Hackensack, NJ Community Message Boards
General Category => Hackensack Discussion => Topic started by: BLeafe on November 06, 2009, 04:50:02 PM
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After what seems like at least a year, work has recently resumed.
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The guy over in McManus told me that the owner of this project lost millions and millions of dollars in the Madoff Ponzi Scandal. Like so many others, he was fooled by the stature of Madoff, his seeming invincibility. He said it was reported in the newspaper.
That's why this project has been delayed for so long. Now that the Cancer Center is almost done, this is going to be the only "BIG" project being built in Hackensack. At least someone is carrying the ball.
People don't realize that national events have an impact on Hackensack. 300 and 310 Prospect Ave, and two buildings on Park Street were caught up in the S&L Crisis. When was that one, 1989 ?
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Onward and upward:
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As of today............
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Another year, another floor.
How many floors is this building supposed to have? It's going to be luxury condos, right?
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That's the top floor. Yes, condos I believe.
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My understanding is there will be 5 levels of "stick", which is wood-frame construction. That is the maximum allowed under building code.
Let's hope there is no fire before it's done and all the fireproofing is installed between the units.
All I can say is "Remember the Avalon". Edgewater, a number of years back. The fire was so intense it burned down all the houses across the street.
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Oooo! Color!
Harbinger of Spring?
Statement of financial stability?
New dorm for the New York Jets?
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Maybe the Editor can dig up the old newspaper stories about the lumber yard fire across the street where the shopping center is now. If Ol' Homer is correct, it was about 50 years ago and one of the biggest in the City's history.
The YOU TUBE folks would have had a field day with that one.
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That was the Comfort Coal & Lumber fire in the late 50s.
Is all that visible wood in the condo building causing you to make a sinister connection?
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Certainly not.
Just thought that I would add a little bit of historical perspective to the neighborhood since probably 99% of the current residents weren't living there when Comfort Coal was in operation.
Just think: Ike was the president then; Holy Trinity had a high school only a few blocks away; you could grab a decent meal at Sam's; and, the Board of Ed. had just added a modern outdoor bell and buzzer system at the Middle School.
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....a little bit of historical perspective to the neighborhood....Holy Trinity had a high school only a few blocks away....and the Board of Ed. had just added a modern outdoor bell and buzzer system at the Middle School.
After the fire, electricity was discovered and the now-amplified Middle School noise got so loud, you could hear it all the way out to the Blauvelt Estate in Oradell, where Hiram Blauvelt - the president of Comfort Coal & Lumber - once lived.
Coming full circle, it's only fitting that the condo building be named after him - Hiram House of Hackensack (even though all the kids at Brownson High will snicker and call it the Harem House).
Ya gotta love history...............
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Comfort Coal & Lumber post (http://www.hackensacknow.org/index.php?topic=1063.msg3475#msg3475)
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And now if you really want to get into this whole thing, GOOGLE into Comfort Coal, Hackensack, NJ and there is a whole story about the Blauvelt Mansion and good old Hiram.
Don't know who the developer is; but, if he is looking to name this development, here is a start: Rite Aid Residences or Comfort Coal Condos.
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Don't know who the developer is; but, if he is looking to name this development, here is a start: Rite Aid Residences or Comfort Coal Condos.
(http://i49.tinypic.com/bile9c.jpg)
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LA LAUNDERETTE DE LINDEN
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The developer is Daibes Construction, located in Edgewater. They built most of Edgewater, and this is the first of what will be many projects in Hackensack. Edgewater is just about all built up, so Fred Daibes has directed one of his trusted senior employees, Shergoh Alkilani, to hunt for properties in Hackensack.
There aren't too many communities in Northern New Jersey that allow High-rise residential buildings, and most of those that do allow them are depressed urban areas where the buyers don't want to live. For instance, Paterson and Newark. Really the only game out there is Hackensack, Montclair, and the Hudson County waterfront. And what little left that Ft. Lee will allow to be built. All of downtown Hackensack and adjacent State Street, and parts of the riverfront allow these buildings. They haven't been built, but a few have been approved, only to fall victim to economic downturns.
I've seen some of the high-rises Daibes has built on Gorge Road in Edgewater, it is equivalent in quality to the Excelsior, or possibly a bit more upscale.
This is a developer that can really make a difference here in Hackensack.
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Plan for 29 Linden from http://daibes.com/
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Floor #4................
