First Look At The Harper Apartments In Secaucus

SECAUCUS, NJ — Patch attended a media preview this morning of The Harper, Secaucus' newest apartment rental complex that just opened this month near the Walmart/Sam's Club in Harmon Meadow.

The first tenants will move into The Harper starting Feb. 1 and so far, about 92 leases have been signed. There are 469 units in the entire complex, mostly studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedroom apartments. Rents start at $1,780 for a studio, $2,200 for a one-bedroom and up to $3,300 for some of the largest two-bedrooms.

Owned by Hartz, The Harper is a gamble: It's one of the first rental complexes in New Jersey that doesn't bill itself as situated near a traditional downtown, nor is it located near a train station or major mass transit hub. Instead, The Harper is located in the heart of Secaucus' big-box retail center: Harmony daycare, Sam's Club, Walmart, LA Fitness, restaurants like Red Robin and Cheeseburger in Paradise, Starbucks, a Chase bank and office buildings are all within walking distance.

And that's exactly what makes The Harper unique, say its marketers.

Would prospective tenants be turned off by living so close to say, Hudson County's Walmart? The very question seemed to offend Deborah Stone, assistant vice president of leasing for Hartz.

"I'm tired of people complaining about Walmart, which provides really great products for a low price, and I'm tired of people underestimating Secaucus," she told Patch today. "In the next ten years, you watch, values in this town are going to skyrocket. Secaucus is the little undiscovered secret of the New York metropolitan area. You have all the spillover from Hoboken and Jersey City, and once people cross the Rt. 3 bridge, they have to sit in traffic for an hour every day getting to work. So, people are wisely choosing Secaucus."

Leasing agents admit they're eager to capitalize off the Hoboken- and Jersey City-spillover, and that's who they're starting to see coming in, says Terrell Mackey, leasing manager.

"We're seeing people who are tired of the frat, party scene in Hoboken and are coming here for the peace and quiet, and much larger apartments than they'd get in downtown Jersey City or Hoboken," he told Patch. "We're also getting people from Port Imperial in Weehawken."

There are about 12 children so far from families who have leased units, and they will attend either Secaucus High School or Huber Street elementary, Mayor Mike Gonnelli said. There are buses to New York City nearby, but most residents are so far choosing to use the free shuttle to Secaucus Junction train station, he said.

Owned by Hartz

The Harper is owned by Hartz, a prominent developer in Secaucus that built Harmon Cove towers/ townhouses, Osprey Cove and owns much of the industrial land near the train station.

The land it sits on used to be a wholesale carpet warehouse, but when that went out of business, Hartz went to the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission and requested to having the zoning changed from industrial to residential. Secaucus didn't have much say in the matter, said Mayor Gonnelli, but Secaucus did grant Hartz a PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes. It's the first PILOT Secaucus has ever granted. It's too early to know what Hartz will be paying Secaucus in the PILOT payment as compared what they would have paid in regular taxes, but Patch will try to find that out later this year.

In addition to the PILOT, Hartz is paying Secaucus about $500,000 per building for the three-building complex in impact fees, or fees to use municipal services such as snow removal, police, fire, etc.

"We're getting more from the PILOT than we would if they did a traditional tax payment," said Gonnelli. "The county doesn't get as much money."

"It took a couple years and some struggle to get this off the ground, and it wouldn’t have happened without the mayor or town council," said Hartz chairman Leonard Stern, who was on hand today and is worth an estimated $5.4 billion (NYU's Stern School of Business is named after him). "There is nowhere like this anywhere in New Jersey — you can walk to a pharmacy, walk to the gym, walk to get a haircut."

"When I first came to Secaucus, I had to borrow money to buy 750 acres in the Meadowlands. I bought a lot of industrial buildings that pay your town a lot of taxes," he said, to laughter from the crowd.

Stern then brought his son Eddie, and grandson Ezra up with him to the podium with him to emphasis his next point:

"We think we are very good neighbors to Secaucus, and we will be your neighbors and your children's neighbors for generations to come," he said.

Some in Secaucus have complained there is too much development, and that the town is getting overcrowded, but Mayor Gonnelli said today he has actually turned down several requests from developers who want to build even more apartments in town. For example, he said he's turned down repeated requests from the now-closed Empire hotel on Meadowlands Parkway to convert that into apartments.

Affordable housing at The Harper

Like Xchange, a significant number of the units at The Harper will be reserved for affordable housing. This is a requirement mandated by the state, and Secaucus has been in affordable housing compliance for the past 25 years, said Chris Marra, director of Secaucus' affordable housing program.

There are about 90 units of affordable housing at The Harper, and more than 150 affordable units at Xchange, with more currently being built.

There are a select number of three-bedroom apartments available at The Harper, but those are reserved for affordable housing. Those rents range from $500 to $1,100 maximum.

All photos and reporting done by Carly Baldwin/Secaucus Patch