Former Brick Friendly’s Building May Never Be a Restaurant Again

The former Brick Friendly’s restaurant at 741 Brick Boulevard. (Credit: Real Estate Listing)

The building that long housed the local Friendly’s restaurant location in Brick Township may have a new, permanent use altogether, ending its decades-long run as a property which housed casual dining.

A plan set to be presented to the township’s planning board at an upcoming meeting calls for the building to be converted to an extension of the Comcast building next door, acting as an unmanned switching and backup station as the company rolls out new fiber optic and wireless products that are expected to, eventually, supplant traditional cable hookups.

The Friendly’s restaurant, at 741 Brick Boulevard, was located next door to what was once a Comcast customer service office at 751 Brick Boulevard. The Comcast office shut its doors to customers several years ago, forcing patrons to go southward to Toms River, where an office that sells the company’s Xfinity suite of products is located in a shopping center near the Ocean County Mall. The closure of manned cable offices is not limited to Comcast; its rival Altice USA, which operates the Optimum suite of products, closed its Ocean County locations over the last several years, forcing customers on the barrier island and Lakewood to travel to Wall Township. Likewise, its Seaside Heights office has become an unmanned switching and fiber backup station.

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Under the plan due to be presented to the board, Comcast would move most of its operations to the Friendly’s building, and use of the former customer service building is “anticipated to be eliminated.” Comcast is seeking board approval to change the building’s formal use to a telecommunications facility for Comcast with two new generators. Ancillary improvements include parking lot modifications, landscaping, lighting and security fencing. It was stated in a submission letter to the township that the proposed facility will be unmanned, generate minimal vehicle traffic and will be serviced by periodic maintenance. The roof will be reconstructed and the building will stand 35-feet in height. There will also be interior renovations.

In a letter from the engineering firm representing Comcast, the intent of adding a new facility next door to the existing facility will allow Comcast to “upgrade the telecommunications services to continue to provide reliable and state-of-the-art services to Brick Township residents.”

The former Friendly’s building will be leased by Comcast from 226 Market Realty, a Bronx, N.Y. company. The property is located in the B-3 Highway Business Development zone. After Friendly’s closed, several casual restaurants opened in its place, including “Shut Up and Eat,” a whimsical eatery known for its policy of welcoming customers in their pajamas, and Come 2 Mama’s, which served homestyle dishes for breakfast and lunch.

Friendly’s, as a whole, has survived several rounds of bankruptcy protection, but currently operates just 105 locations nationwide, down from 850 restaurants at its peak in the mid-1990s.