Observer Park Apartments — Local services in Hoboken

I have lived in this building for about 4.5 years. When the building was owned by Bozzuto (from my move-in in 2016 through the sale in late 2017), my experience was mediocre. Greystar purchased the building in late 2017 and my experience since the sale has been overwhelmingly positive.

Most importantly, I find that the Greystar team is outstanding. Anthony and Jay (and in the past, Jackie) in the front office are the consummate professionals - they have always been transparent, responsive, accommodating, understanding, and fair. Danny, Alberto, and Markito in the maintenance office are fantastic - the property is clean and organized, and Danny, Alberto, and Markito are extremely responsive as well. Whenever I contact any members of the team, I receive a response within an hour, and for maintenance requests, the fix occurs within just a few hours. I cannot say enough about how great Anthony, Jay, Jackie, Danny, Alberto, and Markito have been.

Greystar has spent a lot of money to update and repair the building, which was neglected by Bozzuto. The new finishes are quite nice, the patios (common area, courtyards around building, apartment patios) are awesome, and the gym in the building is also great for a quick workout. I also appreciate the package concierge room and I am comfortable knowing that my purchases are safe and secure in a locker and/or locked room. The plumbing in the building was completely redone, flooring totally replaced, heating and air conditioning fixed/replaced, everything was repainted, and landscaping replaced. Greystar also updated the intercom systems for the building that allow you to grant access for guests and deliveries using your smart phone from anywhere, which has been fantastic. Payments/billing occur electronically via a web-based portal, which is also extremely easy to use. Also, Greystar is very pet-friendly, which has been extremely pleasant.

The two problems with the building that I have experienced, which existed since Bozzuto owned the building, have been the elevators and the community laundry room. Greystar has been installing in-unit laundry in renovated units, which mitigates the laundry issues for many other tenants, and Jay and Anthony have been extremely accommodating in helping me, personally, find alternatives as I do not have in-unit laundry. The elevator issues have been rare in recent times after a slew of repairs by Greystar. Given that these issues have been around since I moved in and the severity has decreased significantly since Greystar's purchase, I would say this is another piece of positive evidence.

With respect to the economics of living here, Greystar does nothing different than any other property owner/management company with respect to fees and charges. In fact, I find that Greystar is more transparent than its peers with respect to the charges you can expect to incur, and my rent increases have always been very reasonable. If a tenant reads the lease, there is nothing that occurs in practice that is not expressly stated in the lease. I have always felt that I am receiving a good value for my money, and my rents are aligned with comparable properties and market rates (thus, validated with research). Also, I have never had a problem negotiating (which I have not had to do very often) in the off chance that the rent system provided a high number. My water/sewage/trash/electricity is always very reasonable...

I spent many hours searching for an apartment in Observer Park and ultimately decided to pass. We were verbally told that the deposit we put down on one specific unit counted towards the building itself and we can have our choice of 3 different units after the elevator was fixed. 903 was our first choice- it had the best views in the building but had the double whammy of train noise and elevator noise, and at the time of our deposit the elevator was taken out of service in an "attempt" to fix this noise. Well, (perhaps intentionally) right after our three day refundable "grace period", we were told that the apartment we actually wanted (903) had already been rented and that we were stuck with one we did not like as much. We visited other Greystar properties like Grand Adams where the initial deposit was refundable until the actual lease was signed, but sketchy Observer Park refused to refund any of our deposit even with our special circumstance. Here's what I learned about the building in my time spent sitting in apartments wondering if the slightly lower prices were worth the nonstop noise: 1- Jay and management seem like good people, and I was shocked they wouldn't refund our "refundable" deposit given the fact that they were dishonest about the elevator being taken out of service to fix the bothersome noise. 2- The garden elevator noise is very noticeable and bad- almost like a vibration that rumbles through the walls and into apartments- you can even hear it from the rental office- listen up. 3- The apt is not well constructed and the walls are thin. Standing in a hallway at 7pm I heard every apartments’ TV, conversations, music etc.

This is a very old building that has been renovated but sometimes feels like they put lipstick on a pig. Bad bones. For example, the windows and window handles were clearly not renovated and were old and fragile and not very insulated. Closet space is tight because as they renovate they are taking the hall closets and converting them to a W/D with no space left over. A true legitimate renovation of the building would include new insulated windows with new handles, new doors that insulate noise, and a new garden elevator that doesn't vibrate and scream every 3 minutes like it was built 30 years ago. On the plus side, I did talk to some residents who said they got used to the noises and lived with it and enjoyed the apt. The amenities looked solid- gym and courtyard were nice. Obviously proximity to path also nice. There's a reason Yelp and every apartment website has a ton of suspect reviews for this building more so than others. Where there's smoke there's fire. We ultimately sacrificed being close to the path for a quieter nicer...

Just moved out since I bought a place but really enjoyed living here the past 2 years. You really couldn't beat the convenience of being a couple minute walk to the PATH and 5 min drive to the highways for my commute. My unit had been updated and only had minor issues w/ a dishwasher handle and clogged sink during my stay that were quickly addressed by the maintenance staff who are just really friendly and responsive. It was a little bit inconvenient to have 1 elevator of the 2 working the last months of my stay but to be fair it was because they are completely replacing them for the benefit of future residents. The new one already in operation is very quick and although I did not get the benefit of using it for move out they were almost done with the second. I thought of it as a first world problem. I also left the unit pretty close to move in condition and did not get charged any additional fees. My interactions with the manager Jay were always professional and he was fair with working on a move out date which I really appreciated. Overall, had a great run while living there! Between, if you are on the side facing the train station there will be noise and that was a concern at first. I got used to it anyways but I had amazon Alexa play white noise and an air filter on at night and slept...