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news flash, what a shocker - they're right on top of the PATH station - of course it's not, given Manhattan rents.


...same story for the upcoming Jrnl. Sq. development on the old Tamil Bros. site, although the developers now want to go back after the fact and renegotiate their deal to include taxpayer-financed low interest loans from the city, because credit markets happened to have tightened up after they signed the contract.

But then again it's the job of the city to absorb risk for the developers, isn't it?

cue ianmac47...

Click Photo to Enlarge:

Grove Pointe, the Jersey City rental complex at left, has just rented 65 units to St. Vincent?s Hospital of Greenwich Village.

Yes, the Market Has Its Bright Spots

New York Times
By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Sunday March 2, 2008

EAGER brokers may seize on any positive development as a harbinger of improvement. But market analysts continue to advise caution, pointing out that the supply-and-demand cycles for both the rental and sales markets ordinarily take years to play out.

Still, if you were an optimist, you might take heart from the following items of New Jersey real estate news:

Package Deal

Sixty-five apartments at Grove Pointe, situated atop a PATH station in Jersey City, were rented last week to St. Vincent?s Hospital Manhattan in Greenwich Village, to house residents and interns.

The $34 million deal is for a 15-year term, said Jonathan Kushner, a principal with SK Properties, the developer of the 458-unit building.

Grove Pointe and its neighbor, 50 Columbus, a 400-unit rental building that opened almost simultaneously last summer, have both been leasing up quickly, and with the new agreement with St. Vincent?s, Grove Pointe is now 90 percent leased after seven months, Mr. Kushner said.

St. Vincent?s has been searching for new housing for its staff for nearly a year, since the seven-building campus of which it is part was bought by the Rudin Management Company. Rudin proposes to build a new hospital and apartments on the Seventh Avenue site in the Village.

The hospital found itself unable to find enough apartments to lease in Manhattan during the transition, according to Jaime Weiss, president of Weiss Realty in Moonachie, which orchestrated the deal in Jersey City. So it began searching along the PATH train line.

In addition to accessibility, Mr. Weiss said, Grove Pointe offered ?value, luxury, a 24-hour attended lobby, and resortlike amenities and services certain to appeal to busy, time-constrained medical professionals.?

Both of the big new rental buildings in Jersey City ? which are priced about the same, with studio rents starting at $1,900 per month ? had sought the St. Vincent?s contract, inviting hospital administrators and young doctors to tour their apartments and amenity areas, and get to know the Grove Street neighborhood, which is undergoing general revitalization.

In the end, said Mr. Weiss, the Grove Pointe building offered the best configuration of available apartments to suit the hospital?s needs.

?The hospital staff people seem to be thrilled,? Mr. Kushner said. ?They love the fact that they will get to be the first residents in a brand-new luxury building so close to work.?

The lease deal is for mostly one-bedroom apartments, and a few two-bedrooms, according to Mr. Kushner.

There are two blocks of 10 apartments each, but the rest of the units are scattered throughout the building, he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/realestate/02njzo.html

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My brother starved during his fellowship at NYU. His idea of a splurge at $50000 a year was a slice of pizza and one (1) Milwaukee's Best.

well at least if you have a medical emergency you know where to go to find doctors

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Agreed. So why are we still giving abatements downtown?

This is good news. Why do several of you feel the need to complain about this? Having doctors and nurses living in the Grove Street area can only be a good thing. Maybe we'll finally get gourmet grocery store!

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I share your sentiment here, GP. I also think it illustrates how JC is coming into its own and beginning to realize some of the POTENTIAL dictated by its relative geography.

Expect a lot of the same in the coming months/years, as the rest of premium priced NYC discovers how close it is to JC.

Great, first PATH has free rides to promote use and now Nyc will be sending over thier overflow of workers from around the world, make you doctor's appointment now. At this point we will have to convert to sardines as we manage to fit on the trains with this influx, then there is the parking to worry about when we come home.

Saint Vincent?s took a 15 year lease on those 64 units, so my guess is that rather than trying to get a lower rent upfront they were more interested in trying to keep future rents from skyrocketing - but no doubt if you are willing to rent all that for that long you better get some kind of break.

I still think renting out 90% of the units, at those prices, in that short time is amazing.
http://grovepointerentals.com

Studios - $1850
1 Bed 1 Bath - $2400
2 Bedrooms - $3500

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And for the other residents in the building, it's not a bad deal if they get very sick, have a heart attack, stroke, etc....

At $34M, the average per apartment comes in at $2,906 per month (not much of a discount). Where it becomes a good deal for the hospital is the fact that they get to control the likely inflationary increases over a fifteen year period. Seems like a good deal for all involved (on the surface).

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I don't assume that they are paying the retail rate. If I were looking to rent 65 units long term, I'd expect to get a big discount.

Location, location. It's right on the PATH station stop and it's still cheaper than Manhattan rents.

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I thought it would be harder to rent that many units at those prices.

Saint Vincent?s Signs 15-Year Lease for 64 Luxury Residences at Grove Pointe

Published: February 25, 2008
By Anuradha Kher,
Online News Editor

Jersey City, N.J.--Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers (Saint Vincent?s), the umbrella organization for several hospitals and healthcare facilities, has signed a 15-year lease with SK Properties, a Bridgewater, N.J.-based real estate company, for 65 apartments at Grove Pointe in downtown Jersey City, N.J. The lease is worth $34 million.

The residences in the 30-story luxury rental building, developed by SK Properties, is to be occupied by resident and intern physicians, doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel.

?Saint Vincent?s was unable to find a building in Manhattan?s Greenwich Village, close to the hospital facility, which is why they started looking at Jersey City,? says Jonathan Kushner, a principal of SK Properties.

Grove Pointe is a studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment complex accessible by the PATH trains from Saint Vincent?s location in Manhattan.

?We were very pleased to find an adequate number of residential units to meet our needs at Grove Pointe,? says James Woods, senior vice president, Real Estate Services at Saint Vincent?s. ?The building is a short commute to the hospital.?

Rents for the studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments start at $1,950.

Amenities include outdoor landscaped deck with a pool and sundeck, fitness club, yoga studio, game room with billiard table, private screening room and catering kitchen.
The building also has a 24-hour doorman and concierge, on-site parking garage, and 20,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail space that is expected to include a Starbucks, Duane Reade Pharmacy and Valley National Bank.

Grove Pointe opened last summer and nearly 90 percent of the 458 premium rental residences are already leased.