Board grants approval for mall expansion Construction on four new buildings at Route 35 site to start next month BY DANIEL HOWLEY Staff Writer EATONTOWN - An expansion at Monmouth Mall on Route 35 has been approved and will include the construction of four new buildings to house several retailers and a restaurant. The construction on underground electrical and sewer lines at the site for the expansion project is expected to start in April, according to Eatontown Zoning Officer Peggy Ciok. The Planning Board granted the applicant final site plan approval for the project at the March 10 meeting. The project will bring several retailers and restaurants to the area, including a Barnes & Noble, Ulta Cosmetics, Jared's jewelry and a Chipotle Spanish restaurant. "We expect new companies will be doing business here and in turn bring in more new customers," said Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo. The project is broken down into four sections, named sites A through D for each of the four new buildings to be constructed at the site. Applicant Vornado Trust Realty, who owns the mall, received approval from the board on March 10 for site D, the final site to be approved by the Planning Board. Site D will be built on the outskirts of the mall's parking lot, bordering the Route 35 and Route 36 intersection. A preliminary site plan approval for site D was granted in January and final site plan approval for the 18,000-squarefoot building was granted this month. Plans for the site call for an Ulta Cosmetics and Chipotle Spanish restaurant to occupy the space. The applicant received final site plan approval from the Planning Board for sites Aand C in November and for site B in January. The mall expansion project will add an additional 113,824 square feet of retail and restaurant space to the already 1.5 million square-foot mall, according to the application on file. Plans for siteAcall for a 50,000-squarefoot building to be constructed attached to the mall's main structure. Site B will be a 30,452-square-foot building, also attached to the mall's main structure. Site A will be attached to the mall's parking deck and Boscov's Department Store. At the time the applicant received approval for site A, the structure was slated to be occupied by a Dick's Sporting Goods store. Since the time of the approval, the business pulled out of the project, Tarantolo said, adding that a new occupant has not been found to fill the space. Construction on site A will not begin until a new occupant is found to occupy the space in order to prevent the building from standing unoccupied, according to Tarantolo. Site B is to be occupied by a Barnes & Noble bookstore, according to the application on file. Site C is planned to be a 14,202- square-foot structure on the outskirts of the mall's parking lot and bordering Route 35. A Jared's jewelry store, a Fresh City restaurant and a Bobby's Burger Palace will occupy site C, according to the application. The Monmouth Mall is the borough's largest taxpayer, according to Tarantolo, who said the establishment contributes between $4 million and $5 million annually to the borough. The Monmouth Mall is currently the state's fifth-largest mall, encompassing approximately 103 acres at its Route 35 site. The mall contains over 150 stores and a 15-screen movie theater.