Montclair Attracting Hipsters to Retro Multifamily Projects

Nicholas Nicolaou, left, senior vice president, Gebroe-Hammer Associates, and 84 Pine St., Montclair, NJ

MONTCLAIR, NJ— Montclair has become a trendy, hip enclave for an upper-middle income tenant base of urbanites – a multifamily investor’s “dream demographic,” according to the brokerage professionals at Gebroe-Hammer Associates, which recently arranged two separate transactions worth $7.4 million, totaling 56 units and five buildings on the same street. Gebroe-Hammer has been on the frontlines of Montclair’s transformation for more than 40 years. “Montclair has evolved from a community with aging residential and commercial corridors in the 1970s to a model for progressive urbanite living in the suburbs of New York City, where a large percentage of the population has always worked,” says Nicholas Nicolaou , senior vice president, who exclusively represented the owner and identified the buyer in the two trades. “It has gone from being a country town, to an artist colony, to a model for modern-day urbanism.” Ken Uranowitz , president, also was a member of the brokerage team for both transactions. The municipality’s latest multifamily trades include a total of 18 units at 84, 93 and 95 Pine St., and 38 units at 97 and 101 Pine St., all of which have early 1900s-era architectural elements. As part of the Claremont Ave./Pine Street neighborhood, the three-story walk-ups are within a four-minute walk to the Bay Street Rail Station – one of seven within the township. “The Claremont Ave./Pine Street neighborhood is primarily made up of low- and hi-rise apartment buildings with studio to four-bedroom units and has one of the highest proportions of studio/one- and two-bedroom real estate in any neighborhood nationwide,” says Nicolaou . “Most of the residential real estate in this area is renter-occupied by individuals and heads of household who are employed in senior-level positions.” Transformed into a country town by New York business icons and their families as well as an artist colony in the 1870s, new architecturally distinct mansions and modest homes began cropping up at the turn of the 20 ^th century and still stand today. “This history, Montclair’s deep-rooted artistic and cultural influences and a 12-mile distance from/easy mass transit access to New York City are the foundation for the township’s reputation,” says Nicolaou . “It is a vibrant, diverse community for residential living, shopping, dining and enjoying whatever suits each person’s preferences.”