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could you pls. throw some light, if it is sensible to buy a 1br or 2 br in Metropolis towers in jersey city
what would be the pros and cons of owning at this place.
Depends on the price. I wouldn't say it's necessarily a desired building for the following reasons:
FACT:
1) Low owner occupancy. There is a huge set of apartments for rent from the management company starting at $1400 for studio. Your rental rates will be capped by that. Your appreciation rate will also be capped by that.
2) Chromium removal. God knows how long it will take, and corner of Montgomery and Marin is a freaking wind tunnel. Despite EPA's best efforts to mist, tarp, etc. I can't believe that it won't get into the air and into the building vent systems.
3) Deferred maintenance. The building has been trying over the past few years. However, just by looking at the slanted balconies, there appears to be still a ways to go.
4) Flooding. That corner floods. Badly. Repairs will have to come out of reserve fund.
5) "Over population." That is the term my building uses when there are more than 3 occupants per 1 bedroom, 4 occupants per 2 bd unit. Metropolis is notorious for over population. This leads to higher HOA fees (e.g. utilities) and more wear and tear on the building for owners (renters prob don't care).
PERCEPTION (these are based on I've heard from past residents, other forum members, etc. not sure if still the case. You'll need to check it out yourself):
1) Bad finances. The building went bankrupt/on verge of bankrupcy at least twice in the past few decades. As a co-op owner, that's scary.
2) Roaches/Curry. Maybe highly related to (5) above, but some units/floors/lines have big problems. Speak to the exterminator. He'll know which units are hopeless.
The only pros I can think of are location and cheap parking (I think it's like $125? which is a steal in Downtown).
In summary, the unit's gotta be real cheap for me to consider, but that's just me.
assuming even if i bought into a 1/2 br in this bldg.
how much more time you think this bldg. will stand?
it looks fairly old. i dont know if it can stand another 20 yrs.
It's not going to fall down if that's what you're concerned about lol. However, that doesn't mean the values won't stagnate. Structurally, I think it is one of the "quality" constructions in Downtown, it just hasn't been updated and maintained well. For example, it has extremely thick concrete between floors and the walls are all encased in mortar for excellent sound proofing (unlike the crappy plywood and drywall and plywood many of the low-rise gut renovations in Hamilton park). I agree that the balconies probably won't stand another 20 years. I would be terrified to walk onto one of those.
In addition to everything MrsPiggleWiggle has said, be aware that there's an active proposal to turn the whole area into a massive construction site, basically filling in all of the parking lots around the building with new residential towers and street-front retail. It was a pre-bust project that never got off the ground, so who knows when/whether it will actually happen. However, it's entirely possible that it will get started again in the next couple of years. A number of pre-bust projects have recently started up again in Jersey City, and there's definitely demand for more. That could turn the whole area into a construction site for the foreseeable future. The end result would be great, a real repairing of the broken street grid in the area, but I wouldn't want to live there while it's happening.
Hm, I don't have a magic 8 ball of whether prices will go up for down a particular building, but I don't see any reason for prices for the three co-op buildings (2 Metropolis and Montgomery Towers across the street) to go increase at the same rate as the more desirable luxury condo units. Once the new towers go up on the same lot go up, will the value of the old towers go up or down? Idk, one can argue either way.
I'm not a realtor, but just plopping down some numbers for fun:
1) say the luxury condos in Newport/Paulus locations go for ~$550+/sq ft
2) recent sales in my building (Montgomery Towers) ~ $450/sq ft
3) the new units on the same lot depending, if they are still co-op, should not be higher than luxury condo, so say they ~$525+/sq ft
4) In that context, what do you think your current unit is worth? For sake of argument, say the units in the building are worth $500/sq ft now, once the new units are for sale, will the difference between new and old only be $25/sq ft? But we're capped at the top by luxury condos, so one can argue that the older units should fall in price or stay the same.
That's part of the reasoning of why I think the prices in Metropolis will not grow like the more desirable buildings of Jersey City. Does that make sense? Do consult a good realtor (not one just pushing for a sale) to get more info on the building/area.
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