Hackensack is hot?

From the NY Times:

Hackensack, N.J.: Small, Ethnically Diverse and Affordable

Hackensack, N.J., could not have been farther off the radar screen when Bibi Masara and her two teenagers began looking to move from the Bronx. Ms. Masara, 41, who works for a venture capital firm in Midtown Manhattan, wanted a slower pace and initially considered Westchester County. But her research into home prices pointed her to New Jersey.

Last spring she closed on a three-bedroom, two-bath colonial near a nature preserve in the leafy Fairmount section of Hackensack. “For what I paid, $399,000, you couldn’t get a house in Westchester,” Ms. Masara said. Her new address is a mile from the shopping she prizes — the Whole Foods Market in Paramus. She and her daughters, who attend school in Manhattan, have a reasonable 15-mile, 45-minute bus ride to the Port Authority terminal.

What’s more, “there’s a sense of community here,” Ms. Masara said. “My neighbor next door takes in my recycling bins in the morning because she knows I’m a working girl with two kids. Everyone looks out for everyone. My older daughter even has been asked to babysit.”

Immortalized in an unflattering Billy Joel lyric — “Who needs a house out in Hackensack? Is that all you get for your money?” — the Bergen County seat is an ethnically diverse city of 45,000, suburban in feel but with an urban center hugging the Hackensack River. For decades, Hackensack’s Main Street was the county’s commercial hub and even boasted a pair of ornate movie theaters. The advent of shopping malls in Paramus touched off a long decline that the city is now addressing in earnest.

Six years after a zoning change permitted residential construction in a swath of downtown deemed in need of rehabilitation, about 10 rental apartment projects are in varying stages of construction or planning. One, Meridia Metro, with 222 units, was completed in 2016. The Current on River, with 254 units, is going up on the site of a former tennis club. An art deco, 10-story bank tower and an adjacent building are being converted into 119 luxury apartments.

The projects include fitness centers, rooftop decks and other amenities sought by young professionals, and those fronting Main Street will have ground-floor retail. The hope is that new businesses will follow apartment dwellers downtown, creating a pedestrian-friendly core, burnishing the city’s cachet and bolstering property values.

“We don’t want it to be just a shopping area with a bunch of Starbucks,” said Jerome J. Lombardo, chairman of the Hackensack Main Street Business Alliance, the public-private partnership championing the redevelopment. “We want to keep our local flavor. But we want lots and lots of eateries, maybe even a brew pub or an active brewery.”

This entry was posted in Demographics, Economics, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

43 Responses to Hackensack is hot?

  1. grim says:

    Hackensack already has a great brewery, btw.

  2. Zisaville Express says:

    Just remember Hackensack = Zisaville – with the remaining corrupt family influence. Which means a police dept where half the cops are Brady cops. A school system where positions are political, not competence based.

    So whatever development you buy into was probably approved and certified by the building department based on bribes and connection. Reminds me of a late 80’s development in Union City with sprinklers. About 5 yrs later, a condo buyer’s inspection turn up that the sprinkler heads where just stuck into the plaster, they were non functioning, but on paper, it was a working system.

  3. Steamturd supporting the Canklephate says:

    Hackensack is turning into a regular hipsterville. We took the gang for ice cream at an overrated homemade ice cream place called ice cream by Mike. Super overpriced too. Besides proximity to NYC, not a lot of redeeming qualities still in Hackensack.

  4. 3b says:

    The one built in 2016 was put up in months. One side overlooks home depot parking lot the other side Riverside square mall. They forgot to mention the one in progress at the old d county public works site 600 there. High school is considered horrible. I pass through Hackensack every day I ain’t t seeing no hipsters getting g on and off the train yet.

  5. Leftwing says:

    Or as dear leader would say, a sh1thole.

    And people pick on Nashville?

  6. No One says:

    Steamturd,
    But ice cream is so much more satisfying when enjoyed with an ethnically diverse crowd. Looking through the window at your overpriced ice cream.

  7. 3b says:

    Hackensack is one of the most dreary places I have ever seen. Especially when it’s raining out. There are some beautiful old homes in the Fairmount section.

  8. Steamturd supporting the Canklephate says:

    I saw the hipsters at the shop. Also seeing some hipster type retail magnets around the courthouse. Yes, it’s far from being Williamsburg, but I remember when no one lived in Williamsburg besides bikers and criminals.

  9. 3b says:

    Steam Fair points. We shall see.

  10. leftwing says:

    Yes, but Williamsburg is one subway stop to the LES.

    Not a 45 minute cattle car ride into an armpit located in a part of the city that even a B&T wouldn’t hang out.

  11. Nwnj says:

    Anyone else find it mind boggling that the Democrat party would shutdown our government over foreigners rights? Could you be any more out of touch and perverse? I guess it’s desperation now that they have hitched their wagon to open borders and turned their backs on the working class.

  12. 3b says:

    And I believe Peter Lugers is still there!

  13. Steamturd supporting the Canklephate says:

    Their argument is that Red team never compromised on a thing, so why should they? It’s the old two wrongs = one right. Though, the problem with the left doing it, is that they are much more academic (dare I say elitist) so it will probably backfire on them. Yet Trump can rollout a disastrous travel ban, give senior White House posts to alt-right extremists such as Steve Bannon, make hostile phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia, threaten North Korea and Venezuela with invasion, flip flop on revealing his taxes and can get away with it. Trump plays his followers like a fiddle. There is nothing they would not give him a pass on. Really. I’ve said this before. Trump sold a lot of overpriced degrees and steaks that were inferior. At some point, the market is going to crash and is going to take this administration with it. Though, I wouldn’t put it past Trump to keep upping the borrowing from the debt to keep the rich-get-richer bubble alive.

