Vindicated, I'm not sure what your beef is with the beacon but it's really not that bad. The residents here are very happy and safe. It is not a dangerous place, we have great security/a whole lot of police presence. Again on wayne st the drug dealers seem to have permanent places by the park and brunswick st so the so called safe neighborhood is anything but. The neighborhood around the beacon is very unsightly and the honest reason sales tanked here is that most of the campus is lies dormant and montgomery gardens is in front of it(less of an issue now that it's almost empty, neighborhood is far less shady now than it was a few years ago), but change will come. I'd argue that organic gentrification would be faster in the places your talking about but there is government involvement, 1200 apartments at the Beacon is 2000 people, then there is another 30 units in 650 montgomery, redevelopment of the housing project and the parking lots across the street, St. Peters college expansion, etc. There are a lot of dollars being pumped in to improve the area, just the increase in new upper middle class residents will change the retail picture.

I know you think Jersey City ends at Dixon Mills but there is actually stuff beyond it, and the Beacon is really only a 10-15 minute walk from Journal Square and a little more than 20 to grove st(not 35), I've done both. Also a cab is like 6 or 7 dollars from grove or 5 from JSQ, the shuttle here runs until 2am. As for the Shore Club, Newport is kind of like the black hole for retail, what is a there, a mall? Some pretty bad restaurants(Confucius used to be good, and I still really like Raaz) some are ok but few are really good, starbucks, duane reade,morton williams? The complex that is supposed to be built across the street from the beacon will have a larger supermarket than what is in newport and will most likely have the coffee shop/bank/drug store etc that goes into every new building around here, there are plans for restaurants and an entertainment center(movies,bowling, bars, and restaurants). Newport looks nice, is clean,convenient, etc but really it is the most boring part of jersey city and unfortunately the mall could be good but it sucks because demographically it caters to people with far less income than those living in Downtown Jersey City.

As for the lifestyle it is almost identical. Here weekday, wake up 6:30am, get ready for work, catch shuttle 7:30, get off at grove station 7:36, take path get to work ~8am(hmm looks pretty similar to the commute I've had everywhere else I've lived in Jersey City), work in city till about 6, 2-3 times a week go out after work, happy hour/dinner etc in the city, leave city around 10pm get to grove catch shuttle home or meet my wife downtown(she works here) go out in JC for dinner etc, cab it or catch shuttle home, or go to sporting event and you guessed it catch shuttle home. So it really does work pretty well on the weekdays the other 2-3 days a week I'm home by 7 and can use the indoor pool, billiard tables, movie room, etc it's a pretty good place to entertain friends. On the weekends I have a car and can pretty much easily drive anywhere around here and it isn't a big deal to park, I generally do a lot of skiing in the winter and fishing in the summer so I'm not around as much but sometimes take shuttle go to city eat,drink, be merry, usually path it back to grove and catch a cab home(funny I used to do the same when I lived at Dixon, don't like walking around there at 1 or 2 am as much as I wouldn't want to walk around here) or just cab it home from NYC(worth the 50 quid, late night path is hell). We also have friends who live further out in Jersey so we do spend quite a bit of time up in the suburbs with them.

As for what the Beacon offers, you have amenities(on par with other luxury buildings in the area), cool old building factor(the architecture is very cool and unique for the area), and then you have price a good 2 bedroom at the beacon is like 400k, that is a spacious 1200 sqft unit with a view, a similar unit at shoreclub is probably 650k, at 77 hudson or crystal pointe it is probably 750k. The beacon really does have great views east,west,north, south it is the highest building around it. So you can basically trade a 600sqft studio at 77 hudson for a 2 bedroom at the Beacon that is twice the size, with the same tax bill, maintenance is of course higher because the unit is larger, that is just as nice inside, with just as nice a view.

FYI JSQ has a lot of potential and kind of being between it and grove st actually makes this a pretty good spot. Unfortunately everything in the economy seems stalled, call me crazy but even the way it is, I enjoy living here, I enjoyed living at Dixon but I actually like it here more. When I'm in Jersey City I spend most of my time in my apartment or complex so the amenities and nice apartment are actually important, the rest of Jersey City is simply not that interesting or nice even in the best areas, at least yet. We have yet to gain even 1/4 the amount of retail and life that they have in Hoboken, in any part of Jersey City, the whole area is predicated on getting to work quickly and into the city, yes there are some undoubtably cool things here, and new things moving in, but we have a long way to go. If this city get to where it needs to be I don't think we'll be having these debates, even the fringes will be considered a "Good Place" to live and the Beacon is far from the fringes of Jersey City.

