Aurora Over the Hudson

DESIGNERS SHINE ON THE GOLD COAST
By Evelyn Lee - 11/6/2006

CLIFFSIDE PARK - As luxury condominium developments crop up in increasing numbers along New Jersey’s Gold Coast, some developers have turned to big-name architects and designers to position their residential projects as a cut above the rest.

Chatham’s Pinnacle Cos. has commissioned Yoo by Starck, a London-based development company headed by celebrated interior designer Philippe Starck and British developer John Hitchcox, to design the interiors and outdoor plaza for Aurora Over the Hudson in Cliffside Park. Aurora, which will feature 131 luxury condominiums between 1,760 square feet and 3,300 square feet, will break ground in spring 2007. It is Yoo by Starck’s first design project in New Jersey. Among Starck’s famous interior design jobs is a private apartment at the Elysee Palace for former French President François Mitterand, and the Café Costes in Paris. As a product designer, Starck is well-known for designing a line of household products for Target.

Aurora Over the Hudson marks the second time a famous designer has been involved with a Pinnacle project. In a joint venture with Toll Brothers, Pinnacle worked with renowned Princeton architect Michael Graves, whose projects include the headquarters and training center for the Philadelphia Eagles and the headquarters of the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corp. in Washington D.C. Graves and his architecture firm, Michael Graves & Associates, are responsible for the lobbies and interiors of Maxwell Place in Hoboken, which includes more than 800 condominiums priced approximately between $500,000 and $3 million in four 12-story buildings, as well as approximately 200,000 square feet of commercial space. Construction has been completed on the first building, with occupancy slated for December or January.

In Hoboken, REMI Cos. has teamed with prominent landscape architect Thomas Balsley for Velocity, a two-acre, 128-unit luxury condominium development consisting of two buildings stretching over a city block. The homes, which range in size from 745 square feet and 1,549 square feet, will cost between $400,000 and $800,000. Balsley will design the 25,000-square-foot courtyard between the two under-construction buildings. His work includes the redesigned plazas at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Civic Center and 100 United Nations Plaza in New York City.
The number of residential projects on the Gold Coast has multiplied considerably since construction began picking up in the area around six years ago, according to Scott Selleck, principal and broker at New Jersey Gold Coast Real Estate, a real estate relocation and brokerage company in North Bergen.

“There has been a tremendous amount of new construction from Bayonne to Fort Lee,” says Selleck, who refers to the area as Gold Coast North and Gold Coast South, with the dividing line at Lincoln Harbor in Weehawken. “There are at least 30 to 40 projects on either side of the Gold Coast.”

According to a list of residential developments compiled by the Jersey City Economic Development Corp., at least 30 developers are working on more than 50 projects in Jersey City alone.

With growing competition, developers see the designer projects as a way to set themselves apart, both with the look of the design and the famous name associated with the property.
For example, Aurora, which will be built as two glass towers set atop a cliff overlooking the Hudson River, will set a visual precedent in town. “Cliffside Park is a traditionally suburban neighborhood,” says Mary Boorman, senior vice president of Pinnacle. “There aren’t many high-rises that you see.”

“It’s a bit of an undiscovered part of town,” says John Hitchcox, chairman of Yoo. “It’s nice to bring interesting design to areas that haven’t had it.”

Balsley’s courtyard, with its distinctive gray, white and tan paving pattern and mix of small nooks and open terraces and lawns, will help Velocity stand out in Hoboken, says Erik Kaiser, president of Hoboken-based REMI. “He designed something that was more elaborate than anything that has been done around there,” says Kaiser.

One of REMI’s upcoming projects, the Glenwood Power Plant in Yonkers, N.Y., will feature “an all-star team,” including architect Will Alsop, landscape architect Martha Schwartz and designer Bruce Mau. Alsop won the Stirling Prize for Architecture in 2000 for the Peckham Library in London. Some of Schwartz’s projects include the redesign of 26 Federal Plaza in New York City and the HUD Plaza in Washington, D.C. Mau is best known for his book and magazine designs, but has also developed graphics for buildings like the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. Mau was part of the team that won a competition in 2000 for the design of Downsview Park in Toronto.

Kaiser downplays REMI’s work with distinguished architects and designers. “We come across people who have the same ideas as we do,” he says. “Some are famous, some are not.”
REMI isn’t relying too heavily on Balsley’s name to market Velocity, adds Kaiser. “Architecture in the past 10 years has gotten truly mainstream, but that hasn’t been the case for urban landscaping,” he says. “Most people don’t know who Thomas Balsley is, but in the real estate and design world, he’s obviously well-known.”

Boorman, on the other hand, says the Starck name will serve as a major selling point in Pinnacle’s marketing of Aurora.

“His brand is really dominating the project,” says Boorman. “One of the things we recognize is the tremendous advantage of having Yoo by Starck as a brand because of the international recognition. It will figure prominently in all of our marketing materials.”

A full-scale marketing campaign for the property will begin in about a month, according to Boorman. Pinnacle will show potential customers “virtual tours” of the interiors and exteriors of the property. “The advantage is to be able to show off the Starck look,” she says. “From that, we’ll generate a lot of renderings. Those are the base materials going into our ads, our brochures, our Web sites, and also billboards, ferry posters and postcards.”

Pinnacle has begun an informal sales period for Aurora, Boorman says, even though it doesn’t open until January. She says customers’ response to the Starck name has been positive.
“The reaction is when people are told about it, they get excited about it,” says Boorman, who expects it will take about three years for Aurora to sell out, given the approximately $1 million to $2 million price range of the homes. “I think for some people, it will be a huge attraction.”
Balsley says projects such as REMI’s Velocity are “part of that new trend to raise that bar of design.”

“When we’re talking about the developers, each one is looking for an edge,” says Balsley, who also did the landscape design for Vela Town Homes, a townhouse development being built in Edgewater by Rosen Global Partners. “Each one wants to corner the best part of the market, each one wants to use the architect’s name and reputation to market the units.”

Boorman says that designer projects arise from the need for developers to go above and beyond consumer expectations. “It’s the demands of being in this industry in this country,” she says. “Buyers are looking to be consistently wowed with new trends in designs and it’s come upon designers like ourselves to really think out of the box.”

Boorman says famous names like Graves and Starck have considerable influence on consumers. “It’s like with designer clothes,” she says. “It’s wanting to be associated with quality and name brands. It’s something consumers like.”

E-mail to elee@njbiz.com