Pullman Architects’ design for the building that now houses Kislin’s Sporting Goods calls for making the top two floors into apartments and creating two separate retail spaces on the first floor.

While they ponder the future of their nearly 100-year-old business, members of the Pinsley family are undertaking a major renovation that will convert the Kislin’s Sporting Goods building at 8 E. Front Street to a mix of retail and residential use.

An application by the Pinsley Family Limited Partnership/Red Bank to redevelop the Kislin’s building, an Italianate structure dating to the late 19th century, was approved by the Red Bank Planning Board Monday.

The project proposes exterior and interior renovations that will reconfigure the retail space on the first floor of the 26,000-square-foot building into two spaces and create 10 loft-style apartments on the second and third floors of the structure, permitted uses in the CCD-2 Zone.

The application includes the Kislin’s building, which occupies a 90-by-191-foot tract along the south side of East Front Street adjacent to Combs Alley and is assessed at $1.03 million, and an accessory, off-site parking lot at East Front and Wharf Avenue that currently serves Kislin’s customers.

According to Chris Richter, a family member and real estate developer who will oversee the $2.5 million renovation, Pinsley family members will decide whether to keep Kislin’s operating in part or all of the new retail space at street level at 8 E. Front St.

In operation in Red Bank for close to 100 years, Kislin’s is a fourth-generation business. Founded by immigrant Leon Kislin in 1908, day-to-day operations of Kislin’s are currently overseen by Leon’s daughter, Doris Pinsley, his granddaughter, Blair Richter, and great-granddaughter Shawn Richter, who cater to the needs of the third and fourth generation of Kislin’s customers.

"This is a very emotional time for us," acknowledged Doris Pinsley recently. "We’ve been in Red Bank for almost 100 years."

Richter told the Planning Board that members of the Pinsley Family Ltd. Partnership decided the best use for the property at this point in Red Bank’s history would be to redevelop the building to provide living space on the upper stories which are now used for storage.

"The decision to develop the property was based on the realization that the second and third stories will be great for the town to develop as apartments," he said. "They’re a tremendous asset and are underutilized right now."

Contributing to the decision was the realization that the building needed renovation, he explained, and family members decided to undertake a complete interior renovation.

During 1999-2000, the brick facade was repointed and painted to highlight the architectural features of the building, which is within Red Bank’s Historic District.

"The renovations needed are typical of any historical structure, floors sagging, restrooms needed updating, the building is poorly insulated, the normal stuff that is typical of an old building that needs to be put back together again," explained Richter, who has been involved in the renovation of historic buildings in Hoboken and Jersey City.

Renovations will preserve the architectural integrity of the structure, he said, and the loft-style apartments will feature exposed brick walls and roof rafters, windows restored architecturally, and large kitchen, dining and living areas.

According to Richter, the second and third story spaces will each be converted to five apartments, four will be 1,400 square feet and have two bedrooms, and one will be 1,100 square feet with a single bedroom.

The Planning Board approved variances including front setback, unoccupied open space, parking along Combs Alley, a parking shortfall, and signs and design waivers to permit a change in use from retail to mixed use of retail.

While 53 parking spaces are required for the mix of retail and residential uses, the project provides 33 spaces. The 20-space shortfall will require a $25,000 contribution to the Municipal Parking Utility Capital Improvement Fund.

Nineteen of the parking spaces will be located at the rear of the building for use by tenants of the apartment and employees or customers of the retail uses. Fourteen spaces are provided in the parking lot at East Front Street and Wharf Avenue. The applicant agreed to resurface Combs Alley, a public right of way adjacent to the building and the only access to the rear parking lot.

Project architect Jeffrey Pullman of Pullman Architects, Demarest, told the Planning Board the design calls for a central core lobby for the residential space, with stairs and an elevator to access all floors, including the basement, which will be used by tenants for storage of large items such as bicycles, and by retail tenants; two double-door entrances on Front Street to access the retail space; and canopies over the three entrances.

Retail space totaling 8,100 square feet will flank the central lobby.

In addition, windows on the east, south and west sides of the building which are presently blocked will be opened and the lintels cleaned and restored; the east, south and west walls of the building will be restored and resurfaced; a new central core stairway and entrance will be installed in the south wall of the building adjacent to the rear parking lot; and two new entrances for the retail space.

Planning Board member and Red Bank Mayor Edward J. McKenna Jr. lauded the project as "intelligent redevelopment" and "a sensitive design" in keeping with the character of the municipality and one that retains retail space.

Should family members decide to close the longtime store, McKenna said it would be missed.

"I’ve been going to Kislin’s since I was in first grade," he said. "If they decide not to move forward, it will be missed. I got my first pair of ice skates there and my first basketball."