Foreclosures begin on final 19 Riverwalk units

Bank of America has started to foreclose on the 19 remaining unsold units at Riverwalk, said Redevelopment Agency Attorney Frank Regan at the agency’s meeting last week. The city also has begun the process on seven of those units for failing to pay property taxes, according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier.

Parsippany-based Diversified Communities built the 86 Riverwalk townhomes off East Milton Avenue several years ago and at one point had considered plans for another three dozen or so on the neighboring Kings Inn property. The last Riverwalk unit to sell (that I could find) went for $420,000 in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The city still is pursuing the developers for failure to complete improvements, including street paving and striping. Regan said he was contacted by an attorney for the homeowners’ association to determine whether the improvements could be completed and paid through a mortgage commitment or if the city could complete the improvements and assess the units.

The city and county did some paving work on Essex and Johnson streets in the spring and will pursue the developer in court for reimbursement, but other work remains, such as drainage.

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Since we’re on the topic of foreclosure, here’s a Wall Street Journal story from yesterday about foreclosures hitting top-tier markets.

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11 thoughts on “Foreclosures begin on final 19 Riverwalk units”

  1. I feel bad for the people who bought over there. Beautiful units, but just terribly overpriced for the location.In case we forget, this was the same developer who was going to redevelop the city hall area into a massive condo/apartment/retail complex. Good thing the market crashed before that project got half-finished, too.

  2. Ive seen those units and the area. A fair price for them would have been $160,000-$180,000 considering the units and the area. It ruly is a shame.

  3. 160k?? C'mon…a little exaggeration. They are nice units but worst real estate market in our life times is no match. Given that 86 of 105 had sold I would say that there were priced correctly at one point. Given that the economy is starting to turn upwards (although slowly), the town should consider buying them on the cheap and fix up the neighborhood (which it sounds like they might have to anyway) and then sell them for profit. It would save a community and turn some profit as well.

  4. Anon3, To clarify, a total of 86 units were built at Riverwalk; 19 of those have not sold = 67 sold. $160k-$180k is a bit of an exaggeration, especially when you consider the time period in which they sold (the greatest RE market of all time). Riverwalk is more townhome than condo, and all/most include garage, etc., I believe (though I never paid a visit). $160k-$180k would get you a condo, not a townhome, even in Rahway. Having said that, I was still pretty surprised every time I saw a Riverwalk unit go for $450k, $500k+, given that Rahway was not yet (and still is not) "the next Hoboken," along with the proximity to Route 1, Kings Inn, etc. Or maybe they were just too rich for a frugal fella like myself.

  5. Yeah, I think something like $250k would have been appropriate. The inside of those places are beautiful, great design and finishes, lots of space. But real estate is all about location, and just looking at the other units in the area should have told any buyer that these prices were not realistic. You have an incinerator, a highway and an hourly-rate motel as neighbors. Those are red flags even if we were in a great RE market.

  6. 250k? Are you from this area?You're still way off. Those units are worth way more than that. 350k-400k is more realistic for them in today's market.

  7. Best measure of what the units are "worth" is what someone is willing to pay for them. As no-doc liar loans, teaser rate ARM loans, gov't giveaways (can you say 15K tax credit for all home purchases), and zero (or essentially zero) down-payment loans evaporate (stay tuned for pending FHA implosion and goodbye to 3% down payments), and people are actually limited to buying things they can actually afford (working with lenders who have come to their senses about giving out loans), then we will see the true worth of these units. Until then, it's all guess-work.

  8. What you have to realize is that every unit in this complex isn't the same. I agree that some units aren't worth $400K+, but some units are worth far more than that. The units that are unsold are mostly the units in the worst locations in the complex. Do your research.About paying prices in Rahway, it probably made sense and may still in the future. You still have 2-3 times the space as you would in JC, Hoboken, Westfield…at the same price point. Seems like most people that live at Riverwalk are professionals or young families. That alone may help their prices.

  9. Sounds like you own one of these and are trying to justify the price you paid. Which is understandable. But location matters in real estate. And even though the front side has a lovely view, even though the spot is train walkable, consider the neighborhood directly behind Riverwalk. You can't have units worth $90k on one side of a fence and worth $400k on the other side. That's not how it works.

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