Jersey City is now a top 5 in the nation rental city

Realtor.com had an article on cities that have the most renters per capita and and Jersey City (and Newark) were on that list, in fact very high on the list. Both top five cities. While it's great people want to live in these cities (and let's not kid ourselves here bout why JC and Newark have so many people willing to rent, proximity to NYC) there are drawbacks when that high of a percentage of a city is rental units. First off renters don't pay property tax and nor in any big way help schools and infrastructure they are often using. Voting becomes yet another issue. Renters vote, you bet they do as well anyone should but perhaps their votes aren't the vote of someone looking to invest or look at a city's long-term financial health. The incentive to look at the long game just isn't there for a myriad of reasons. The fact remains the infrastructure use is really only being paid for by homeowners.

Johnny has a pretty good idea why Jersey City will continue to stay on this list if not own it one day -- The Healy and on steroids abatements of the Fulop administrations have invested very little in the way of abatements for buildings one can buy into and left hundreds of millions of dollars off the tax rolls for buildings made exclusively for renters. In just the past five years the Columbus towers, The One, The Toll Brothers The Morgan, the new Jared Tower on Bay St., M2, the Urby and now old Pep Boys parking lot Vyv (Just an awful name for such an ass looking building), JSQ1, et all have gotten huge abatements, more are on the way for....you guessed it, rental units.

It really is a self-fulfilling prophecy of fail when you do look long-term. The first abatements given to downtown are about to run out. There was a huge reval that hit downtown like a bomb (as Fulop knew it would which is why he spent so much time and effort to protect his base) and there will be questions if ownership buildings will be able to withstand the impact. Will people move out because of higher taxes? Hey, there's a pattern of that. Once they do that's less money for road fixes, storm cleanup, getting electricity back online, cops, DPW, Parking, who all lose when there is less ownership.

Ask yourself this about Fulop (and Healy) bending over for every developer they could, when the money starts to get tight downtown do The Heights or Greenville or India Square think anything is going to get built or fixed in their neighborhoods? They have to pull teeth now to get development and city help and supposedly this is the Jersey City gilded age. Once the tax base shrinks (and there's nothing really being done to actively grow it) they can kiss the big promises goodbye...again.

While it's great people want to live in Jersey City this is where "city planning" under Bob Cotter should have been far more engaged than, "Hey, there's a good spot on the waterfront for a developer" during his reign of awfulness. Cotter, "city planning" and the city councils should have insisted on far more ownership buildings in the downtown land rush.

Like Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was waving her arms and telling everyone in no uncertain terms the 2008 crash was coming, Johnny is telling you now, get in but also know when to get out of the Jersey City real estate game, the timer on the bomb has been set and is ticking.

Who will help bake the cake? Not I said the fox, Not I barked the lazy dog...

"Not I," purred the sleepy cat. "Not I," quacked the duck.

But as you know from The Little Red Hen children's story, they'll all be more than happy to eat the cake. Which brings us to the utter lack of interest or participation in the Powerhouse Arts District from it's newest residents at The One, The Trump buildings, and The Morgan. Johnny went to help friends clean up the PAD yesterday and he's worked on the Harsimus Cove clean up days. He believes in putting in the sweat equity for the neighborhoods he's near to make Jersey City a place everyone wants to live in. Know what Johnny's job he offered up was yesterday? A giant grid going around and cleaning up the dog crap that idiot owners and bad dog walkers just leave. He's used to doing it and it's disgusting for those without a dog. Went through two full rolls of poop bags. Yes, Johnny gets to call you lazy bastards out who didn't help.

When you have a dog you get to know a lot of people in a wide swath. You just do. Johnny saw people cleaning the PAD from 150 and 140 Bay St. He saw people he knew from The A building and the new Modera. Didn't see any of the others. Do they not all use the neighborhood (and this goes for every ward and neighborhood)? There were signs up. The only kind you don't feel like ripping down.

