The Ambiance...New Mid-rise condo...

[Jerry]

A new mid-rise condo is going up on Polify Road next to Rite Aid.  A sign recently went up saying "Coming Soon- The Ambiance- Luxury Condos."

Here is the company's web site. The condo's will start in the $300's.

http://www.thinkkaplan.com/distinctivehomes/

Maybe this new construction will help re-develop the two corners on Polify and Essex. What an eye-sore!

[sayhey]

It may help to redevelop the corner, but what Hackensack still lacks, is new housing that adds flavor, life, and a sense of community to neighborhoods.  Most of the new developments (high to mid rises) are self contained buildings.  They have little to offer to the surrounding areas and most people in these buildings are mostly transit people.   I met a lady about a year ago who moved here from a suburb of Milwaukee.  She lived on Prospect for a few months and made the choice of moving into the city because Hackensack was "country" and had nothing to offer.  I asked her has she attempted to meet other people outside of building or take part in different events offered throughout the areas and she responded with a "No".  That's the problem and that goes back to all of the new buildings going up.  The people have little inter-action with neighboring people outside of their building.  Therefore, one can't expect to experience what a community has to offer if you haven't attempted to explore and try something new.

[ericmartindale]

It's more the personal fault of the individual residents than it is the fault of the buildings themselves. From 1997 to 2000, I served on Board of Directors for the "Park Renaissance" condos at 300 Park Street. (actually, I named the building, too). I have a revelation regarding the people of these buildings who aren't interacting with the greater community of Hackensack. Guess what, they aren't interacting with their own neighbors in their own self-contained buildings either. My experience as a board member proved this out, and my building was a relatively tight-knit 40-unit 5-story complex. With only 40 units instead of hundreds, you would think everyone could get to know each other or at least recognize all their neighbors. We couldn't get people to board meetings, local block watch meetings, or even a neighborhood picnic that we tried one year. Our chair, Ana Romero, was the best at gathering people, and they came mainly because she went out of her way to extend personal invitations to her friends.

It's a serious societal problem brought about by the general selfishness of our nation.

One very small suggestion to improving the amount of community interaction in the buildings would be for the city to pass an ordinance requiring a community bulletin board be posted in every building, and allowing people from outside the building to do posting regarding community events and community issues. I'd love to hear more suggestions from other readers on this.

[Editor]

In response to the last two posts, my primary purpose in developing  Hackensack Now was to promote a sense of community that seems to have waned over the last several decades. I'm sure this is not a phenomenon unique to Hackensack.

See: About HackensackNow.com

The site continues its slow, steady growth.

   

[sayhey]

Not everyone's experience is as perfect as yours Eric.  The majority of the mid-rises and high-rises in Hackensack are geared towards people working in the city.  Most of the apartments/condos are not family oriented.  Your Park St. location is not the same as Prospect or Polify.  These locations are on main thoroughfares with mass transit that lead to NYC.  So the builders cater to that type of person.  You mid-rises sits in a real neighborhood as compared to Prospect and Polify.

[ericmartindale]

Sayhey, you've made a valid point. So what's the solution, do you want to NOT allow these type of buildings to be built. By your own admission, they are not family-oriented, and therefore won't be a burden to the school system. Ongoing construction of large buildings are important to stabilizing the tax base, and generally keep Hackensack from falling into a pattern of urban decline. I think they are good for Hackensack, so long as they are not built in single-family neighborhoods.

[sayhey]

Eric, two things I will address: first-  Building a studio/1bedrom apts will never attract families to Hackensack.  Also, advertising towards NYC/mass transit should decline.  If it must be a building (mid-rises/high-rises), make the advertising geared towards families with children and what the commmunity has to offer.  With children, the parents are more likely to get involved into the community.   I have never seen an advertising from these types of building looking for families.  I see more towards young singles or couples without children.  I understand the tax issues you have with building, but there has to be more to life then that.  Taxes can be one aspect of the issue, but things such as blending into the community as in doing daily business in the community.  A person from one of these buildings should feel OK to go the local store in the neighborhood, rather then a store in the city on the way home.  Hackensack shouldn't have to sell it's soul so that taxes don't go up.  If the property is that vaulable, the builder will do what he or she must have something of value on that land.  Hackensack is highly desireable regardless of what others think.  Hackensack is central located and people will come, just don't sell one's soul for a buck.

second- as far as burden on the school system, Hackensack has never really address the issue.  You should never discourage more children in the school system.  That's usually a sign of community growth.  Redirect some monies from too many administrators and move it towards the children's needs.   Like I said before, I lived in Lodi for a few years and the school (buildings/classes) were better addressed.   Lodi has half the student population of Hackensack, but its has more elementary schools.  That allows them to have few children per class, plus more parents were involved with the schools.  They had more of a community involvement with teachers and parents.  I don't think Hackensack attempts to make a connection with the parents.  Maybe if Hackensack had fewer chiefs and more indians, things could get done.  To me, it seems like Hackensack spends less time addressing the childrens needs and more on their own (adminstration).