  14. Nwnj says:

    Mostly true but not completely. However to compromise our country’s well being to advance the agenda of illegal aliens is unconscionable. I think they will pay the price.

  15. Steamturd supporting the Canklephate says:

    Are we REALLY compromising the country’s well being. Whenver the country or state shut’s down, no one notices. And if you didn’t know it, all of the workers who get this involuntary vacation end up getting paid for it anyway. Be real!

  16. Steamturd supporting the Canklephate says:

    All the necessary services stay open. What would be great is if all of the unnecessary services would be shut down permanently. It is truly amazing that the government can shut down and you are hard-pressed to even find a way it affects the average American. This speaks volumes to the the excessive size of government.

  17. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    the only time anyone ever noticed was when the beach was closed.

  18. Steamturd supporting the Canklephate says:

    So true. So true.

  19. D-FENS says:

    In 2013 they had to have the National Parks Service trot out barricades to make the shutdown noticeable.

  20. Steamturd supporting the Canklephate says:

    That reminds me of the sign in front of the Montclair library during the post fiscal crisis budget cuts.

    https://tinyurl.com/only-in-montclair

  21. Nwnj says:

    Different argument entirely.

  22. Fast Eddie says:

    Think about that concept: The democrats were willing to shut down the government to protect and advance the rights of people that are in this country illegally and are provided services funded by private and tax dollars.

  23. Nwnj says:

    Democrats essentially doubled down on this one. Fools trump is crushing them.

  24. Steamturd supporting the Canklephate says:

    Trump need not do anything. They did it to themselves when they shut down Bernie and reappointed Pelosi.

  25. D-FENS says:

    Ten Democratic Senators are up for re-election in 2018 in states that Trump won. In WV, Senator Manchin (D)’s prospects seem grim. Trump won by an over 40 Point margin…and their Democratic Governor, switched from Democrat to Republican…

    The Shutdown was a very risky move by Democrats.

  26. Steamturd supporting the Canklephate says:

    I honestly don’t think it matters to any but the politically wonkiest. It’s a nice talking point.

  27. Steamturd supporting the Canklephate says:

    What will be interesting to see is the number of people who actually vote. My guess is that the numbers will be near record lows. I would think this would mean that no one cares.

  28. chicagofinance says:

    8. TOP ONE ‐ The top 1% of taxpayers in tax year 2015 made at least
    $480,930 of adjusted gross income (AGI), received 21% of all AGI and paid
    39% of all federal income tax (source: Internal Revenue Service).

  29. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    ****Disclosure: Sheer conjecture on my part*****

    1. The US stock market will “correct”, as they say from maybe April until August or so.
    2. Dems will tout the end of the “Trump Economic Lie” during this period.
    3. The US stock market will turn back up in late August or early September.
    4. Dems get crushed in the mid-terms.
    5. More protests and violence isolated to cities that still want Hillary.

    At some point, the market is going to crash and is going to take this administration with it.

  30. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Tax bill, President’s physical, Schumer Shutdown == I don’t think anyone sane can actually watch a White House briefing, CNN, or MSNBC and not plainly see how deranged the leftist media is. I have to start watching the broadcast national news to see if they are just as far over the edge. I think locally, here in Boston, it’s all pretty calm and non-political. I’m pretty sure you could wear a Trump hat on the subway here and somebody might text something or grab a pic of you, but I don’t think anything would be said out loud.

  31. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Hipsters and Muslims both like cheap, usually urban, Real Estate. They each bring a unique gentrification power with them due to solidarity of community. I don’t see it as a bad thing at all.

    Ironically, mainstream US values, the kind the media know nothing about, probably lie about dead center between the values of both groups.

  32. ex-Jersey says:

    Happy Monday Gents. And yes…..the stock market is on -a-fire…..just make sure it doesn’t plummet……I hate it when it plummets.

  33. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    That’s what leveraged 3x Bear ETFs are for;-)

    I hate it when it plummets.

  34. Westerner says:

    Jersey has a lot in common with mopeds & chubby chicks.

  35. leftwing says:

    In all seriousness I would not be surprised if the Dems did the shutdown to massively fcuk with Trump.

    No shutdown…Trump has a huge gala (he likes). Gets a boatload of contributions ($100k per couple). Huge victory lap (taxes, market, 1 yr anniversary) that would get press coverage with the gala. Then he jets off to Davos (which really pissed off the Dems anyway).

    Instead, they shut down the govt for a day that no one will remember in Nov….Gala cancelled. Trump’s personal resort empty. No funds raised. Davos trip cancelled. All that positive press opportunity gone, potential for negative coverage.

    Those are two very radically different outcomes on the one year anniversary.

    Not sure I believe the Dems are that bright, but if they really did the shutdown for the above my respect for them went up enormously.

    Have to think about it…..they literally got nothing to break the stalemate that they didn’t already have…..other than Trump’s calendar.

  36. Westerner says:

    Everyone knows that when you rawdog a p@rn star there are consequences.

  37. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    That sounds like something Michelle Obama might tell her girls.

    Everyone knows that when you rawdog a p@rn star there are consequences.

  38. Fabius Maximus says:

    left

    I see it as a win for the dems. People say they got nothing. They took the GOP on good faith and we are back in two weeks. If they GOP don’t hold up, they say “We Tried and they didn’t hold up their side”

  39. Fabius Maximus says:

    ExPat

    “5. More protests and violence isolated to cities that still want Hillary.”

    “That’s what leveraged 3x Bear ETFs are for;-)

    I hate it when it plummets.”

    Trying to be Clot? At least he was original.

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