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We can all breath a sigh of relief once the interior walls between the units get their fireproofing per building code, fire resistant exterior walls are installed, and there is a roof over it to minimize the air flow that stokes a fire. But right now none of these fire safety measures are in place and it is an incredible fire hazard --- if it goes up in flames, it'll torch down half of the homes on Vanderbeck Place, to the rear.
All you need is one homeless person wandering around in there and making a little flame to keep his a_ _ warm, and it's all over.
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Shoveling the roof (from 4 blocks away):
View My Video (http://tinypic.com/r/8xpk51/6)
The smaller .3gp file (below) might be clearer.
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"Fifth floor! Men's haberdashery, Conklin's corsets, and Chicken Magician memorabilia. Watch the closing doors.......and that building next door that looks like it's about to fall over."
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I must have been wrong about the 5th floor being residential. The top level of framing has no openings for windows. Must be for utilities
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Windiz!
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If you look closely at Leafe's March 8th photo, you'll see that there are 5 floor facing the street (north end of building), and 4 floors on the south end, which has NO SECOND FLOOR.
I wonder why such a high ceiling on the first floor, south end.
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There's a fence opening there. That's where all the heavy equipment and trucks with building supplies come in.
I would think they'd have to finish all the upstairs work before completing that part of the second floor.
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The Green Monster is going gray:
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Hey, this guy is carrying the torch. He is showing the world that there can be continued upscale development in Hackensack, WITH or WITHOUT the Recession.
So let's give credit where credit is due. It's a great project. And its really environmentally friendly, being almost on top of a rail station.
And we all know that the Anderson business district is hurting terribly. This will help boost it a bit, I hope. Lots of walk-in customers from this building to the stores and eateries.
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So let's give credit where credit is due.
It was just a bobservation that after many months of solid Fenway Green, the exterior color was changing.
Here's a closeup:
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I recently got a roll of slides back that I shot over the Summer and liked how this came out.
The simultaneous pyrotechnics were provided by Maywood (l.) and Saddle Brook (r.). Maywood is a bit overexposed because they were in their finale. The long trail of smoke from Maywood sets off the horizon above the former Green Monster on Linden St.
The second image shows the building's current color scheme.
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As of today, here are Chameleon Heights' new colors:
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I took these pictures 8 months ago, but Santa asked me to wait until Christmas to post them, so here they are.
The most desirable view in this building would obviously be from the top unit closest to Anderson St, so that's where I shot from.
The French windows on the rounded corner area opened outwardly, but not wide enough to not be seen when I used my fisheye lens, so I moved over to the flatter conventional window to my right, which opened up and down.
However, the rounded "turret" area still stuck out far enough to be visible with the fisheye, so I finally wound up one more window to my right - the one that's circled in the first image below.
The second image shows the interior as I aimed toward the turret area. These first two images were taken with my cellphone and the others were taken with my grownup camera on slide film.
The third image shows what you can see of midtown Manhattan from that unit. Of course, the zoom lens makes NYC look a lot closer than it is. I really don't know how much - if any - of the Empire State Building can be seen from any of the other units..............maybe some from the unit below me, but I'd imagine that's it.
I had checked the train schedule before I left home and timed my visit to be able to get some pictures from that window of the main attraction for many of the building's future residents - the Pascack Valley Line commuter train, whose station is less than a block away.
The fourth picture shows the train crossing Passaic Street.
The fifth picture is the one I wanted - a microcosm of my neighborhood: the train pulling into the station, Anderson Street businesses, cars, Holy Trinity Church and School, Sears, apartment buildings, etc. You can even see the stores on Cedar Lane in Teaneck in the CVS/Teaneck Theater area.
I envy whoever occupies this unit. That person will be able to take this shot in all kinds of lighting and weather situations across the seasons.
But I got the first one.
It's what I wanted for Christmas.
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Sources advise that all work has stopped on this project, as well as all other Daibes jobsites, including in Edgewater. Financial difficulties.
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I haven't seen any activity there in ages. I was thinking that maybe they were working on the interior, but I guess not.
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Fred Daibes lost tens of millions of dollars in the Bernie Madoff scandal. It's hit the Daibes operation real hard, since most of their wealth isn't liquid, it's in buildings and built into mortgages. I really hope that things turn around and they can complete this building. And not with budget materials inside.
