Ellipse at Newport — Local services in Jersey City

I would have gave 1 star but the doorman are very nice so I gave 2. Pros: Obviously I moved in because the "look" of the building - from outside.

Cons: Welcome and get inside, everything was done poorly, the infrastructure, amenity, furnishing, everything, seriously. I am still on my lease but I see no future I would stay in this place, here are the reasons:

The Wall; are you sure it is a way not a piece of paper? My neighbor is driving me crazy everyday with crazy loud laughter, irritating music, TV noise, everything. Of course the neighbor takes some responsibility(maybe major), but it is ridiculous that I can hear them that clearly.

1a. Say you have problem with a loud neighbor, what you can do? No one actually gives a dime on how you actually feel, the apartment is a money cow, they cannot fix the wall; the infrastructure; nothing.

Vent: I can smell whoever cooked anything from the same floor, can you believe that?

AC: It is not just an AC, it is also a super loud noise maker; I have couple friends who are living or used to live in this building, whats in common is that we never turn the AC on while sleep even its freezing(believe me, living on a pier with no other building around, it can get really cold) because we cannot stand the noise.

Amenity: Look at the price, look at what they offer? It is the tiniest gym I have ever seen in any building that comes with a gym. Guess why? The whole area is owned by Newport and they have a gym which costs $900 a yr where you can do a proper workout, and that place is crowded as hell; check the reviews on Newport fitness center, last time I check it was 2 or 3 stars. Check the average apartment price, remember that price covers nothing, no parking, not even that tiniest gym, you even need to pay for having a pet. Let's do the math, you live in a 1b apt with average $3400 base + $250 parking + $50 pets + $30 water(believe it or not they do not cover water) + $50 amenity in the building(yes, the tiny gym) + $40 electricity(its normal, not expecting they cover this), you get more than $3800 a month with all the troubles I mentioned before, oh if you are like me want to go to a real gym do some weight training; around another $70 a month for you(for the closest 2 star gym, only one in the area) now you are paying ~$3900 a month, want a better view? Go pay more!

You can find a wayyyyyy better place to settle in.

Misc: I can write another 1000 words, the sewer is making noise every night(that was the main reason my friend have to move out because he had some health problems and that noise just keeps him awake every night, guess what the building did to help with that? one day they come and changed the water-tap and that of course does not help);

In summary, if you choose this place all because of the look, you better really dig the outside look of the building because besides that, you are living in a place that you will be hearing all kinds of noise; smell all kinds of food; paying a lot (ignore this if you don't care); cross finger for not having a loud neighbor if you are not one of their kind. Hope you are...

Building has great views and is in an excellent location, appliances are new, and the doormen are great. However, it looks like the building was opened too soon without adequate testing - there are structural problems that make living here quite difficult.

For a while after moving in, we had a very bad cold drift into the apartment because corking wasn’t done in the building. Insulation was done many weeks after we put in a request (it was apparently a building-wide issue, which goes back to my point about structural issues).

The garage wasn’t open for at least 4 months after we were told it would be available, and management didn’t see the need to communicate with either residents or building employees why that was the case. Residents had to resort to asking different people at the concierge every few days about the situation and getting vague non-responses because they themselves didn’t know.

There is a major issue with the vent system in the building. Basically this means means that we get to smell every single thing our neighbors cook, and burn, in their kitchen. And we get this smell through the vent in our master bedroom and closet. This is actually the biggest issue because it’s ongoing and management doesn’t have a solution for it. When we first put in a maintenance request for this issue, the ticket was closed without any action (and without informing us). When we finally managed to get one of the workers in the building come in to smell it for himself, we learned that the building has no way of fixing the problem.

That was the matter-of-fact answer. Newport Rentals expects us to be okay with smelling our neighbors' breakfast, lunch and dinner in our bedroom and on our clothes. No recourse, no compensation, nothing that they will do to fix our issue. As has historically been the case, Newport Rentals management seems to think they can get away with providing sub-par service. This is supposed to be a luxury building (at least based on the rents charged) but make sure you know what you’re getting into before...

Pros: Location is great. Great views, convenient for commuting via PATH to NYC etc.

Cons:

The lease signing experience is TERRIBLE. For 'luxury' building they have no idea. I was given keys to look at a building. You make an appointment and wait forever to see a unit. Then you decide to sign, and you are misquoted pricing. The lease signing is terribly cumbersome, using Paper - and forcing you to sign multiple copies (most are electronic as of 5 years now?). Then they forget a form and email it to you later.

The building is a 'luxury' building in sheep's clothing. The construction and materials are poor. Floor boards pulling up in apartments and common living areas. Fixtures such as faucets etc are cheap and therefore don't clean well. Massive air gaps in windows and doors - required maintenance to fix to mitigate impact. Bursting pipes in apartments due to cold and poor design or construction. Noise from Gym comes up at a minimum of 3 floors above the gym, showing how terrible the construction, insulation or design is.

Garage was delayed opening for months beyond original date - leading to cars piling up the street in front the building. This made it impossible for Uber or deliveries to be made properly at times. Management sends out notes about not parking and does nothing.

Building lobby design was poorly planned - when you get home there is over 100 boxes all throughout the lobby - with one doorman trying to manage receiving the boxes, giving out packages, and opening doors for people with children or their hands full. No concern for the process of managing these many residents in a building.

Clearly, the Newport owners (family run business) and management - have no experience in luxury buildings. Most of the Newport buildings are just apartments and function well. Newport has tried to become more desirable with a Luxury unit - and I believe they have failed.

If not for the location and the fact that the building is new, we might have considered other options.

For this price point I have not...