LONG BRANCH – Amid the rubble of the building demolitions in the lower Broadway corridor stands an old warehouse undergoing a metamorphosis into a craft brewery, beer hall and garden.

The warehouse, at the corner of Second Avenue and Broadway, is owned by Preston Casertano, who is taking a gamble on the revitalization of lower Broadway.

"I'll be open in September, that is my goal," said Casertano, 59, a retired software executive who was raised in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn but resides in Manalapan today.

He hatched the plan for The WhiteChapel Projects in 2013. His vision was to give the century-old building in a blighted section of the city a new life. The beer hall's construction has been slow but methodical and is now almost complete.

Casertano gutted the three-story building, which was built in 1900, literally "brick by brick." He then repurposed 72,000 red bricks from the original warehouse to make the open courtyard which can be seen in the video above.

The tanks for the brewery are in place, as are the buildings electrical, sprinkler and heating systems.

"The warehouse was in bad shape, but rather than tear it down completely, I'd thought I'd let it be reborn as something else," he said.

Casertano is a believer in urban revival projects such as the ones that have occurred in his old Red Hook neighborhood, in Bushwick a post-industrial section of Brooklyn or more locally in Asbury Park.

He named The WhiteChapel Projects after a section of East London where he visited various beer gardens. It also is the section of London where the infamous Jack the Ripper murders were committed in the 1880s.

"What I was looking for is areas that were coming back to life," said Casertano.

Lower Broadway renaissance

Lower Broadway already looks nothing like the neighborhood Casertano bought into when he purchased the warehouse. That's due in large part to Long Branch Partners, the owners of 51 properties in the blighted 10-acre lower Broadway tract.

The Montville-based real estate developer, which bought the properties in 2014, has knocked down most of the decrepit buildings on the block in the last eight months. The developer's plan is to build mixed-use buildings with retail and residences.

Mayor Adam Schneider told the Asbury Park Press in June that he expects Long Branch Partners will be ready to submit a site plan this fall.

Broadway is part of ongoing redevelopment initiative that started in 1996 with eminent domain struggles as the city set out to transform several blighted neighborhoods.

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"The future is pretty bright. If you've been down here on a Saturday you can see the parking lots are pretty packed because of the beach," said Casertano.

The crowds coming to the beachfront is another source of potential customers Casertano hopes to tap into it.

The WhiteChapel Projects will be more than just craft beers. Casertano will serve a French-inspired gastropub menu and host a creative-event space for art galleries and music.

Competition with Asbury Park

Casertano has drawn another small business owner willing to bet on Broadway making a comeback.

"I was committed to the area regardless, but with Preston here I knew this area would rebound," said Patrick Dean, 45 of Neptune, owner of Trident Arts at 220 Broadway.

Dean, who also owns Neptune Tattooville, bought the 1910-era building last year and has created an art studio and gallery. Like Casertano, he is taking a risk that redevelopment will bring people back to Broadway and give him a return on his investment.

"Asbury has its own scene. I thought if I come here and work with Preston we could create a little scene here," said Dean.

Dan Radel: 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com