Xchange at Secaucus Junction — Local services in Secaucus

Application process was smooth and pretty streamlined. You sign your life away to move in this place, but overall that went well for us and we have no complaints. Now, for the in and out of living here. The office staff are relatively nice, the front staff (most of them the security and amenities crew) are nice people. The leasing office crew never gave me any issues and maintenance guys/gals are really nice too. I will admit, when you put in a request to have something fixed they do come quickly which is really nice. I also let them in my apartment when I am not home and have never had a problem. The amenities are nice, the pool is always clean and the gym too. There is a decent amount of parking so we do no have to worry about that and being close to the train is a huge plus for work/social gatherings. The apartment is cheaply made, but looks nice to the eye. Not worth the price, but you are close to the city so that is what you really pay for. Overall they are clean, decent appliances (ours were not new but they will do), and the carpet was clean. Our side (next side) has been kept bug free, thankfully, but the other side (helix) did or may still have a HUGE roach problem. Now, the negative aspects and the reason why I could not give this place above a 3 star rating. There is always water ALL over the place when it rains. When I say all over, I mean leaking down the walls in the hallways, saturating the carpets, flooding the doorways, the grounds and pathways to walk. You are soaked every time it rains and I personally have to carry my dogs out the door or they will be dripping wet before we are even outside to get even more wet with the sopping grounds and grass. There is a MAJOR drainage problem at the Xchange. I have reported this several times to the leasing office, grounds manager, and the township too. I am sick of worrying if I am going to fall each time I walk out of my door and if I should bring a change of shoes because my feet are wet and cold. We are also worried about mold in the walls since this happens each time is rains and there is visible rust on the bottom of the doors and walls, which shows this happens EVERY single rain fall. So with that being said, you can tell we are not thrilled with the overall building at all. It was cheaply made and obviously needs a lot of repair to fix this issue both inside and out. We live in the NEXT building which is new, about a year or so old, but with this it is really ruining the building. Between the tearing wall paper that is always wet, water all over the floors and ceilings, it is really taking a toll on this building that is still young. Now, aside from the sop mess of water all over the place, all the time it must be noted that the other side (helix) is older and is not as well maintained as the next side that I am on. Some apartments have garbage all over their balcony and one person even has a refrigerator on their balcony? I have no idea how that is permitted, but it is apparent that no one restricts garbage and disgust on balcony's and it is worse on that side. I am not sure if it is because they are cheaper or what but that is really repulsive to see (hence the roaches). Last, I am a cultured person and love all races, nationalities and genders, but it is necessary to mention that this community is 80%+ Indian. Everyone tends to keep to themselves and is respectful for the most part, but you will smell strong scents of curry all the time, many are very scared of animals (even mine at 6 and 8lbs) and most of the community will not speak to you if you are not from Indian descent. It is unfortunate because I would love to speak to more people and learn about their culture, but if you are not Indian they will not even look at you let alone say a word. I wish it was more welcoming and friendly, but it is not. Overall if you are looking to be close to the city in a decent apartment (despite the high cost) this is an ok spot, but if you are looking for a maintained building, dry feet and a friendly community, you will not...

Resident & Real Estate Insider Review: Do Not Waste Your Money

I’ve lived here for several years with my partner, and I also work in real estate, so believe me when I say: this building is a terrible value for the money.

With the constant, steep rent hikes, you could easily find a better-built, better-managed, and more livable apartment in Hoboken, Jersey City, Union City, or Bayonne for the same price or less.

Let’s break it down:

🚨 Construction & Safety Issues

Fire alarms go off frequently.

Parking lot lights fail, and worse... emergency lights don’t turn on. SUPER SUPER DANGEROUS! It has happened several times.

Exterior doors constantly malfunction, and some have been broken for over two years. TOTALLY UNSAFE!

Thermostats don't work properly. Sometimes the heat/AC doesn’t shut off, other times it won’t even turn on.

The elevator breaks down constantly and has been out of service for weeks, with zero updates from management.

No functional backup elevator (despite signs saying “use the other one”... spoiler: there isn’t one).

Lack of accessibility: Doors are too heavy, ramps are dangerously designed, and wheelchair use is risky. My grandmother almost tipped over during her visit!

🛠️ Poor Maintenance & Mismanagement

No communication about repairs or issues.

Packages often go unlogged and concierge staff will argue with you if you try to claim them.

The concierge seems uninterested in helping and shifts responsibility between each other, simply waiting for their co-worker to do the logging.

