The Beacon In Jersey City Is Up For Auction (Hoboken: foreclosures, condos)

[hitmantb]

Welcome to Sheldon Good - Auction Detail

I attended the Sheldon auction on Weehawken condos in April:

The Aristocrat Condos - Weehawken NJ

They went for around 75% of listed price. Any thoughts on The Beacon? Great building/unit, terrible location is my impression . . .

[BobKovacs]

Now there's a shocker......

Where are all the Beacon supporters who have been talking about how their new place is the greatest thing since sliced bread? Hope they don't mind losing $200-300k in equity overnight......

[CaptainNJ]

i think jersey city is going to ungentrify.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by CaptainNJ

i think jersey city is going to ungentrify.

That section of JC hadn't gentrified in the first place- The Beacon was one project in the middle of a run-down, stale area. If the market hadn't crashed for another five years, the area might have turned into something decent, but now it'll turn back to garbage. Once those units sell for 1/2 of what the original buyers paid, the building will be full of foreclosures and you won't be able to give a unit away.

[CaptainNJ]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

That section of JC hadn't gentrified in the first place- The Beacon was one project in the middle of a run-down, stale area. If the market hadn't crashed for another five years, the area might have turned into something decent, but now it'll turn back to garbage. Once those units sell for 1/2 of what the original buyers paid, the building will be full of foreclosures and you won't be able to give a unit away.

it just seems to me like jersey city has been undergoing a forced gentrification that is unlikely to sustain itself. my brother bought in spanish harlem hoping for future gentrifying. it doesnt just happen because you want it to.

[GiantRutgersfan]

Originally Posted by CaptainNJ

it just seems to me like jersey city has been undergoing a forced gentrification that is unlikely to sustain itself. my brother bought in spanish harlem hoping for future gentrifying. it doesnt just happen because you want it to.

it is a short ride from both NYC and Hoboken. Unless NYC as a whole declines in price drastically, there are always going to be middle income people who want to be near a decent night life and cant afford to live in NYC

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by hitmantb

Welcome to Sheldon Good - Auction Detail

I attended the Sheldon auction on Weehawken condos in April:

The Aristocrat Condos - Weehawken NJ

They went for around 75% of listed price. Any thoughts on The Beacon? Great building/unit, terrible location is my impression . . .

Location is terrible. It's next door to the projects. It's also a good 30 minutes walk from the PATH station. To get to the nearest decent shopping, you either have to head downtown (it had better be by car/bus ... or you're walking past the towers first, then the low rises just W of rt78) or you have to take on Bergen Avenue and/or streets just East of there.

Basically, it's not terribly safe to step out and walk anywhere from there out of daylight hours.

I put it down to the bubble mindset -- there was this notion that you could just plonk down a "luxury condo" anywhere within a reasonable commute of Manhattan, and it would automatically be worth as much as 77 Hudson. But the location isn't very attractive.

For a place to be a good candidate for gentrification, it can be in a slightly rough area, but it still needs to be convenient for residents today (e.g. they will need/want convenient access to shops and transportation). The Beacon didn't offer that.

[elflord1973]

Originally Posted by CaptainNJ

it just seems to me like jersey city has been undergoing a forced gentrification that is unlikely to sustain itself. my brother bought in spanish harlem hoping for future gentrifying. it doesnt just happen because you want it to.

There are lots of different "Jersey Cities". Downtown is already somewhat gentrified. It's almost as expensive as Hoboken.

Around Journal Square is still up and coming, but there are people who regularly come on here asking about buying condos around Journal Square.

There are some condos that are very close to JSQ which obviously have a reasonable future -- plenty of good shopping options, walking distance from mass transit (12 minutes train ride to lower Manhattan), and safe enough that you can walk (not drive) outside your building.

The whole "luxury condo"-mania is another matter. Most people who have 600k to spend could buy in a more established area, like downtown JC or Hoboken.

[gagaliya]

as i said a long time ago, it's like a lone rose in a pile of poo. That area is one of the worst in JC. Who wants to live there? 150k for a 1br is still too much risk as the area clearly will not turn around for at least 5-10 years, if ever and who knows what will happen to the building especially considering the high monthly fees, a small 1br cost close to $700 in maintenance alone!

RIP beacon

[Isilme]

I don't know where you are walking from Elflord, but Journal Square Path Station is only 10-15 minutes walk from the Beacon.