As a community publisher, I am intensely interested in the growth of our community and how neighborhoods grow as well. I am also the son of a real estate lawyer and have always been fascinated by new construction and how homes get built. I sometimes even joke that I have created a mini real estate business within the pages of our paper, with each page and section serving as a kind of “paper” real estate business, with our advertisers buying different ad spaces in the print edition week in and week out. Isn’t that a real estate business of some kind? I think so but you can certainly disagree.
All of the above and more explain why I found myself recently in the “south of Cedar” section of Teaneck at Parkside Lane at Teaneck, where I met with the project’s builders, Jacob Schulder of KRE (Kushner Real Estate Group) and Abe Zucker of Somerset Development. Both have extensive experience in the business of building homes throughout the state of New Jersey. The visit to their busy and humming construction site, which borders Teaneck’s Herrick Park (and is also the source of its name Parkside), was a chance for me to see the first group of townhomes and model homes which are now fully complete and ready to view. The visit was also a chance for me to partially make up for the fact that I missed the “hard hat tour” that Parkside had held before Pesach and was advertised prominently in our paper.
When I was met at the front by Jacob and Abe, they were happy to tell me that the “hard hat” tour had been a big success and that dozens of prospective buyers had come to the tour because of the ads, which I was certainly happy to hear about. The prospective buyers were from all parts of the community and ranged in age from younger couples looking to buy their first home to older buyers looking to move into the community to be closer to their families—and the full gamut in between. And most importantly, many were seriously considering buying or were in the process of doing so.
I wasn’t surprised to hear this because while Teaneck has certainly seen some nice recent apartment buildings go up, virtually all are rental buildings. New developments featuring brand-new, spacious townhouses with three bedrooms and three bathrooms have been almost unheard of.
Guided by Jacob and Abe, I toured through three impressive townhomes with the exteriors all done and with the interiors being worked on. Who doesn’t like to walk through a brand-new home filled with potential? It was a lovely tour and time together. What stood out most for me was the height of the ceilings and the incredible amounts of natural light flooding into these new homes. As a tall and big guy, I really appreciated the fact that every floor had nine- or 10-foot-high ceilings, which made every room in each house seem grander and bigger. That’s a definite plus for me, and I suspect many others. At the same time, the amount of natural light coming into each house was pretty amazing and a definite selling point. It seemed to me that the eventual homeowners would barely even need to use their regular lights to illuminate the house during the day. Although the natural light was certainly stronger in the two corner homes I saw, even with the fully attached home I visited, the natural light flooding in from the front and back of the house was quite strong. Another plus for me and most interested buyers, I imagine.
As we walked through the houses, I asked a lot of questions and was impressed with all of the conscientious, thought-out answers about virtually every aspect of each house. The builders and I talked about kitchen layouts and the changes and options that they were able to offer to future kosher and shomer Shabbat buyers who might want a larger kitchen island and more space in the kitchen and dining areas. They seemed incredibly open and responsive to feedback and they shared with me that based on comments from the hard hat tour day, they were looking to offer different types of dishwashers and revised kitchen/dining room layouts. They even showed me how the layout of the townhomes would enable a small elevator to be installed, if the buyer wanted to avoid the stairs. Last but not least, they also explained that part of their deal with the town of Teaneck was that they would help pay for upgrading the neighboring Herrick Park, and they are looking forward to the park being enhanced significantly in 2024. In fact, the town of Teaneck recently publicized the plans for an extensive $1.6 million renovation to Herrick Park, set to start in early 2024.
We also talked about nearby shuls, and they noted that Arzei Darom, Ohr Saadya and Netivot Shalom are pretty close by. As a longtime Teaneck resident, I have been watching the greater Teaneck community grow further north and deeper into Bergenfield and New Milford and I have been waiting for the community to grow even stronger on the southern side towards Bogota. Parkside Lane may be a key driver for this next step in Teaneck’s growth.
Getting back to the practical side of things, Parkside Lane is located at 520 Palisade Avenue, and is offering approximately 60-plus luxury townhomes starting in the upper $600s. With every home, buyers will get three floors, three bedrooms, two full bathrooms and two half-baths, with wood floors, fireplace and quartz countertops, with options for a kosher kitchen’s additional requirements such as double sinks and more available. Last but not least, every home will have a large room on the first floor that can serve as an office or recreation room.
For more details about Parkside Lane, call (201) 431-5025 or visit the website at www.parksidelaneteaneck.com, which also has a 3D video tour.
