Does anyone live in the units facing 225 grand? There is a dry cleaner on grand and some people have been saying there is a smell from the dry cleaners. Is this true? Any and all comments are welcome.

CONDO FOR SALE BY OWNER IN GULLS COVE
Spectacular 2BR/2Bath corner unit in Jersey City with views of Manhattan skyline and New York Harbor. 1492 Sq/Feet. Spacious living room, walk in closet, central air, washer/dryer, kitchen with premium-grade stainless steel appliances/marble countertops, and floor to ceiling windows for abundant natural lighting. Various upgrades installed by owner. ?Located on Marin Boulevard at Gulls Cove in the most desirable line of the building.? Available to see by appointment 7 days a week.? Please call 201.417.8229, or email jccondo4sale@yahoo.com.? Priced at $749,000. Deeded underground parking available for $30,000.
?
Building Amenities include:
?
? Indoor, owner?s only parking with bicycle racks;
? 24/7 attended elegant lobby with resident lounge area, fire place, and free internet;
? Landscaped roof deck with tables, chairs, and putting green for outdoor enjoyment with views overlooking New York Harbor;
? Fitness center with personal cardio equipment, free weights, and flat-screen TVs;
? Internet and Cable TV included in common charges;
? Intercom system that includes message display and alarm system;
? Ground floor retail including child care facility and green dry cleaners, and;
? Steps away from the Grove Street Path, the Liberty Harbor Ferry, and the Light Rail.

Hi All,

Any idea if the second phase of Gulls Cove will remain 9 stories? Will the 9 stories in the 2nd phase be the same height as the 9 stories in the first phase?

A caveat when you try to parse the sales data. They don't tell you if the sale includes a deeded parking space. That's easily a $30K value right there. Demand for parking in the building outstrips supply, so I'm guessing units without parking, even if they're sold at a lower price, are still going to be a harder sell than units that come with parking.

Also, the building is NOT a rental building. There are of course owners who bought units as an investment or they bought at the market's peak looking to flip but instead of wound up renting out their units for the time being. Building management has nothing to do with rentals. Individual owners rent out their units through realtors, Craigslist, word of mouth, etc. The nice thing for renters is the percentage of owner occupancy in the building is pretty high, so people are pretty nice there and everything is very well taken care of.

I used this website during my condo search: http://www.livingonthehudson.com/gulls-cove-sold-data

It lists available units as well as sold data:

I checked with the front desk there and was informed that they don't do rental units, and only handle condo sales through the sales dept. I have seen rentals listed through realtors but I'm guessing sales department doesn't want to get involved with these.

Great, thanks!

Use "201 Marin" only in "Location", and make sure "district" is selected to "Jersey City" (default is Bayonne). I was able to get many pages of results back.

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For some reason, I can't find how much some of the units have sold for on the http://www.hudsoncountytax.com/html/taxAppealFAQ.aspx site. I've tried different iterations of 201 Luis M Marin Blvd with no luck. There is a 201 Luis M Marine Blvd but very few units. Can anyone link me or tell me how much some of the studios, 1 brs, and 2brs went for either last year (2011) or 2010? Thanks.

best,
Tim

you can get a studio from the high 200's and a noncorner 1br in the mid 300's.

studio
http://listings.hobokennj.com/idx/800 ... ingID=110004774&idxID=195

http://listings.hobokennj.com/idx/800 ... ingID=110010648&idxID=195

1br
http://listings.hobokennj.com/idx/800 ... ingID=120001256&idxID=195

http://listings.hobokennj.com/idx/800 ... ingID=120000670&idxID=195

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It is VERY quiet. You won't hear any neighbors above, below or next door. The concrete slabs between floors make a huge difference. Occasionally, you'll hear people talking in the hallways as they walk by (mainly because the front door isn't as thick as the walls). However, there is some construction going on in the retail spaces on the ground floor of the building and in the lot just to the south (on the other side of the Light Rail). The construction noise has been pretty minimal so far and confined to daytime hours Mon-Sat.

EDIT: Some residents with south-facing units have complained about the volume of the announcements from the Light Rail station. I face south and honestly haven't found it to be that big a deal, even in the summer when I have the window open. It doesn't really disturb my sleep, but people have different sensitivity levels to this sort of thing.

What units are available in Gulls Cove?

