A redevelopment proposal would transform this warehouse into a beer and scultpure garden, restaurant, meeting area and more.

By Neil Schulman
Long Branch — The latest redevelopment proposal in the city would turn an old warehouse on the corner of Broadway at Second Avenue into a “unique offering of food, drink and creativity unlike anything on the Jersey Shore,” according to developer Preston Casertano.

At the July 23 City Council meeting, Casertano outlined his plans for the building he plans to call Whitechapel, after the London neighborhood where he got the inspiration for it.
Casertano’s plan calls for completely redesigning the building, taking down most of the two top floors except for a distinctive tower on the side. The bricks and timbers for those floors will be reused elsewhere, creating a new courtyard.
Whitechapel will include a beer and sculpture garden. Beer gardens started in 19th century Bavaria, and in recent years have become more popular in the U.S., he said. The garden would offer “food on the grill and art on display.”
It would also include a beer hall, an inviting place for all seasons. Casertano says that he has an award-winning chef ready to run the kitchen, and that Whitechapel will brew its own beer — and let visitors watch the process from brewing to bottling. This would be the city’s first brewery, he said.
“Craft beer is expanding faster than any time since prohibition ended,” he noted.
Other types of alcohol would also be served; he has a full liquor license.
The roof of the building will house a rooftop garden, which will grow vegetables for the kitchen and hops for the beer. Rooftop gardens also serve as insulation, cooling buildings in the summer and keeping heat in during winter, he said. Rain water will be collected to water the vegetables. Whitechapel is being designed as an eco-friendly project.
One section of the warehouse would be turned into an events space, appropriate for private parties, weddings, or “pop up restaurants.”
Pop up restaurants are when a chef is given space and allowed to experiment with new concepts for a few weeks. Owners of famous restaurants like them, since it gives them a chance to try out new menu items instead of cooking the same menu constantly. They are generally marketed heavily in advance and booked quickly.
Casertano said he came up with the idea because of all the traveling he had to do while working in the software industry for 30 years. Much of his down time was spent at galleries in Europe, and he wanted to bring the feeling he experienced there to the city.
He came up with the name when he was in London, looking for some work by the famous street artist Banksy. He was looking in the Whitechapel neighborhood.
Casertano noted that Whitechapel would be one of the first buildings that drivers see when heading up Broadway from the oceanfront, and a convenient distance for visitors staying at the Ocean Place Resort or hotels in Pier Village.
Before it can be built, council will need to give approval as the redevelopment agency for the city, and the Planning Board will also need to sign off on the project. Casertano says that with approvals and financing, he’d start work as soon as possible.
“Ideally, I would love to open by next summer,” he said.