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That's only half the story. While Daibes claims to have lost $17 million, he's also being sued for $7 million in supposed ill-gotten gains by Madoff victim trustee Irving Picard - the guy who is also making financial life miserable for the New York Mets.
He's suing them for a reported BILLION dollars.
The Daibes story was in The Record 5 weeks ago:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/115541594_Trustee_sues_Bergen_developer.html
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Here's how the building looks from here as of this morning. Let's see how long it is before we see some changes.
Not long, I hope.
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Eleven months later, actual activity was seen this past February 16! (see photo)
The radical changes that had taken place in the interim on this project - which, I believe, was started in 1928 - are astounding!
Hard to believe it's the same building as the one shown in the previous photo.
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OK, so they're leasing now, apparently
go to www.29lindennj.com
Their most affordable unit is 930 sq ft... starting at $1600/Month!
I've heard similar ridiculous prices from other recent developments, like the Avalon at Wood-Ridge. What world are these developers living in?
My place is bigger than that, and I only pay $900/month, and have a parking space. Plus I don't pay water, hot water, or heat or cooking gas, just electric.
Only thing that place has over mine is a dishwasher and a "fitness room", and being very close to a station one station closer to NYC from mine. But I've got a gas stove (better than their electric), and I'm not that far from new bridge landing. And retro fitness is only $20/month, and you can use any of their locations
What the hell justifies a $1600/month price? Are young people my age renting these places? Who falls for this stuff?
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That's about average price for most of Hackensack, $1600 for 930 sf. Prospect Ave rents for more than that. Never heard of an apartment over 900 square feet renting for $900 or less, unless you want to go to an inner city neighborhood in Paterson. If you got that in Hackensack, you got a really, really good deal, quite nearly the deal of the century.
In 2007, I was renting 550 sf one-bedroom unit for $1000 a month, in a very modest 4-story building in a mediocre neighborhood, with no building ammenities except a laundry room in the basement. It was clean and quiet and management (Swensen) was excellent and responded immediately for any service call. I looked all around Hackensack for a larger apartment for about the same rent, and found nothing. That's when I moved out of Hackensack. Now it's 5 years later, and probably rents are about the same or a little more.
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I may not be correctly remembering the size of my place. But it's sizeable in my eyes.
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http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/29-Linden-St-Hackensack-NJ-07601/2118508787_zpid/#home-facts-comparison
Check out "Year built"! What happened to 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011?
That picture sure isn't from 2012.
Be sure to hit the informative "View Virtual Tour" link and click on "Photos", "Video", and "Floorplan" - all of which are empty.
Makes you wanna run right out and sign up.
The architectural rendering (second image) looks nice and includes people hanging out across the street waiting either for their prescriptions to be filled at the Rite-Aid or for their laundry to be finished at the laundromat.
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OK, so I finally used a tape measure to meausre my place
about 552 sq ft. of use/general space, that is, the living area plus the hall plus the bedroom
59.5 sq ft kitchen, but that includes the counterspace and stove and fridge
25 squ ft bathroom.
my rent was $900/month the first year. They did bump me up 5% to $945/month this year.
that's $1.41 /sq ft / month of gross space. $1.63 / sq ft / month if you disclude kitchen and bathroom. This is for a 1-bed 1-bath.
$1600 for 930 sq ft gross space turns out to $1.72 / sq ft / month. I still think it's exorbitant. I don't know who's renting these kinds of "upscale" places but it's silly, and I hope these greedy owners have trouble finding tenants.
The avalon developments, another of which is being built by the River Side Square Mall, have similar exorbitant prices. They boast things like fire pits and a gym or a swimming pool. Yeah, but with that much more money I could rent the usage of those things separately and STILL be ahead with my rent in a more reasonably priced place.
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It's all relative, my friend, different people have different priorities. Having lived in a house for most of my childhood, I once rented a 550 sf apartment. In fact, I did it twice at different stages of my life, and for different reasons. 550 sf was simply unbearable for me. I absolutely had to have a bigger place. I found that I can survive as a single person in 900 square feet, and be perfectly content. Even though I'm missing a few "must" ammenities such as washer/dryer in my unit, and a private bathroom accessible only from my Master Bedroom. I do have a walk-in closet, a coat/shoe closet, and a big balcony, all must's in my book.
