A concept plan to improve the English Plaza strip mall and the section of White Street that leads to the strip mall is on the Red Bank Borough Council’s table.
During a council meeting on Sept. 26, James Scavone, executive director of Red Bank RiverCenter, said the nonprofit organization that manages the Special Improvement District has been awarded a zero interest loan from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to help fund improvements to English Plaza.
ENGenuity Infrastructure of Red Bank has designed a concept plan for the improvement initiative, Scavone said.
Jaclyn Flor, president and CEO of ENGenuity Infrastructure, said White Street and English Plaza will be revamped to improve safety and parking. The economic and environmental viability of the site will also be enhanced, she said.
English Plaza, which has several businesses as tenants, requires “aesthetic improvements to make the area more inviting,” Flor said. Physical improvements to White Street and the strip mall will coincide with Red Bank’s “live, work, dine and play” initiative, she said.
“We want to make this a place where people want to come in order to frequent the businesses. Also, this area can be programmed for events,” Flor said.
Flor described the lighting in the English Plaza parking lot as sub-par and said the parking lot has inadequate room for vehicle and pedestrian circulation. There are tripping hazards, issues with vehicles double parking, and loading challenges that need to be addressed, Flor said.
Flor said that as part of her firm’s work, she conducted 24 interviews with stakeholders in Red Bank. She said she also met with representatives from Jersey Central Power & Light to survey the area that is need of improvement.
“These stakeholders represented the entire Red Bank community,” Flor said. “We took the time to listen to what everybody had to say to try to figure out how we can incorporate all of those great ideas in order to create a space the entire community would want to see.”
Flor said she gathered feedback from stakeholders and came up with six possible designs. Those have been narrowed down to one concept plan that outlines the optimal use of the property, she said.
“People wanted to really balance out the space, but they thought it was very important to connect Riverside Gardens Park (on West Front Street) through to Monmouth Street,” possibly with a walkway, Flor said. “Ultimately … it was equally important to increase the parking and increase the balance of the space to make it programmable, but also to provide those connections.”
Flor said stakeholders would like to see the English Plaza parking lot used for multiple purposes and not strictly for parking purposes. Comparable to the White Street parking lot across the street, the English Plaza parking lot could be reconfigured to support activities such as events and a farmer’s market, she said.
Flor emphasized what she referred to as a “pedestrian connection” and noted the area could be designed to accommodate foot traffic and draw additional business to the retail vicinity. She proposed additional seating areas in the vicinity as well.
Flor said stakeholders would like to see improved lighting in the English Plaza parking lot, crosswalks with better visibility, sidewalk improvements, additional green space, drainage improvements and better circulation, among other concerns.
She said pavement enhancements to White Street and murals that could be displayed on walls and in alleys are also on the table for discussion.
Council members thanked Flor for the presentation and said they would take the concept plan under advisement.