See, it's not just the two spring cleanups these three buildings have bailed on. They've bailed on the last two art crawls as well. Bet some residents from Trump, The One and The Morgan enjoyed the art crawl, it's just their heavily-abated buildings just decided to let someone else do it. Let them pay for it. All three broke the height levels in the PAD through the courts, they've not been good neighbors to begin with, and it's clear their investment in the neighborhood is mailing in the PILOT check to city hall. Didn't the city insist they have art spaces (Heck, Public Storage had to put one in per neighborhood agreements)? Why do these three buildings and their residents sit these events out at every turn?

If you see them, do ask. Then ask again if they don't have an answer. Still no answer? Give them a trash bag before they get to eat any cake.

Lather, rinse, abate

We're running out of reasons why Mayor Steve Fulop, who as candidate Steve Fulop pretty much ran on a plan of NO MORE huge downtown condo tax abatements, continually insists on bleeding the city tax base dry. No more downtown abatements bellowed candidate Fulop, they already have too many. Fast forward to 3 and a half years later and Fulop has broken that promise to all of Jersey City in spades. He continues to give out sweet deals to just about anyone who can still find an unabated lot downtown. One tall square building and a couple project starts elsewhere still has not concentrated on the rest of Jersey City monetarily to what Fulop since becoming mayor has asked his "yes sir" council (Sans Boggiano and Yun) to dole out "in lieu of taxes." Some of these might have been be palatable if any of these new buildings had businesses. Look around. The One has A dry cleaner. A, ie 1. Marbella, nothing. Toll Brothers The Morgan, nothing. These promises of great new taxpaying businesses if a false one. The Igloos (The Art House and The Jokeman on First St.) have scads of parking put in, if you own an electric vehicle. Maybe, maybe 3 spots out of 25 are ever being used (Right now a call from the mayor's office going out to find every Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf within Hudson County to get it there NOW for the media). Sometimes those spots, 3/4 a block, part of "in lieu of taxes," sits empty. Wow, great "giveback" there Shuster. Bet that cost almost nothing to get your deal. If one looks hard enough at that row of empty chargers it would seem the city has outsourced those as well.

So, is Jersey City real estate that unappealing still, after Healy's seed money got things going, for now the budget looks OK, and by most accounts Jersey City is a big old social buzz city? Could just be the mayor rolls over far too easily.

Jobs have come here, and these are exactly where any abatements downtown SHOULD be going to. Those still have to be measured but no more abatements for condos or apartments downtown. How often must this simple idea that less spending is good and right now is the time to make developers, if they want a part of Jersey City, to pay the going rate downtown. The city isn't going to collapse if a corner stays a parking lot. Somebody will pay it, at full tax rate going forward because it's close to NYC. A Chinese company is building the new 95 story tower on Hudson. They could afford going rate rather than "in lieu of taxes," no?

Why is Johnny back on this again?

Terrence T. McDonald, take it away:

Now, city officials are asking the City Council to approve a 25-year tax break for a 52-story, 50-unit high-rise slated for a Columbus Drive parking lot.

AND Fulop wants to loan them money, like Bruce Ratner at the old Pep Boys site. No money for your neighborhoods but actual money to loan a developer. The Goldman Sachs guy in Fulop is on full display here.

The deal would also include $1 million in city-issued bonds, known as redevelopment area bonds, the city said will fund infrastructure improvements on the site, to be known as 25 Columbus Dr.

Oh, that neighborhood gets a new public school kindergarten and first grade out of it (unless the deal is changed and that happens all the time where developers weasel out of agreed to things and council lets them often back out). If you live in Greenville, or say in India Square or along parts of Communipaw, you'll pay for it, but what do you think the chances of your kid going to the new shiny school downtown is?

The answer is pretty clear looking to OUR shared future isn't it Jersey City? You want to open or move your business downtown, we've got office space, we're listening. You want money and loans to build and enrich one tiny neighborhood at the cost of all neighborhoods after all that's been given, yes given, to downtown? No.