[ericmartindale]

Sayhey --- I think we're getting a little closer to agreeing. I don't like studio's and tiny one-bedroom apartments either, for another reason. Eventually, they become housing for poor or indigent people who become a massive burden on the city in the form of crime, homelessness, and generally dragging the city down. Not right away, but just wait till any such building is 50 years old. Maybe the solution for multi-unit buildings is to make large units, with multiple rooms. I personally like units with lots of ammenities and distinguished architecture. That's what is under construction at Anderson & Prospect, although I'd much rather have kept the classic homes there.

As for taxes, I feel that it is important to work hard to keep them down, because it's part of the equation to making the city family-friendly. I agree with you that it's not the be-all and end-all, and I have no problem with spending tax money on community facilities and recreation facilities. I think there is ultimately a RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT that is hard to quantify. The existance of high-quality community and recreation facilities will increases property values in the city, so there would be more tax revenue coming in even though the community facilities and recreation facilities do not, themselves, generate taxes. Such a financial equation is very difficult to quantify, and for all practical purposes it is impossible to sell to the average "uneducated" voter. We tried that argument during the campaign for Borg's Woods, and we cited professional studies which documented that property values, on average, are higher near passive parkland, and become progressively less with distance from the park. In some cases, such as Manhattan's Central Park, it is dramatically evident. It was too complex of a case to effectively sell to the politicians, no less the average Joe. Nevertheless, it's true. People want to live in communities with good parks, good recreation, good libraries, etc. This impacts property values and the generaly perception of the community.

Therefore, given all the above reasoning, if there are only two ways to fund a Boys & Girls club other than bingo or taxes, I'd choose taxes.

[JerryD]

Hackenack is a city that has it all; single family homes, apartment complexes, mid-rises, high rises, townhomes and low income housing.

I believe that there is plenty of room in our city for this type of development w/o worrying about whether or not families are moving in.  There are many different kinds of families that would be happy to live in a mid/high rise building and not have to worry about the upkeep of single family home.  Many towns also limit the # of bedrooms in these buildings because the school system simply couldn't handle the influx of new children.

Many of these buildings are in areas of our city where it wouldn't make sense to build a single family home; like the Ambiance building.  It's on a vacant lot on Polifly Rd next to the Rite Aid and within walking distance of the Essex train station. Why would anyone in their right mind put a single family home there that would most likely generate about $7,000 a year in taxes when you can put up a 4 floor building of condos?  How much in taxes will the Ambiance building generate compared to a single family home?

Many of these buildings attract young professionals who commute to NYC (like myself) and want a new and reasonably priced piece of real estate (compared to NYC condos, which now average over $1million).  Many other cities (Hoboken, Jersey City, Weehawken) have turned around their neighborhoods & downtown areas with the development of mid/high rises...not w/single family homes.

We can't pretend like Hackensack is this "quaint" suburban oasis.  We are a city w/city problems.  We must work on developing our Main/State/River/Hudson St. areas along w/the neighborhoods that surround our train stations (Anderson & Essex).  Keep in mind that these young professionals who commute to NYC do not clog our city streets w/their cars; they take advantage of mass transit.  These same people also have more disposable income to spend and wouldn't it be nice if they spent that hard earned money while strolling along Main St. (take a look on Washington Ave. in Hoboken) .

Don't get me wrong...I'm not for careless redevelopment...What I am against is the destruction of our single family homes in neighborhoods like Fairmount.  It is a sin to see century year old homes fall to the wrecking ball.  That we must prevent.

K- Enough said.

Jerry

[JerryD]

Here is an intersting article from the New York Times....

It's about designing homes for young buyers (building condos) in Hoboken.

Take a look...

You may have to register first in order to read the article.

Jerry

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/18/realestate/18NJZO.html?pagewanted=all

[Editor]

[The following is adpated from promotional material for the Ambiance]

AMBIANCE at Hackensack

Hackensack's premier address

A Mid-Rise 5 Story Condo Building with views of the Manhattan Skyline

***Two levels of underground parking garages, two elevators

   ***Decorated Security Lobby and Fitness Center

***Two 2 bedrooms upto 1600 sq.ft.

We expect to open for pre-construction sales within the next few weeks.

We are now installing a 42" plasma TV to exhibit a customized virtual tour of the building. Our new sales office is being furnished and decorated with detailed marketing materials of the different condo units: all 2 br, 2 baths, some with dens, ranging from approx. 1200 to 1600 sq. ft. of living space. 

The Sales Associate for Ambiance is Wendy Weissman, a local real estate professional, now part of the Kaplan team. 

VIP customers will be notified by email soon. You will have first choice of units at pre-construction pricing before we advertise to the general public. Thank you for your interest in Kaplan's newest community:

Ambiance at Hackensack.

Floor plans, features will be on our website soon: www.thinkkaplan.com

[Editor]

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