So tell me what it is you are looking for when renting/buying a place? For some people, they need size, for others they want a hassle free location, for some people it's price, for others it's architecture. Guess what it's Jersey City, when we lived in the back end of Hoboken, we'd see drug dealers there all the time as well. If they can ever get Liberty Harbor North going it will be very good for both of our neighborhoods, but it doesn't have to happen before the area around the Beacon gets fixed we are getting federal money, state money, city money, and money from st peters college pouring into developments in the immediate area, that will lead to meaningful redevelopment sooner rather than later. So I really disagree and welcome to my new neighbor, you'll enjoy living here. The staff is great, the developer seems like a standup guy, and the people who live here are nice, and there is somewhat unique mix of people, I found Dixon to be similar in that regard(you had all sorts living there some very interesting people). Here were have a wild mix of people from different backgrounds who have different careers, many are somewhat eccentric(what else would you expect from a group of people who actually think living in an old hospital is cool, some of my friends actually call it the asylum), but that is what makes it fun, I'd take it any day of the week over the boring Hoboken hirise, I work in a bank type of people who think old buildings are gross, etc, i.e typical luxury hirise people.

FYI it has nothing to do with market preference, it has to do with established neighborhoods vs. non established neighborhoods, almost completed redevelopment vs. not even 25% completed redevelopment, and much lower purchase prices to begin with. My estimation is that downtown luxury prices went from around 650psf to around 500psf-550psf, the beacon peaked at 490psf in 2007 or 2008 and is now trading in the 300-350psf price range, so where downtown buildings saw 15-25% of there value erode, the beacon saw declines of approximately 25-35%, so in reality the declines were greater here by approximately 10%, it has little to do with preference and more to due with what is motivating this market,FEAR, once the completion of the development was called into question, fear took grip, foreclosures started and potential buyers needed to get a real discount to account for the fact that short term losses were a real possibility. Jersey City and Hudson county in general fared well because NYC is really expensive and if you need to go there every day and don't want a hellish commute there are a limited options. You see this as a negative, where I see upside, there is less room to fall as it is already trading at a considerable discount to it's historical price relationship, if the market rebounds(not entirely likely) the beacon will grow with a larger ROR than any other hirise, I'm almost willing to guarantee it. In the meantime it isn't really an investment but a place to live that I'm happy with as are most of my neighbors. I know all about all the warts but perhaps your rose colored glasses prevent you from seeing all that it is and what the potential is, your driven by what the market is telling you when in the short term it is irrational and reactionary. Here it very quickly shot up from the initial 400psf to almost 500psf in 9 months, a gain of over 20%, on the downside it lost that 20% and then another 20% in the next 2 years.

Harrison's not bad but being even further from civilization in a place requiring even more master planned redevelopment than the beacon area seems worse. I think it will get there but I think your in the same kind of risk situation as you are in less established neighborhoods of JC.

Vindicated, I'm reading your post and yes locationally all of those places and dixon are way better than the Beacon. Where I disagree is on the buildings themselves, the Beacon is far and away a cooler building that any of those that you've mentioned, the architecture, high ceilings, amazing public spaces, sorry none of the buildings have rooms similar to the billiard room at the beacon with the hand carved Allen George Newman frieze, gold leaf, marble etc or a poker room that was Mayor Hague's office, etc. As someone who lived in Dixon Mills, the Beacon is far and away a better building, they could have done something really cool at Dixon, some of the apartment spaces were cool in a quirky/unique way, it was the quality of the renovation that is sad, add to that poor security, a low level of service, there is really no comparison. You can fault quite a few things about the neighborhood, location, and campus but the buildings are some of the coolest on this side of the hudson and are definitely unique and are very luxurious. Also the residents here are among the most satisfied I've met in any recent development in Jersey City.

