, and KLE Properties LLC owns 0.09 acres. According to the redevelopment study plan, this ownership means that most of the Redevelopment Area is tax-exempt; while the area has a total assessed value of about $12.4 million, it generated just $87,830 in property taxes in 2023.
The Timeline of the Project
In 2018, the borough initiated the process of seeking transit village designation from the New Jersey Department of Transportation; however, the process lagged during the pandemic. In December 2023, the council directed the planning board to conduct a preliminary investigation to determine if certain properties around the train station constituted a “non-condemnation area in need of redevelopment.” The planning board hired BFJ Planning to complete the study, which was presented in 2024 at the board’s regular meeting. The drafts were revised again over several meetings until zoning board approval last week. Denholtz is now required to return with a blueprint of the plan for planning board and zoning board input.
The article originally appeared in the June 19 – 25, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
