400 Luxury Condos for New Brunswick
From the Star Ledger:
Plans for New Brunswick condos gaining traction
Plans for four- to six-story condos and apartments in the parking lot of a Loews theater on Route 1 in New Brunswick are moving closer to reality
The city's planning board has favorably recommended redevelopment plans based on a concept un veiled by Edgewood Properties and the city late last year.
Edgewood, which is owned by Piscataway developer Jack Morris, proposed building about 400 luxury condominiums, 40,000 square feet of retail space and three parking garages on the property, which sits high along the banks of the Raritan River.
...
Fulton Square, another Edgewood development, is coming to fruition, Bray said.
"They're progressing quickly. The majority of the townhouses are complete," Bray said of the 12-acre housing project that replaced industrial properties near Commercial Avenue with 209 new units. Those units include 57 affordable two- and three-bedroom condominiums and 41 two-story market- rate townhomes.
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The 10 most overpriced places in the United States
It's not just that they've got high housing prices and living costs -- it's that salaries and job growth don't keep up, either.
Lacey Rose, Forbes.com
Slideshow: 10 most overpriced places in the U.S.
On Forbes.com: 150 cheap places to live rich
On Forbes.com: Homes of the billionaires
Ever complained about the cost of gas? Guilty. How about a movie ticket? Guilty. Utilities? Transportation? Real estate? Guilty, guilty, guilty.
Every American adult gripes about the price of daily life, from a gallon of milk to a posh dinner. But in some areas, where ever-increasing living costs and real estate prices are pitted against lackluster salaries and job growth, complaints are more legitimate. There's no way around it -- such locales are anything but bargains.
That we're talking about places like New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco should come as no surprise. But what about Tucson, Ariz., and Essex County, Mass.? Both made our annual list of the most overpriced places in the United States.
In fact, Essex County, which lies north of Boston and comprises a host of waterfront locales, topped off the ranking. With the idyllic views come high living costs and expensive real estate. "We saw a lot of waterfront property being bought and smaller homes being torn down and replaced by million dollar mansions during the dot-com boom," explains Sara Young, economic development manager at the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce. "Now you'll find a lot of those homes on the market, and they aren't selling because nobody can afford them anymore."
The recent increase in inventory has caused the median home prices in Essex County to drop slightly, from $380,000 in the first quarter of 2005 to $373,750 in the first quarter of 2006, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. But that's not enough to make real estate a steal.
Another surprise newcomer to the list: Tucson, Ariz. Though our data shows that job growth is healthy, salaries don't seem to be keeping up with the high living costs. And while housing prices may still be low compared with the hottest areas of the country, the housing boom pushed them up considerably, according to the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.
The usual suspects
San Jose, San Francisco and New York are all repeat offenders, having landed on our list for four consecutive years. Because we've improved our methodology this year, it's difficult to make a direct comparison with prior lists.
But we do know that the three metros rank poorly in everything except the average salary ranking, where they place first, second and third, respectively. Many would argue that such places offer tremendous lifestyle benefits -- among them, high culture and active nightlife. But such things are hard to afford -- much less enjoy -- when basic living costs are so high. While there is no dearth of wealth in those areas, ordinary folk may be squeezed.
The tropical paradise of Honolulu landed in the fourth-place spot. There's no question it's a great place to visit, be it for a weeklong trip or to a second home, but residents feel the burn in their wallets. Honolulu falls in the bottom quartile when it comes to housing affordability, income and cost of living.
The 10 most overpriced places in the U.S.
Rank
City Cost-of-living rank Median home price
1
Essex County, Mass. 102 $373,750
2
San Francisco 112 $720,400
3
San Jose, Calif. 111 $746,800
4
Honolulu 95 $625,000
5
Cambridge, Mass. 104 $390,400
6
New York 109 $528,700
7
Tucson, Ariz. 74 $248,600
8
Oakland, Calif. 108 $720,400
9
Boston 106 $390,400
10
Los Angeles 98 $563,900
See Forbes.com's slideshow of the 10 most overpriced places.
