Bergen County Real Estate News : February 2008 – week 3

Bergen county news with an emphasis on aspects affecting real estate, residency and community issues.

Schools ranking in Bergen County
Large luxury houses pose large fire threats
Renovations take place to attract tenants to Teaneck facility
North Jersey Media Group Office relocates to Bergen County
Services to small Bergen County towns merged

Schools ranking in Bergen County

Tenafly finished second, while Glen Rock and Cresskill ranked 6th and 15th on a ranking of the top high schools in New Jersey. Other towns of Bergen County that featured on the list were Ridgewood at 24th rank, Fair Lawn at 62, Rutherford at 88, Fort Lee at 99, Teaneck at 102, Bogota at 132 and Dumont at 174. This biennial ranking was conducted by the New Jersey Monthly, a magazine that regularly conducts surveys on the various aspects of life and living in New Jersey. The survey was conducted the Monmouth University Polling Institute, which analyzed the data obtained from the latest report cards of New Jersey schools for the 2004-2005 school sessions. All the 316 schools were thus ranked based on detailed analysis performed on select criteria and on meetings conducted with various leaders from the educational fraternity. The main criteria considered for the rankings were of the school environment, performance of students and student outcomes. The school environment considered the average class size, ratio of students to teachers and student to computers and the percentage of faculty with advanced degrees. Performance of students was rated based on average combined SAT scores, HSPA and AP tests. Finally, student outcome was also measured in a calculated manner.

Large luxury houses pose large fire threats

While mansions and luxury houses in Bergen County are well sought after, these buildings have their set of problems too that home buyers must be aware of. Statistics reveal that approximately six to seven mansion fires have broken out in the past decade in the luxury mansions in the region, mainly in areas like the kitchens, garage, basement and utilities. Many firefighters in areas such as Alpine complain that large mansions are always a challenge during fire as they have to face very difficult search conditions. Also fire hoses need to be taken through elaborate rooms, indoor basketball courts, indoor swimming pools, multi-car garages and movie theaters, which make the process of saving lives and property an extremely difficult one. Fire-fighters state that the work involved is not only highly labor intensive but also requires special strategy and more people. In the region of Alpine, which is equipped with approximately 25 volunteer fire fighting personnel, many expressed that it was quite easy to get lost in the elaborate homes. Also once you were inside the building, getting the water and firefighting foam inside was another tough process. Solutions to fighting the above problems include provision of mutual aid with neighboring towns, easy availability of home blueprints, availability of infrastructure and better sprinkler systems.

Renovations take place to attract tenants to Teaneck facility

The Glenpointe Centre of Teaneck is one of the largest office complexes in Bergen County and efforts are now on to make it one of the best in its line. In accordance with this a second set of renovations are taking place in the 650,000 sq ft complex. The center comprises of three office buildings which are the Glenpointe Centre West, Glenpointe Centre East and the Atrium at Glenpointe. The center also comprises of a spa that stretches over 26,000 sq ft and a 350 room hotel and conference center. A 164- unit residential area called The Courts, is also present in the area. This mixed use undertaking will be further enhanced with expenditures of $6.5 million for improving office space and attracting good tenants, especially from New York City. Surveys and recent reports on demand for space have indicated that the demand is relatively stagnant with overall office vacancy in the state falling to 17.4%. Office rents have also risen by a negligible 0.1% in the fourth quarter indicating a soft market. In such conditions, it is best to have high end office space which is desirable. Many firms are also expending on advertising campaigns to attract tenants, in these weak market conditions.

North Jersey Media Group Office relocates to Bergen County

The office of the North Jersey Media Group may now relocate to Bergen County, revealed certain spokespersons of the organization. This group, which regularly publishes The Record of Bergen County, will soon leave its flagship office in Hackensack. The 19.8 acre stretch which houses their 300,000 sq ft Hackensack office has been in use for fifty seven years now, and officials stated that they were seeking possible sites for relocation over the next couple of years. The main reason stated for relocation was that officials felt that the large building was underused and could be put to better purposes. They would thus plan to sell a parcel of the site and rent space in an area like Bergen County. Alternatively, the land could also be sold to developers for constructing mixed-use buildings including office space for the Group.

Services to small Bergen County towns merged

In new developments, the plan proposal put forth by the Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney to merge towns and services, received the approval of the Governor John Corzine on Tuesday, February 26, 2008. The governor stated that as per new plans, top priority consideration for $32 million worth of grants would be given to towns with less than 10,000 residents for sharing services and resources. However, municipal aid extended to these small towns would see a drastic reduction as compared to towns with higher population. Many are concerned that this plan would mean reduction on all categories of municipal assistance and lesser direct support to towns with low population. It is stated that these plans would help towns to consolidate resources and thus cut unnecessary costs in the process.

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