My realtor didn't send me anything in GC...are they below 550k?

Can anyone offer any recommendations, good or bad on Gulls Cove regading noise levels and quality of building?

Limited info on Kannekt and none on Apartment Ratings.

I'm looking for a quieter building within the downtown Jersey City area preferably with concrete between the floors. By quiet I mean not hearing footsteps and crashing around from upstairs neighbors at 2:00am on a weekday. All other noise I can live with.

I've heard that Gulls Cove is quieter buidling. My budget limits me to a studio there.

Gull's Cove Rules!

A Tarnished ?Gold Coast?

New York Times
By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Published: July 31, 2009

AMID the flurry of signs that much of the state home sales market began a recovery in June, there was pretty clear evidence that Hudson County, across the river from Manhattan, was undergoing no such thing.


LUXURY LULL Sales of $1 million-plus condos have stalled in Hudson County, though developers of Gull?s Cove in Jersey City are close to selling three penthouses in that price range.

Condominiums make up roughly 80 percent of Hudson?s housing stock ? and across the price spectrum, they have sold poorly, according to the Otteau Valuation Group, which reports to the housing industry. Even for those priced under $400,000, Otteau reported an 11-month inventory build-up.

Condos priced at $1 million and up weren?t selling at all; in June, there was not a single signed contract for a condo in that price range in Hudson County, although 86 were listed.

?We had one sell for $961,000 in April at Crystal Point? in Jersey City, said Adrienne Albert, the chief executive of the Marketing Directors Inc., the broker for the project. ?And we?ve had 13 sales in July, with an average sales price over $750,000.?

Also, at Gull?s Cove in Jersey City, the developer Dean S. Geibel of Metro Homes, said three contracts were close to being signed ? ?as in people measuring to see if their furniture would fit? ? for penthouses priced around $1 million.

Nevertheless, the picture painted by Otteau?s latest numbers does not present a penthouse-worthy view of the Jersey City market, or that in neighboring Hoboken, or Hudson County as a whole, even though the area is known as the ?Gold Coast.?

Countywide in June, there were a total of 2,335 condos listed ? 89 fewer than in May. But there were only 191 sales, four fewer than in May.

During the housing boom years in the early part of the decade, Hudson County?s market was constantly the star in the monthly Otteau reports, and it did not begin to flame out until last year, about two years after the overall state market dimmed. In that trajectory it more closely resembled Manhattan?s market.

For example, in the downtown section of Jersey City ? a district proudly known as ?Wall Street West,? until Wall Street had its meltdown last fall ? there were 404 homes on the market in June. Only 33 sold. ?That is a very low buyer-to-seller ratio,? said Jeffrey Otteau, the president of the Otteau Group. ?Only eight buyers for each 100 homes.?

Hoboken used to be the top performer in Hudson County when the county was the top performer in the state in the early 2000s. But the story in Hoboken was similar in June: 575 homes listed, 87 sales, which means demand was 15 percent of supply.

New listings continue to pour onto the county market, at a reported average rate of 499 condos per month, and 99 single-family houses per month, although Mr. Otteau said he believed those figures were somewhat inflated by the relisting of properties that had not sold at a higher price.

David Barry, a principal of Ironstate Development, a builder based in Hoboken, said that despite Hoboken?s poor showing, the true ?perfect storm conditions? were for the condo market in Jersey City. ?It?s been a very pro-development city, where it was a lot easier to get projects approved than in Hoboken,? he said. ?Unfortunately, a lot of inventory came on the market just as Wall Street was crashing ? at prices that no longer made sense to the consumer.

?Sales will go up after prices are adjusted, but that takes some months to work out. When the market froze up, some developers got caught, and they?ve been sort of paralyzed while they figure out what pricing now is appropriate and workable.?

Mr. Barry said his company decided to take a hiatus from building condos more than two years ago, although it has a large rental building under construction in Jersey City. That 15-story tower, 225 Grand, is being built in partnership with SK Properties.

During the boom, county condo prices rose rapidly and to unparalleled heights. A $1 million condo ceased being a bell-ringing rarity around the time Gov. Jon Corzine moved into his Hoboken condo in 2004. Early last year, the choicest units at several high-rise buildings were listed above $1.5 million, a few above $2 million ? and some even drew multiple bids.

