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From the New York Times‘ Real Estate Section:

Two new high-end waterfront buildings in Hudson County — one a rental, the other a 42-story condominium tower — are set to open with very poor timing, especially in the case of the condos. Nevertheless, their developers say, the developments are getting a healthy early response, without any price slashing or major discounting coming into play as of yet.

The condo tower the Times refers to, of course, is Crystal Point, which recently came hat in hand to the City Council asking for an even-sweeter tax abatement than it already had because sales were slow. City leadership used scare tactics to hint at the spiral of absolute despair and depravity Jersey City would obviously enter into if the condo building were to “fail” (by no means a foregone conclusion had the developer not gotten the extra tax break, of course, but no matter).

“If you’re voting no, you’re voting to doom this project,” Ward D councilman Bill Gaughan said at the time. Council president Mariano Vega agreed, saying that the building would remain “unfinished and vacant” if the abatement wasn’t revised.

Back to the Times, where the project sure doesn’t sound very close to being doomed:

At the 269-unit Crystal Point, 25 feet from the riverbank in Jersey City, almost a quarter of the one-, two-, and three-bedrooms sold even before hard-hat tours for prospective buyers officially started last week. Prices range from $475,000 to $1.7 million.

And guess what’s really selling at Crystal Point? “The choicest and most expensive three-bedroom corner units, with water views on two sides.” (emphasis added)

So which is more infuriating, the fact that the developer thought it could get whatever it wanted by crying to Jersey City about the big, bad market, or the fact that it did?

Check out the full Times story here.