contingent on renovation plan approval
Transfer of property
contingent on renovation plan approval
BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer
RED BANK — The borough Planning Board last week approved the subdivision of the Victorian Courtyard on Monmouth Street, clearing the way for the sale of the Dublin House.
Board members approved a minor subdivision that will allow the lot that now encompasses the historic building that is the site of The Dublin House and the row of courtyard shops to the east to be split into two lots.
The subdivision will split the 11,009 -square-foot site in the CCD-2 Zone into two lots: 15.021 will have 4,283 square feet and lot 15.022 will have 6,726 square feet. The primary food and retail uses on site are permitted in the historic district.
"We are essentially drawing a line down the middle to permit us to sell off one of the lots," Judge William Himelman told the meeting. Himelman is a principal in Ten Co., which owns the property at 30 Monmouth St. "Nothing is changing, no development will take place."
Himelman told the board that contracts are pending for the sale of The Dublin House lot to two individuals who operate Irish pubs in New York and Ireland and who plan to extensively renovate the circa 1835 building. Approval of the subdivision is a condition of the sale.
"The contracts are signed and we hope to close by the first week in January," he told the Nov. 24 board meeting.
Ten Co. has owned the Victorian Courtyard properties for some 20 years. The sale would involve only the historic Dublin House building; The Ten Co. would retain ownership of the shops.
The subdivision application sought variances for minimum unoccupied open space, lot frontage and parking, all pre-existing nonconforming conditions.
In a separate, but related, transaction, the sale of The Dublin House restaurant/pub business and liquor license to the same two investors by current owner Kevin Lynn is pending approval of the transfer of the liquor license by the mayor and council.
Ten Co., which began as a group of ten local investors more than 40 years ago, is a major downtown property owner and the four remaining principals are generally loathe to sell off properties. Himelman said the group wanted to lease the property but the partners wanted to own the structure.
"We’ve never sold anything," Himelman said. "We’ve owned properties around here since the 1960s. This piece of property is very expensive to maintain," he said of the Second Empire building. "It’s old and costs a lot to keep up but we feel it’s a key piece of the town.
"This property is important to us and we didn’t want to sell, but this was the only way this could be done," he continued. "They are making a very large investment and they wanted to own the property. I think they are going to do the right thing."
According to Himelman, Irish brewer Guinness will have a large part in future renovations of The Dublin House and an architect for the Dublin-based brewery is working on the project.
According to the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission, the three-story Robert Allen House was constructed between 1835-1860. The residence of former Red Bank Mayor Robert Allen Jr. was originally located on Broad Street, opposite Mechanic Street and was moved twice, away from the expanding commercial center of the downtown.
The first move in 1905 was south on Broad, opposite Wallace; then in 1908, the structure was moved to its present site on Monmouth Street, which had recently been extended to intersect with Broad Street. The building was converted to commercial use in late 1971 and housed a succession of restaurants.
It was vacant when Lynn opened the Dublin House there 13 years ago, after operating The Dubliner Pub on Bridge Avenue near the Red Bank Train Station for seven years.