West Elm furniture store coming to Red Bank

An upscale furniture retailer will soon open its first location in Monmouth and Ocean counties, marking the second major tenant to lease space within the West Side Lofts, which remain under construction in the borough’s arts and antiques district.

West Elm, which sells modern furniture and other types of home accessories and decor, will fill the building’s 11,200-square-foot corner storefront at Bridge Avenue and West Front Street.

The store will mark the retailer’s third location in New Jersey, with the other two in Paramus and Princeton. Store officials declined to comment on when it will open.

The subsidiary of Williams-Sonoma -- a San Francisco-based high-end retailer of home furnishings and gourmet cookware -- typically hires 30 employees per store, including associate managers, home stylists, managers, and associates focused on community building, event planning and social media. Meanwhile, Triumph Brewing Co. will occupy the opposite corner of the building, where it will open a 12,150-square-foot brewpub in June.

“It’s going to draw a large crowd over to the arts and antiques district, but I think that that will definitely have a spillover effect into the whole town itself,” said James Scavone, executive director of Red Bank RiverCenter, the nonprofit downtown management organization that promotes the borough's businesses. “It definitely is a draw for customers, but more than that ... it will help us draw other types of businesses that are similar to West Elm.”

The West Side Lofts, a five-story commercial and residential building, sit on a two-acre construction site that forms a horseshoe around Danny’s Grill & Wine Bar on Bridge Avenue near West Front Street. Outside, the building will feature a West Coast-inspired design with balconies and trees. Inside, it will offer one- and two-bedroom finished lofts, two-story townhouses, three-story apartments with private roof decks, and 25,000 square feet of retail space.

“It is a great addition because...those mixed-use types of projects bring ready-made customers to the downtown,” Scavone said. “Those people are going to do their shopping and get their laundry cleaned and all that sort of stuff right in downtown Red Bank ... It’s a win-win all around. We got a beautiful project, we’re bringing people right to live in the downtown and some great retail on top of it.”