I recently moved from Dixon mills to the beacon, there is no comparison. The beacon is much nicer and as for the safety of the neighborhood, much less has happened at the beacon than at Dixon. At Dixon it was not uncommon to be offered drugs on the street in broad daylight, people were mugged not infrequently close by, my car was broken into, my neighbors apartment was burgled as in like totally emptied, etc. The Beacon comparatively is very secure and even in the neighborhood around the place which is not nice, you feel like people look at you like you don't belong, but it does not seem as hostile and the people who live in montgomery gateway by Dixon. What is pretty nice about the beacon is you don't really spend much time in the neighborhood, shuttles are available all of the time, it's close so cabbing it is pretty easy/cheap, and if you own a car it's really easy to go anywhere in NJ/NY when you want to go. Honestly if they build out the rentals, knock down the gardens this neighborhood will be pretty good, if even half the original vision of what was to be here this will be an even better place to live. What I get here is a great view, amenities, really cool old buildings, and a convenient location that while it isn't the best neighborhood, nothing bad has happened to any of the residents and arguably commute times are on par with elsewhere in JC or hoboken, in fact based on the fact that the shuttle at Dixon was kind of unreliable, it is largely faster to get to grove st from here than it is from Dixon. Based on what you can get elsewhere in Hudson county the Beacon is the best value I've seen, I'm biased because I live here but you'll find your lifestyle vs. newport/paulus hook/grove st/hoboken/etc won't change much but dollar for dollar you'll get a bigger apartment with a great view.

I know the heights pretty well and it is really not any more or less dangerous than downtown, many places look pretty run down but it is not as rough as it looks. I know a bunch of people up there and there are some good blocks, some not so good but it can be a good place to live and is way closer to NYC than Bayonne and also is closer to hoboken. I will say there are definite signs of gentrification and I think the neighborhood will get nicer and nicer as time goes on.

Realize, that honeywell would fight JC for a long time, the only solution is a compromise and if done properly that is a big area that could really be changed into something good, housing, retail, office, schools, etc. I think it would be prudent for the city to demand that the cleanup exceed DEP and epa standards but it is impractical to get them to remove all of the chromium it wouldn't happen. If they clean it up to the standard that the NJ DEP is happy that is pretty good, better than what is now and better than waiting another 10 years for progress and millions of tax dollars going to the lawyers.

Bored and at work! I like everyone else is sick of the young "gangstas" hanging around wreaking havoc on the community with no consequences. I live on Wayne st there have been a lot of problems recently I am kind of venting.

Have you notice the police presence at other construction sites and buildings under construction? Why not at Dixon, hmmm perhaps the developers are from Westchester and over their heads with this project, they do not have the local support of the City. Do you see headlines for robbery at gunpoint at the Beacon, a project in a much more questionable neighborhood?

Lets face it maybe it ws not retribution but Varick is the better part of Dixon, and it smacks of mismanagement when someone was able to rob a resident at gun point in front of the security booth. That is definitely bad press. It is plausible but do you really think that area is the most ideal place to rob someone?

Also the policies, have you seen the RGD property signs, no loitering, food cooking, blah, blah blah. Make no mistake when Dixon changed hands crime around it went up.

Criminal offenders are frequent curfew violators should be placed under house arrest with bracelets and monetary fines should be levied against the parents, these are minors they are not legally culpable but given this they should have guardians, if their guardians are unwilling to control them they should be motivated by a financial stick.

It is retribution, the idiots who bought Dixon didn't realize who their neighbors were and when they realized they tried to hid it by enforcing policies and keeping the loitering people from Montgomery Gateway from hanging around when they were showing condos.

I think the people who were hassled by Dixon's security guards are pissed off. What better way of hurting the condo sales but convincing potential buyers it not only looks a bit sketchy but actual crime occurs here. The honest truth is that Dixon should be making the right contributions to the police department to keep crime down in the area. I mean in all seriousness the Dixon people are not from Jersey City and are only concerned with this one project what would it take to have an officer there everyday at least in the evening hours.

It is not guns it is handguns, concealed weapons. A weapons violation should require a tough sentence of house arrest, I am talking a year or so, community service, and at minimum a $1000 fine and it should apply to youths make the parents responsible for the fine. The second violation should come with mandatory jail time no loopholes, no plea bargains, no if's ands or buts. The easiest way to get guns off the street is to make the penalties really tough, if we face these stupid punk kids with thousands in fines a real financial burden on those who cannot afford it and make their life inconvenient while not ruining it, I think they would slowly stop carrying guns as being grounded by the state and having to pay all of your money to the govt. would not be worth it. Also, being able to track the "Bad" kids using house arrest bracelets would effectively curtail crime.