This June, the county still had four condos listed at $2.5 million and above, although five others had disappeared from the listings of the month before ? perhaps to be relisted for less, as Mr. Otteau suggested.

In the price range below that, $600,000 to $1 million, 27 condos sold and 343 listed units did not. This alone created a 12-month supply of unsold homes on the market.

By far the largest number of condos for sale in Hudson County are priced below $600,000. In June, there were 1,902 units listed in that range. Only 164 of those sold; the result was an 11-month inventory build-up.

The picture was not much brighter in any other part of the county. A few statistical snapshots simply underscore the laggardly overall picture:

?

In Bayonne, where prices generally tend to be lower than in Hoboken and Jersey City, 15 homes sold in June, leaving a 10.8-month supply. So far this year, sales contracts have been signed for 48 condos.

?

In Union City, a lower-priced alternative to adjacent Hoboken, 62 new condo listings were added in June alone; there were eight sales that month.

?

North Bergen had 47 new listings in June, but only nine sales.

I think stainless steel was standard - you just got a better brand. The Bosch washer/dryer was the biggest part of the appliance upgrade package. I've heard the Eurotech were very problematic.

Our electric bill has been similar to Chester's, but I guess our gas/sewer/water bill reflects the fact that we use the oven for additional storage ...

thanks, i am assuming if the unit has stainless steel appliances then it has one of the two upgrade packages. Guess all the units are upgraded as they all have stainless steel appliance. :)

I could be wrong, but I think the remaining unsold units are already upgraded with regards to cabinets and flooring and appliances, so there is no more choosing between packages. Other upgrades inlude the Bosch washer/dryers for an extra $500, which I think was worth it after hearing from those who did not upgrade and recessed lighting.

I wasn't real thrilled with the idea of paying our own water/gas/sewer, but I guess it helps keep maintenance fees down and you only pay for what you actually use. We have a two bedroom and our highest electric bill has been about $130 and our highest water/gas/sewer bill has been about $48. We could lower these bills if we really tried.

The upgrade packages were focused on floors, cabinets and appliances. For instance - Package A had light floors and cabinetry. Package B had dark and higher end appliances. We, as did several other people, kind of mixed and matched using some of B and the things from A that we liked better.

Although we weren't expecting to pay gas/water/sewage, it hasn't been bad at all. We have a 2br and have paid an average of $28 per month.

Feel free to pm me if you have more questions.

Hi, got some more questions for the current residents, i promise they are the last ones :)

1) what are upgrade packages originally offered. I dont think they have that anymore as the sales agent didnt mention anything. For resale units, how do i tell which unit has what upgraded package? what are the differences.

2) i read some complaint that no utilities are included in gc's maintenance not even water/sewage, and the bills are high. Can the current resident provide some numbers? how much are you paying a month for all the utilities (ac/heat, hotwater, gas, sewage etc..).

Thanks!

The beauty of the location is that you're minutes away from either Van Vorst/Grove Street and Paulus Hook walking along the Light Rail.

Plus the Beer Garden is opening up soon :) Once the Hilton breaks ground (last reported to be the end of this year) I'm sure the retail spaces at the foot of the buildings will begin to fill for all the new tourists.

The building has very few investors compared to other luxury hi-rises, there's a ton of people living there.

i went to gc over the weekend. The building is better than most luxury around here for sure. I like how it has central air/heat instead of those crappy wall electric units (which is very inefficient for heat). The interior finish is good. The in apartment hot water tank was a big surprise, why did they do that? does that mean this thing is my responsibility now if it breaks?

The building seems to be pretty efficient, has bare essentials - doorman/gym/parking/small common areas but nothing lavish like trump or 77hudson, which is just fine in my book, keeps the condo fees under control.

The biggest problem is the area, i just cant put my finger around it. Just to be clear, it's not a bad area at all and supposely there are big plans for liberty harbor north, it will be developed newport style. And i can see constructions all around. But just dont know what will end up happening. Walking around gc currently, all the stores are empty, new construction buildings are mixed in with undeveloped weed fields. Just odd...

The price they are asking can get you similar unit in middle of exchange place or newport, but not as a nicer brand-new interior.

hmm...tough decision

Unfortunately, control of the association does not convey to the homeowners until 75% of both phases are sold, which equates to roughly 100% of Phase 1. .