How we ranked them
To compile our list of the 10 most overpriced places in the United States, we started with the largest 112 metro areas of the 200 included in Forbes' 2006 list of the Best Places for Business and Careers. The areas are ranked from No. 1 (best) to No. 200 (worst) on various factors, among them job growth and cost of living.
We took the job-growth and cost-of-living rankings, and added to the mix a housing affordability index from research firm Moody's Economy.com and a salary index from Seattle-based compensation collection firm PayScale. We added up the rankings; the 10 metros with the "worst" combined scores -- the highest -- made our list. They had the highest cost of living, lowest salaries, least job growth and least affordable housing.
Our job-growth metric, derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Moody's Economy.com estimates, analyzes the growth over a five-year period. The cost of living ranking, also from Economy.com, includes the cost of housing, transportation, utilities and other necessities. The housing affordability index gauges the amount of a local, median-priced home (the price at which 50% of homes are more expensive and 50% are less expensive) you can buy if you earn the local median income, given current interest rates.
And last -- but certainly not least -- our new earnings ranking, provided by PayScale, looks at average salaries (base pay, not including bonuses) for a basket of common professions.
The results are not directly comparable with those of last year's list, both because we added a new type of data and because the Office of Management and Budget has reconfigured its metropolitan statistical areas. (To be considered a metro area, OMB requires at least one urbanized area of 50,000 people.) Essex County, for example, wasn't even considered for a spot in the 2005 edition.
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Celeb homes' best feature? Privacy
migrane time.
{{{Every American adult gripes about the price of daily life, from a gallon of milk to a posh dinner. But in some areas, where ever-increasing living costs and real estate prices are pitted against lackluster salaries and job growth, complaints are more legitimate. There's no way around it -- such locales are anything but bargains.}}}
Then why don't people stop complaining and either:
1) Find a higher paying job.
2) Move to a less expensive part of the country.
What is the point of trying to struggle here on a five figure salary when you are completely locked out of homeownership, and living anywhere less than a 2 hour commute from Manhattan if you make less than $125,000 a year??
{{{Many would argue that such places offer tremendous lifestyle benefits -- among them, high culture and active nightlife. But such things are hard to afford -- much less enjoy -- when basic living costs are so high. While there is no dearth of wealth in those areas, ordinary folk may be squeezed.}}}
Right, but no one forces anyone to live in the NYC metro area. Even though this city offers the above, you really can't afford it or won't fit into most places (especially the majority of restaurants & clubs in Manhattan) unless you are making in the six figures and can spend a few hundred on a designer 'outfit' and another few thousand on a night out.
Its not the salary & job growth are not good, they are not good enough to afford living costs here unless you are willing to go deep into debt (on credit cards if you are a renter) to survive here.
How do all these entry level grads who DO NOT work on Wall Street make it?? Many are probably making between $50,000 - $75,000 a year out of school which isn't enough to qualify for (let alone afford) a rental apartment let alone considering buying somethign.
NYC Ranks #7, but Essex County Mass is #1.
Not only are NYC prices & rents out of control, but so are the costs of everything else which are probably the most expensive in the nation --
Utilities, Car Insurance, Groceries, Taxes, just to name some.
Like NY Magazine & the NY Times, the person who wrote this piece on the most overpriced places probably thinks everyone in NYC is a white, corporate white collar professional, under 35, who is making at least $200,000 a year but still can't afford anything larger than a studio apartment in Harlem
Somehow the terms "luxury" and "New Brunswick" don't mix.
New Brunswick isn't very "luxurious" after dark.
Somehow New Brunswick does rank
as a nice place to live.
Do they have the gangs under control?
And how many foreigns do you have to speak?
