northwest hoboken now waterfront property!

What a pleasant surprise this morning when I awoke- property values in the neighborhood have apparently skyrocketed overnight with the newly formed great lakes of northwest Hoboken! Here are a few more pics of Upper Grand Lake. It's super luxurious and totally open to the public for a limited time. Membership includes the use of the regulation size lap pool for those of you who are training for the upcoming Float or Drown on Your Way Home From Work Competition. The gun goes off at 5pm sharp!




No one mentioned to me that I should have brought my row boat with me when I moved out of the city a few months ago. So that storm was really something, huh?

Here's a fab picture of the newly formed Lake of Performing Arts, which is located just north of the Monroe Center of the Arts. Free water ballet classes are scheduled each morning between 8am and 10am, and morning lattes are complimentary to those who show up in bikinis and/or sexy yoga gear:


Here a few pics of Monroe Street, looking north behind the Shoprite, and also of 9th Street, looking east towards Washington Street:






Monroe Street may have been flooded, but Jackson Street, behind Fields Crossing, was bone dry. Looks as though those Metrostop greenies will never have to worry about falling prey to massive flooding. Also happy to report there were no kiddie pools near either of the light rail entrances.

I think Robert D. McFadden described the storm perfectly in today's New York Times:

"The day was, in a way, like great theater: the drama of the approaching storm, the searching wind at the panes and rain dancing on the pavement, the smudged sky, the iron-gray day like a movie in black and white. The overcast was solid, great plates of corrugated iron fused from horizon to horizon, and the streets glistened in the rain: a metallic futureworld."

And lastly, here are a few shots from last night. They are moody, cold, and slightly cranky, just like me:

crane #1 found a hot date

This week heralded the arrival of a second crane to the 800 Madison construction site. Double Crane Action!



But I'm not sure how much work is going to be done, with all of this water hanging around. In the second picture below, you can see the Fields Crossing condo building in the backround:





And the last of our 800 Madison update- some fun toys have arrived. Everyone, meet Sally Steamroller and her fiance Thomas the Track Type Tractor. They are registered at Crate & Barrell and Target:

the chicest dry cleaner possible

Just look at it. Crystal clear windows, clean and simple landscaping, bright splashes of color on the walls, lots of perfectly pressed shirts- this could just be the chicest dry cleaner around. Bonus: they are open on Sunday for all you young professionals who only have time to get your act together on Sunday afternoon during those bed head/ hoodie/ dark dark sunglasses hours where you hope not to run into anyone you know.

Do they do good work? Let me know! Click here to email me!

Courtyard Cleaners
800 Jefferson @ the corner of 8th Street
201-216-1444

Click here for a Google map of Courtyard Cleaners

the cup joint

This coming Saturday we're going to walk over and try The Cup Joint for breakfast. I walk by it all the time and it looks very inviting, and there's nothing I like better than a good breakfast full of steaming hot coffee and everything possible that's bad for you. The Cup Joint looks like just the right place. The absolute perfect greasy spoon in all of Northwest Hoboken? I'll let you know...

The Cup Joint
732 Jefferson Street @ 8th Street
201-222-2660

Hours:
Tues - Fri - 11am - 9:30pm
Sat - Sun - 10am - 3pm

Check out their website with full menu listings:

www.thecupjoint.com

the last holdout

Whomever this person is- they are sitting on a gold mine. They are also about to be swallowed up by massive redevelopement. With all of the construction around, it looks a bit strange seeing this ranch style house just parked on such a prime corner lot. This one needs to cash out and move to Florida. Doors locked. Blinds shut. No pulse, whatsoever.

Oldie but Goodie

Part of the charm of Hoboken is the conversion of historical buildings into new residential condos, rentals, and businesses. Here's one on the corner of Eleventh and Jefferson. I love how the street sign is built into the building. Very cool.

bricks bricks bricks

Took a walk past 1000 Jefferson yesterday morning, and the brick laying work is moving very quickly. It looks as though the developer is choosing varying colors of brick, which I'm assuming will help break up the immense size of this condo building that takes up the entire block.

It's massive!





Also some of the condos on the south side will have terraces:


And on the Madison Street side of the building, where there are ten separate entrances for which I think will be townhouses, they are building very cool staircase entrances:


Here's a shot of the first floor parking garage, which looks like it will fit a million cars. Which is great because with such a huge influx of people, we will definitely need the parking space. But of course, the downside is that there is little space for new retail opportunities. Currently it looks like each of the four corners of the building will have a retail presence of some kind. I can see it now....Starbucks on every corner!



Here's a link to Upper Grand's real estate website, in case you'd like to check out whatever units they have left to sell, and to check out the master plan with all planned buildings going up by this developer:

www.uppergrand.com

The finished building and corner retail units will look something like 1100 Adams, which is also part of the 'Upper Grand' developement project:

new metrostop website up

This morning I checked the metrostop website, which previously had just been a sign up page. Low and behold- they have launched the full site with a ton of glossy info on the new building. It's chock full of floors plans, digital renderings (posted below), amenities that seem very chic like white granite counter tops and limestone bathrooms, and info on the full glass first floor retail space, which will include a restaurant called Amelia's, and a coffee shop. THANK GOD for the coffee shop. I can barely open my eyes on my way to work because the area is lacking a good coffee shop within walking distance of the light rail. Don't ask why can't I make my own coffee and take it with me. I can't answer that question!

And even though the space where the building will occupy is slim and rather tiny, they have managed to fit in a sculpture garden, outdoor lounge furniture, tons of open space, an additional entrance to the light rail platform, and a 'green roof' that will be covered in grass and plants, to help lower energy bills, and provide a rooftop park with views of the city. Prices start in the low $400's, which is practically free compared to Manhattan.

Also it should be noted that zip car is providing a fleet of hybrid Toyota Prius's for the building, which will be available to residents. Zip car is a great membership service that provides cars whenever you need one. Very handy, especially if you rent cars all the time- this is way more affordable, and easy. Here's the website:

www.metrostop.com

Renderings of Metrostop courtesy of Metro Homes, LLC.

metrostop / 800 madison progress

It's been a busy week in the hood. First off- 800 Madison has been cleared, gravel has been put down, and they are currently driving large steel girders into the ground to begin the foundation work! The machine they are using is huge, and is very old school. Bit by bit it drives the girders into the ground with a very loud boom and a release of steam. You can feel it vibrate through the streets. The pounding is very loud. Here are some pics:




We have also seen MAJOR progress on the new 'green' Metrostop project. They are moving so fast, and there seems to be hundreds of construction workers attacking the site from every angle. They've started the second floor already! And you can see from the below pics, that the building is starting to be visible above the light rail platform. Another week and it will probably begin to obstruct the view of Fields Crossing. Very exciting! Not sure how 'green' all of that wood is, could it be from a sustainable forest, perhaps? Hmmm,...we'll never know for sure.

neighborhood rendering

Here's what the Upper Grand developement will look like in a year or two. 1000 Jefferson is getting its finishing touches this spring, and the plot of land where 800 Madison is to be built has just been cleared to get ready for the foundation!


Here's a link to rendering on Upper Grand's website:

interactive map of the area

This image is also very exciting because it shows the proposed park necklace that will run along the Light Rail. Terrible nickname for a park system, I know, but that's what people are calling it. I can't wait to see some green space in our new neighborhood. We definitely need it.

Rendering courtesy of Tarragon Corporation.