Condo auction draws crowd
By KEVIN G. DeMARRAIS
STAFF WRITER
The public auction ended as abruptly as the final episode of “The Sopranos.”
But it seemed to solidify opinions that the North Jersey condominium market remains alive — if the price is right.
The developer’s principal admitted the auction was a marketing gimmick, created to kick off a sales campaign for the luxury condo complex on Hoboken’s quickly changing west side.
As of a week ago, Remi Cos. planned to put 40 of the 128 units on the auction block Sunday to see what the market would bear. Thirty units of what is being called Velocity/Hoboken had previously been sold, the company said.
However, by the time proceedings began in a Jersey City hotel ballroom, the list had been cut to 16, and without notice, it was cut to nine after about a half-hour of spirited bidding.
The apartments that were sold brought in $3.6 million, about two-thirds of what developers said was their last asking price, but a third higher than minimum prices they had set.
Prices ranged from $369,000 for a one-bedroom unit to $502,000 for a two-bedroom apartment.
“The people were willing to bid on one-bedrooms, but not two,” Erik Kaiser, principal of Hoboken-based Remi Cos., said in explaining why he halted the auction.
Many people interested in two-bedroom units said they felt uncomfortable with the auction process, preferring to negotiate in more traditional ways, Kaiser said.
He said he was pleased with the results and the amount of interest in the complex, and predicted that at least 20 people who attended the auction, but did not bid, would purchase two-bedroom units within a week.
About 200 people showed up, and some viewed the sudden end to proceedings as a sign that the condo market is hurting.
“It’s bad P.R.,” said Sean Munroe of Ridgewood, who predicted that Sunday’s results would push prices down. “There’s a glut of condos here.”
Also, despite the fact that the complex is within a block of the NJ Transit Hudson-Bergen Light Rail stop, its location across town from Hoboken’s main commercial district and next to a public housing project works against it.
“I’m not sure how far west people are willing to go,” he said. “It will be interesting to see what happens.”
Standing outside the four-story brick-faced condo several hours before the bidding started, Kaiser expressed confidence that with demand high in Hoboken and the amenities included in Velocity, the units would sell, even though the condo market is “calm.”
“This town has four walls; it’s as big as it’s going to get,” he said.
He said the auction would give potential buyers the opportunity to create a market.
“There is a question mark on every building as to its value,” he said. He said having an auction was a risk, but it was worth it because it created a buzz about the complex as his company begins to actively market the property that was completed on June 1.
“We had more traffic in one month than we could have gotten in two years,” he said.
Even before the auction was halted, Deedre Miranda, who rents an apartment in Hoboken, had left.
Like many of the attendees, she was looking for a bargain, but the bidding was “a little past” her price range.
But to Bruce Snyder, who is renting an apartment in New York City, the price was fair.
He won the bidding at $502,000 for one of two two-bedroom units sold, and was willing to pay about 10 percent more after his due diligence convinced him that concern about the location was not warranted.
“I feel we got a decent deal, but it was not a steal,” he said.