New Brunswick luxury? Besides the immediate vicinity of Rutgers,the whole area is a ghetto. Luxury is about not getting mugged in the Robert Wood Johnson hospital.
Where the 'luxury' condos come up in Rte 1, the noise of traffic on the bridge over the Raritan river is absolutely deafening. I'd never want to stay there. The only advantage is you are 2 minutes from the NJ Shitpike.
You could consider Plainfield,
where jimmy is buying.
Anybody read his book yet?
New Brunswick,
At least if close to Trenton,
so you can lobby for more
give-a-ways.
Lux/living What a hoot.
New Brunswick luxury? Besides the immediate vicinity of Rutgers,the whole area is a ghetto.
I agree! You could not pay me to live in that slum! Maybe we are expecting more immigrants soon--they'll feel right at home.
Yah and Camden ranks _where_ on that list, and where on its crime stats on that list?
Bu-hoooe-gus...
Camden is like a foreign country.
Next they will have Lux/condos
their.
Starting in the 400k range.
Bars on the windows and a handgun
at closing.
Got news for y'all
if you think college grads are making 50k out of college think again...try 35-40k a year
unless you are in sales where you can make about 70 a year with no experience and a marketing degree
woo-hoo!
Dormandie...lol, but it's true. I have a friend who lives there.
I lived in Queens for a year after grad school and shared a 3 bed. I don't make that much since I didn'd finish from Ivy League.... and no trust fund (I'm from overseas so even Dormandie was out of the question for me. BUT....living below my means allowed me to avoid credit card debt, and I moved to NJ 8 months back to start a family.
I stay on the border of North/South Brunswick - 10 mins south of the proposed luxury condos in New Brunswick. I hope the developers will throw in the bars around the windows and reinforced doors for free.
Is it that bad,
{{{if you think college grads are making 50k out of college think again...try 35-40k a year
unless you are in sales where you can make about 70 a year with no experience and a marketing degree}}}
Who the hell can live on $35,000 - $40,000 a year anywhere in the NYC metro area, New England, or anywhere north of Washington DC???
I have a very tough time on $73,000 a year and I live in a rent stabilized studio apartment in Flushing Queens. I only drive a 6 year old Nissan Altima with 40,000 miles. All my friends have Maximas or BMW X5's or Porche Cheyanne.
All I read about in the NY Times and the NY Post is how great the NYC economy is doing and how every one is making in the six figures.
Oh and Queens is no longer a cheaper alternative to Manhattan. Rents are rising quickly and that is if you can even find and be approved for a vacant apartment. Jackson Heights, Astoria & Forest Hills are now yuppie central, no different than Park Slope or Brooklyn Heights. The new trendy nabes. And rents more than reflect that.
{{also understand most young people that are partying in NYC are transients. heck most people period living in NYC are transients. that means THEY DON'T STAY LONG, so don't believe everything you see/hear.}}
They 'Don't Stay Long' --- What Freaking BS & Crap Statement...
Where do they go?? Back to the midwest or CA?? I don't think so..
Most come from extremely wealthy families and have trust funds to supplement their $80,000 a year income from real work. $80,000 alone isn't enough to live on in this region however as a single person..
New Brunswick is really not that bad now a day. It is true that the area was terrible 7 years ago, but it has gotten much better over the years. When I was a student at Rutgers 7 years ago, I used to hate walking through the city to get to my classes. After I graduated and got a job, I moved to the city for a few years. I came back recently and I was surprised to find how much it has changed. I am considering moving back, New Brunswick is a city that is up and coming and it has a lot of energy, I don’t think it will make the list of the best place to live in the near future, but it does have a lot of potential.
One of college friend saw the potential a couple years back when they were tearing down the projects and building those luxury townhouses along 18, he told me that it is a good area to invest in; I should have listened to him. He bought a house himself and managed to sell it last year for a much higher price. Most of my other college friends who went to Rutgers also love the area, a majority of them decided to stay around after they graduated.
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