Condo's in New Jersey...

Squeezing the suburbs

The Record
Sunday, August 27, 2006 By SCOTT FALLONSTAFF WRITER

North Jersey is on the cusp of a condominium and town-house building boom that some feel will slowly change the suburban character of the area into an even denser collection of bedroom communities.

It also has spurred concern among some planning experts who say the projects may stall as the real estate market continues to slow from its record pace.
Developments totaling at least 14,000 units of high-density housing have either been proposed, are before local boards, or have recently been approved in Bergen, Passaic, Morris and Hudson counties, according to a review of building data by The Record.
Construction is slated across the region, from massive developments such as the 2,580-unit EnCap Meadowlands Golf Village in Rutherford and Lyndhurst to smaller projects like a 68-unit apartment complex in Butler.
The reason for the focus on high-density housing is simple: Land is difficult to find in North Jersey and density drives real estate profits.
This decade's boom has been fueled by low mortgage rates, steady population growth, increased investment in real estate and government incentives for builders to use former industrial tracts, say real estate agents, developers and economists......................................