Quote:

Still being run by the developer. I think it is currently just under 75% closed.

This is the most recent thing I found regarding Metrohomes' finances:



Developer of Trump Plaza in Jersey City defaults on loan
by Paul Koepp/The Jersey Journal
Monday December 08, 2008, 8:49 PM

Jersey Journal file photo
Trump Plaza on Morgan Street in Jersey CityThe developer of Trump Plaza in Jersey City has defaulted on a construction loan for the waterfront project's second tower, sending a bank after him for over $13 million.

Not to worry, says the developer, Dean Geibel of Hoboken-based Metro Homes LLC. He said he is working on refinancing the $24 million loan, and the 50-story, 418-unit highrise will still get underway some time next year.

Geibel stressed that the default does not reflect Trump's own financial situation, since Trump's involvement is limited to a licensing agreement allowing the use of his name.

"This is not really about Donald Trump, it's about Metro Homes," Geibel said.

Capital One filed the complaint against Geibel in state Superior Court in August, seeking to enforce a guarantee by the developer to pay back at least $11 million by January 2008. The loan, backed by the property on which the tower will be built, was signed in January 2006.

Asked about the complaint, Geibel attorney Leo Leyva wrote in an e-mail: "We are in complex negotiations with a number of parties in an effort to resolve the outstanding issues which many real estate developers are currently facing."

He added that the action should not have been filed because the guarantee is "only effective in the scenario that the real estate was worth less than the indebtedness, and that is clearly not the case."

Capital One's complaint said that as of Aug. 5, Geibel owed almost $2.3 million in late fees, attorney fees and interest payments in addition to the $11 million guarantee, with another $8,667 being tacked on each day.

He said he still has a "good working relationship" with the bank and is looking to add a partner to help with financing the second building, which will cost around $150 million and take about two years to finish. "We just hit a couple bumps along the way," Geibel said.

guys, thank you very much.

1 last question, did the owner condo association took over the running of the building yet, or is the building still being ran by the developer. If the latter, do you guys know when the owners will take over, with 75% sold i think that's more than enough.

I live in Gulls Cove.

1) There is nothing wrong with the building which is causing people to dump apartments. As noted above, there were some speculators early on.

2) All I've heard are rumors, so I don't think I can add anything to the discussion.

3) The building to the north has topped out, so the last couple of floors keep their view. The South will eventually get built but who knows when. The west will include the next phase of Gulls Cove, but anyone on the higher floors should keep their view. The East keeps its view.

4) Some people have offered to rent out their parking spots. If you did buy a unit and parking is still available I would buy. It just makes it more marketable if you eventually want to sell and you also have the parking.

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I'm curious why you say that. I am not aware of any uptick in units going on sale and try to keep abreast of these sort of things.

There have not been any condo fee increases or anything that has increased the carrying costs for our unit since we moved in when the building opened.


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I believe that a loan for Trump was at issue, but as far as I know this has not had any impact on Gulls Cove, nor is it expected to.

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What T-Bird said.

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Yes, there seems to be some rental availability from owners if you want to rent a spot. Going price is $200/month MOL.

Wibbit - the building remains about 75% sold. Many of the units on the market were bought speculatively by realtors during pre-construction with the intention of flipping.

There is development slated for the south - a 16 or so story rental bldg. across the light rail tracks and the Hilton beyond that, further south. To the west will be phase 2 of GC (probably not too soon) which will be 8 stories high. To the north is the rental bldg. currently under construction. Nothing will be built immeiately to the east - St. Peters prep owns that land and paulus hook height restrictions prevent anything higher than 6 floors from going up (except for the waterfront).

I've heard varying things about Geibel an MetroHomes, including default. Seems like Trump is his albatross.

hi does anyone have some info on gull's cove

1) a lot of owners are dumping their units recently, is there any problem with the building? like condo fee increases etc..

2) the developer seem to have defaulted on their loans, are they going bankrupt? they are still holding a considerable number of unsold units, if they go bankrupt wouldnt it mean the current owners will be footing the condo fees for those unsold units

3) are all 4 sides of the building going to be built with other high rises, basically whatever view you have now is only temporary?

4) are there monthly parking rental if you dont buy a spot

those are not facts, just questions if anyone know the answers....

thx