I know other people who's tolerance is at 1200 sf, or even 1500 sf. They simply can't live in a smaller place. Standards are shifting and most renters want a certain floor plan, they want granite countertops, they want washer-dryers in the unit, they want walk-in closets, and the all-important master bedroom suite including a luxurious tile bathroom. If Hackensack can't provide these, we go the way of Paterson.
It's barely economical to build in this economy, and if high rents cannot be achieved, the builders will simply go away. Hackensack is lucky, at this time, that there are developers who want to build the more upscale buildings. Otherwise the housing stock in general just gets older and older, and more and more substandard. And then instead of looking for "luxurious", there will be no prospective tenants other than poor struggling families who's only concern is having 3 tiny bedrooms with 3 tiny closets, for their kids.
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Sounds like being spoiled to me. My parents live in Alpine and we lived in Tenafly before that and I never minded my 550 sq ft apt.
and no concern for the existence of housing for those poor struggling families? The poor should all just disappear?
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To each his own.
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To each his own.
Figured someone would say that, problem is if one person's "own" is deliberately enforced on an entire area. So far all we've got in the tri-state area is super-gentrification. I remember once seeing some woman in Harlem or somewhere screaming that her low-income neighborhood was being kicked out, now I understand her frustration.
Part of the problem isn't just with the approvals for building, but also taxes and regulations making lower-income/smaller housing less profitable than it naturally would be.
Luckily, ultimately we have COAH in this state.
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It's hard to make the case that Hackensack is "gentrified", since the value of a house in Hackensack is so much lower than the identical house in Fair Lawn, Paramus, Oradell, or Westwood. Even Maywood. It used to be that a single family house in Hackensack was about 80% of the price of the same house in northern Bergen County, and now it is less than half. And so much more really upscale housing has been built in the northern towns that Summit Ave is no longer one of the best streets in the entire County. I remember when Summit Ave was better than ANY street in all of Paramus.
Also, nobody can realistically complain about gentrification in Hackensack because the school system went from integrated to almost entirely minority. Granted, most of that happened 1985 - 1995, but it still happened. The income level of students' families has also gone down, as have the performance on standardized test scores.
The battle is not gentrification versus affordable housing, the battle is to keep or make neighborhoods and the downtown attractive to the mainstream population, meaning everyone of all backgrounds. Otherwise, we slip back and become another Paterson.
If people want to complain about gentrification, those complaints may have some validity in Edgewater, Hoboken, West New York, downtown Jersey City, South Orange, and Maplewood. But not in Hackensack.
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oh, of course not Hackensack, I was talking about the area in general, and it seems to be starting in Hackensack with the Avalon and 29 Linden St. Maybe Hackensack is so middle-class is why I like it so much. All the Hispanic people make for awesome little Hispanic-carribean comfort food restaurants, and the town is still actually walkable (not that the more hoighty-toighty developed places aren't walkable, but Hackensack's old development is even denser than the new planned mixed use stuff)
I'm just worried that our self-appointed overlords want to make EVERY town a yuppy hangout with a minimum of 2 Starbucks'. I don't want that, I can go somewhere else for that (like Edgewater, Hoboken, etc.)
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Actually there's no part of Hackensack that's gone down more than the Anderson retail district and the apartments around the fountain. You'd have to have a 40-year perspective on Hackensack to understand. Those were once THE premiere rental buildings in the entire City if not the entire County, and they remained very much middle class into the 1970's. What happened is that they became absolete compared to newer rental buildings on Prospect Ave, and in other towns.
And the quality of stores along Anderson Street catered to seniors and other collectors of historic furniture. People came from all around NJ and NYC just to visit the antique shops. At one point, there were 17 of them.
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Related topic: 1990 Record article about Anderson St. (http://www.hackensacknow.org/index.php/topic,1617.msg5027.html)
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Thanks for the historical context. Very appropriate.
A couple years ago, the city designated most or all of the Anderson retail district an area in need of redevelopment.
Don't remember if it was the Zisa's or the Melfi group. That was when the city also designated the lower blocks of Main Street, and then all the law offices down there went biserk at city hall. I told the council that lower Main Street would be a very very difficult target because of the law firms, and they found out the hard way.
Don't know why the city has kind of backed off on the Anderson Village area. I can imagine some awesome mixed use buildings there, right next to the train station, with retail on ground floor and higher-end apartments up top. You know, people who will actually USE the train, as opposed to the current residents of the older buildings in the area.