NJ.com profiles Eleven 80 Raymond

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NJ.com has a piece today on renting in New Jersey and features Eleven 80, Newark’s first luxury condo buildng in 40 years.

Rent for a 2-bedroom apartment in the highrise can run upwards of $2,600. Seems high for Newark, but the rent is quite a value for a lavish building that’s a 20 minute train ride from the World Trade Center.

If you want a glimpse of where New Jersey’s housing market is headed, a good place to start would be Eleven-80, a 317-unit luxury apartment building in Newark.

Located just a few blocks from Penn Station, the newly renovated Art Deco-style high-rise is packed to the gills with over-the-top amenities on a par with anything a well-heeled renter might find in a luxury Manhattan apartment. There’s a slick, four-lane bowling alley, full-size gym with steam room and sauna, 24-hour concierge service and indoor basketball court.

William and Bray Mitchell, New Hampshire transplants who have been renting a two-bedroom apartment at Eleven80 for the past year, are officially hooked on apartment living. The Brays, both 50, describe themselves as “empty-nesters,” with their three children off at college. So when William Mitchell’s company, Audible.com, an online audio-book seller, relocated to Newark, the couple had no qualms about packing their bags and renting an apartment in the city.

While a single-family home still defines the American dream, the number of high-end renters is growing in New Jersey, according to developers and experts on the state’s housing market. The trend is fueling the development of luxury apartment buildings in places such as Livingston, Morristown, Rahway and Red Bank.

Eleven80, Newark’s first high-rise luxury residential development in almost 40 years, was completed last year and is already two-thirds occupied, according to Arthur Stern of New York-based Cogswell Realty, the developer.

Rents range from $1,400 a month for a studio to $2,600 for a two bedroom — significantly cheaper than the average two-bedroom luxury rental in Manhattan, which can run upwards of $6,000 a month. In Jersey City, a similar apartment can run between $3,600 and $4,200, Stern said.

Rents in Newark and elsewhere in New Jersey represent a bargain for empty-nesters like the Mitchells, who want to trade in their trophy homes for a more hassle-free lifestyle; young professionals, who want the vitality of city life but don’t want to pay Manhattan prices; and well-heeled couples who want to live in style while they accumulate enough money to afford New Jersey’s sky-high housing prices.

“If you are a couple and you are both starting your careers, and you have settled into a salary of $60,000 or $70,000, it’s hard to spend $6,000 a month on a Manhattan rental and still save enough money to save and get ahead,” Stern said.