Management constantly sends threatening emails instead of actual solutions (i.e., telling residents to remove “clutter” near windows???).

You're forced to pay for a shuttle service even if you never use it.

🧼 Amenities Are a Scam

These are all the things THEY DO NOT TELL YOU WHEN GIVING YOU A TOUR!!!!!

During holidays, you have zero access to amenities because they shut them down.

The outdoor backyard is off limits during the holidays. Yes, even for fresh air. Security will yell at you and threaten to call the police.

They shut off lobby lights after 10PM, claiming it's an “amenity.” So you walk through complete darkness just to get home.

They put some ugly, skanky couches into the lobby and call this an 'amenity'. Completely laughable!

The gym closes early, so forget about using it if you work long hours or commute.

The entire building smells. The elevators, gym, and pool all reek of sweat and mildew.

👶 Chaos & Noise

After 5PM, the lobby turns into a daycare gone wild. Dozens of unsupervised children running, screaming, and wrecking furniture. The parents DO NOT CARE and the staff does nothing.

The conference room is always occupied by remote workers who treat it like their private office and will confront you if you try to use it.

Between vacuuming, screaming kids, mail deliveries, and staff shouting, it’s impossible to work from home in common areas.

🚿 Water Pressure & Plumbing

Takes forever for hot water to kick in, so good luck in the winter.

Low water pressure.

Tubs clog easily, and maintenance blames you instead of addressing the swamp-like plumbing issues (because, yes, this building was built on a swamp).

⚠️ Bottom Line

This place is overpriced, cheaply built, and run by people who clearly do not care about residents' experience or safety. The amenities are practically unusable. The management is unprofessional and unresponsive. The entire building is run down.

We rented here years ago because it was a good value, but we're moving out as soon as our lease is up. It's just a complete waste of money now and we've looked at much nicer apartments with actual amenities!

I've lived in many buildings and worked in real estate for years. This is one of the worst-managed buildings I've ever seen. The whole thing is a scam.

Oh, and did I mention the major pest problem? We've had ants galore and again, management DID NOTHING!

Save your money. You...

My partner and I moved here to get a bit of a break from Manhattan for a couple of years. At first we were very excited. We have two dogs, the place is pet friendly and has private dog runs, the landscaping is beautiful (especially in the fall and around Christmas time), and we’re sill very close to the city. The cleaning staff, front desk, store, and amenities desk staff are all exceptional. Just sweet and helpful people (reason for the stars)

When we came to move in at our scheduled time, they told us they were still painting so the apt wasn’t ready. FOUR HOURS LATER, we were finally allowed to go to the apartment. We also had to pay the moving company an additional $600 for the extra time they had to wait around. We told the leasing office about the additional charge, and they told us to just send them a copy of the invoice and we would be reimbursed. Annoying, but not the end of the world.

When we got upstairs, it didn’t look or smell like anything had been recently painted. Maybe it was some sort of quick drying paint, but I don’t know if any paint that doesn’t leave any smell at all behind after just a couple of hours.

We tried for several weeks to get ahold of someone in the leasing office about the reimbursement. When we finally got ahold of someone, they told us we had to sign a “standard” form to get our money back. The firm said we could not hold XChange liable if anything were to happen to us, our animals, or our belongings on their property. We also wouldn’t be able to say anything negative about XChange (which is weird and shady as hell). My partner works for an extremely large law firm, so she let them know we wouldn’t be singing that “standard” form. Obviously, we’ve never been reimbursed.

On another note, the noise from neighbors is ridiculous. The walls are paper thin. You can hear upstairs neighbors walking around at all hours, and kids and pets running around all day.

The fire alarms are RIDICULOUS. I understand that legally in NJ, there needs to be a fire alarm inside and outside each bedroom door. That means we have 4 alarms in our apartment (which is not huge). Our alarms are all basically right next to each other. One smoke alarm is loud, but FOUR?? For some reason, some tenants open their front door when cooking instead of opening windows and balcony doors. This causes the alarms in the hallways to ring, which in turn causes every single other alarm in the building to ring, including all four alarms in my apt. This has even happened at 2am. It then takes an hour for the building to shut them off since they have to wait for the fire department to come and do it. My partner and I have to sit on the floor in the bathroom without dogs until the building has someone shut the alarms off because the sound is unbearable.

Majority of the staff that works at XChange are incredible. But the leasing office and building management is...