10 u NJBIZ Real Estate Quarterly

A brave new development maximizes Union City’s strengths

Next Door to Manhattan, A Window of Opportunity

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One of the more upbeat places in New Jersey these days is Union City, in Hud-son County, a crowded place with some 67,000 people packed into its 1.27 square miles, making it twice as dense as New York. Thrown in as well are some 200 small businesses, from franchises like Burger King and McDonalds, to restaurants that run the ethnic gamut, to supermarkets, residential and light industrial buildings.

And Union City apparently has an appetite for more. “I am seeing more condo conversions than anything else in Union City,” said Mabel Olmo, an account executive with the furniture rental chain Cort in next-door Hasbrouck Heights, whose market spans northern New Jersey and parts of the New York metropolitan area. The city’s fundamentals remain stronger than many other parts of the state, primar-ily because of its proximity to Manhattan and its transportation access, according to

Larry Wainstein, chairman of its Urban Enterprise Zone. “The market in Union City is still somewhat solid, because you get good value for your dollar,” he said. That perceived value proposition emboldened MW Development to erect The Thread, a 15-story, 151-unit luxury apartment complex in the heart of the city that opened for sale in April. The project’s name comes from the city’s reputation as the country’s embroidery hub, and for its European-style lacemaking trades. The Thread’s units range in price from $300,000 for a 769-square-foot unit of one bedroom and one bath, to $800,000 for a 1,630-square-foot home with two bedrooms and two-and-one-half baths, according to Kelly Marzullo, director of sales. She said it has gotten more difficult for buyers to get bank financing, but she works with them “to make sure they are well qualified.”

Union City’s proximity to Manhattan and transportation access make it more appealing to buyers in today’s market.

By Shankar P.

U N I O N

The Thread sits atop the Palisades just out-side the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, and offers breathtaking Manhattan views from the seventh floor and up that add to its appeal, she said. Homebuyers also benefit from Union’s tax abatement program — a $300,000 home in The Thread will demand taxes as low as $769 in the first year, Marzullo said. Marzullo said more than 40 percent of the apartments have been sold, and demand is so

strong that the building’s owners increased their asking prices in August by some 5 percent. Most of The Thread’s buyers are young people who work in Manhattan, Marzullo said. Union enjoys proximity to the West New York ferry to Manhattan, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, the Hoboken PATH station, and NJ Transit bus and rail routes, said Irwin Kizel, principal at Livings-ton-based architectural firm Jarmel Kizel, which designed the building.

NJBIZ Real Estate Quarterly u 11

ABOVE Various shots of sample bedrooms, living spaces and recreation areas at The Thread in Union City. Kelly Marzullo, MW Development’s director of sales, says buyers appreciate The Thread’s breathtaking views of Manhattan. BELOW A panoramic view of New York’s skyline.

The Thread also is a welcome addition to the city because it was built on a vacant lot that lay abandoned for years, Wainstein said. “Any time you build on an abandoned lot, it increases the value of the adjacent properties, brings ratables to the city and helps us maintain property taxes,” he said. Union City’s property taxes have been stable for most of the past decade, with “minor increases,” he said. The building sits in a part of the city ear-

marked for redevelopment, and its immediate neighborhood has mostly low-rise housing stock, mainly of wood-frame construction, and indus-trial enterprises, Kizel said. His firm designed the structure in such a way that the residential tower occupies a much smaller footprint than its base, using the rest of the space as a plaza with greenery, picnic areas, barbecues and other rec-reational amenities. “We designed the units to be competitively

priced,” Kizel said, adding that it is cheaper than similar units in Hoboken and Jersey City. The building’s amenities include community rooms that have a country-club feel, with pool and card tables, flat-screen TVs, and a bar; a gym; and modern appliances and ornamental lighting inside the homes. Union’s people are an industrious lot, Wain-stein said, as most of the 200 businesses in its urban enterprise zone are family-owned retail establish-

ments, like clothing and food stores, pharmacies, and gift shops. The 3.5 percent sales tax in the zone helps draw business also from neighboring cities, and the city’s multiethnic demographic makes for diversity in shopping alternatives, he added. “It seems Union City will become like Hobo-ken soon enough,” Olmo said. “People moving into Union City don’t want to spend the money on Hoboken, where [property] taxes are high.” u

E-mail to shankar_p@njbiz.com