Call your councilmember NOW. Tell them to vote responsibly or you'll look to find someone next time who will. Look at Ward B, remind them people aren't tied to they mayor's one-track desires anymore.

Hey The Morgan, what kind of place you running there?

Johnny has first hand confirmation that if you don't want to pay going hotel rates in downtown Jersey City, you can call The Morgan, Toll Brothers abortion of a building (remember, they themselves slagged the design in a PADNA meeting) downtown and they will rent you, via AirBNB or similar program a room to let. Now, the Morgan is in the business of renting, long term leases, we don't think there was anything in the reading of their abatement language that allows them to turn their place into a de-facto hotel.

Johnny also heard this morning from a source in the building with knowledge of the situation The Morgan, nee Toll Brothers, appear to have rented entire floors out to corporate room finders for short-term stays. We understand from sources The Morgan isn't renting units as fast as they had hoped so it would appear, according to the stories, they have decided to perhaps skirt local hotelier laws and no doubt Marriot and Hilton would be interested in such actions.

Toll Brothers, a bad part of Jersey City.

The ugliest new building in Jersey City is....

Jersey City has some REALLY bad new architecture going on. Everything either needs a sibling building (boring) or the architects simply could give two fucks about our skyline and neighborhoods. Johnny has decided to let you, the Jersey City residents have your say on which new building is the ugliest.

First, the rules, any new building coming online, ie allowing tenants in in 2015 is eligible for this 2016 award.

Let's not be CBS and the NCAA Tournament show and get right to the nominees:

The new Mirbella, the Oakman (Jokeman), the new Ironstate in Journal Square and little Jared Kushner's tribute to his father-in-law, the Shithead Trump building will all be eligible next year as they will open this year. Now that that's cleared up we have three key nominees all relatively close to each other:

Lloyd Goldman's The One

Void of any feeling, void of any interesting architecture, void of anything top end this is a candidate that simply can't be overlooked. Well, actually it should be overlooked but no doubt it's made many a person's eyes bleed as they gaze upon it. The backside looks like a prison entrance and the best views include a park Goldman's goofs tore up and the light rail down below.

Toll Brothers The Morgan

A Toll Brothers VP told a meeting of PADNA he simply could neither defend the architect of The Morgan, nor it's look. He said it's why Toll had a new architect to build their new Phase Two shithole at the corner of Warren and Morgan. Basic, bland, ill colored brick for the neighborhood it's in, and on the back wall that overlooks a lawn it might be the ugliest "mural" in all the land.

Shuster's Art House

A beige block of ice, a non-descript building in an old neighborhood filled with architectural gems. It doesn't help the Art House that Shuster is building an almost exact copy called The Jokeman, er Oakman right next door. One is supposed to be high end (Johnny's seen brochures dropped in his lobby like trash for the Oakman, it ain't that high end people) while the other is affordable rentals. Look at the outsides of the buildings and tell which is which. Exactly. Ugly! Branding Problem!

Feel free to jump into comments and vote for the one that hurts your eyes the most. Vote on it and make America great again LOL...

Another brand new building downtown, more slapdash work

Here's a corner of a building, one of those brand spankin' new downtown high rises. Yep, just look at the quality workmanship. Remember this kind of slapdash work when these guys go before city council and think they are worthy of tax abatements. When they go before city council and insult those would introduce financial sanity into the discussion because they, after all are the engine that drives the economy in their minds. Yeah, with work like this why wouldn't you think you're entitled to other people's money? So a corner of a new building downtown looks like an eyesore and exposes the kind of work being done on our dimes. It's one thing to insult the taxpayers with unnecessary giveaways, it's quite another when those giveaways look like ass and constantly mock those paying the note down for the developer. Well done Toll Brothers, who wouldn't want to live in a building with such attention to fit and finish. If a bottom corner of your building already looks like this just imagine the low-budget work inside (and we know the painting was done by non-union workers at The Morgan).

If Johnny was in the mood to pay between $2 large and up a month in RENT, he'd expect more than we see here from The Morgan.