The Planning Board granted informal approval to minor changes to the Main & Monroe development, namely shifting the lobby entrances to the two buildings from Main Street to a new extension of Monroe Street.

The five-story, 208-unit Main & Monroe development originally was granted site plan approval by the Planning Board three years ago. The process since then revealed a few changes, including relocation of the lobbies, a change in the HVAC system, and a final determination that brick and fiber cement would be used across both buildings.

Planning Board attorney John Pidgeon explained that commissioners had the option whether to require the applicant to come back for amended site plan approval or if changes were minor enough to handle them administratively by the zoning officer.

John Hague of the Woodbridge law firm of Greenbaum, Howe Smith & Davis represented the developer, Dornoch II, LLC, commonly referred to as the Slokker project because Slokker Real Estate Group took over the original project that fell through.

Bob Giannone of Hoboken-based Fields Development Group, a partner in the development, explained the changes to the board during a brief presentation at tonight’s meeting.

A PTAC (Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner) HVAC system would require a grill underneath, not unlike most new buildings in Rahway, Giannone said.

The entrances to the buildings initially were planned to front onto Main Street. The proposed changes would shift the lobby entrances across from each other on Monroe Street to create continuity, Giannone said. “It’s vital to the development,” he told the Planning Board, to better activate the pedestrian activity along Monroe Street, which will be extended from Main Street to East Cherry Street as part of the plan. The extension of Monroe Street, which will run one-way from Main Street to East Cherry Street.

Restaurants might take the corner retail spaces with shops in the middle, complementing Luciano’s Ristorante and the new development across Main Street, he said, but that’s still in discussions. The changes would highlight the residential portion of the plan to avoid Monroe Street becoming “a crazy speedway” for motorists aiming to get to the train station, Giannone said. In response to a question about crosswalks between the lobbies, he said they’re open to discussions.

Asked if there’s any timeline on construction, Giannone said soil excavation has been completed and replaced with clean fill and they hope to submit plans this week or next week.

Main & Monroe would feature two buildings, with rental apartments topped by ground-floor level of 198 parking spaces. The extension of a new public street on Monroe would include 13 new metered spaces, according to the originally approved application, along with 14 spaces along Main Street, where now there about seven. The existing Lot B and street parking currently totals about 63 parking spaces and a new 55-space lot would be owned and operated by the Parking Authority, along with about seven on-street spaces.

The south building is the larger of the two, at 116 units, and  will be constructed first, possibly breaking ground later this year.