How Hillman stacks up against seven NJ towns. Wanna guess?

Today, the Thomases are coming home. They’ll see their last property, a unit in the Hillman Housing co-op, nestled south of Delancey Street.

For the past week-plus, we’ve joined Emily Thomas and family on an exploration of New Jersey, stopping every 15 minutes along NJT’s Northeast Corridor Line.

We started the Real Garden Estate Adventure in Midtown, seeing a unit that would enable the new mom to either walk or take the subway to work. Then, we joined the throngs of commuters bold enough to take NJ Transit on a daily basis, riding the Northeast Corridor Line until Hamilton Station.

Here’s what the Thomases have seen so far:

• New York Penn Station >>> 340 West 55th Street #7B

• Newark Penn >>> 632 Belgrove Dr, Kearny Town, NJ 07032

• North Elizabeth >>> 216 W 6th Ave, Roselle Boro, NJ 07203

• Rahway >>> 150 Carolyn Ave, Colonia, NJ 07067

• Edison >>> 12 Edgewood Rd, Edison, NJ 08820

• Jersey Avenue >>> 10 Julie Ct, Somerset, NJ 08873

• Hamilton >>> 36 Birdie Way, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

Now, we’ll see our reference point on the Lower East Side before we stack the options against one another (in our next post).

Property #8: 530 Grand Street #E8C, on the 8th floor of Hillman.

Property Details

• 2 bedrooms

• 1 baths

Commute Breakdown

• Location: Lower East Side (New York)

• Train Stop: NYC Subway (F, M at Delancey Street)

• Walk to Train/Subway: ~17 min (0.7 miles)

• Actual (NJT) Train Ride Time: 0 min

• Total Monthly Commute Time: 27.13 hours

• Monthly Commuter Cost: $132.00

Financial Summary

• List Price: $895,000

• Monthly Mortgage (P&I): $4,235.00

• Monthly Maintenance/Common Charges: $1,729.00

• Utilities, HOA & Other Overhead (Component of Carrying Cost): $200.00

• Total Monthly Cost (All-in): $6,296.00

Pros and Cons Analysis

Pros: This unit and its related costs are well below the rest. Admittedly, I did the choosing and left the Thomases with more than $100k to make a purchase. That’s a bit of engineering on my part, but my objective is to uncover value. (So, if space isn’t your principal concern, there’s plenty here to ponder.)

Cons: While you might be able to park in a nearby garage—an optional, additional amenity for Hillman residents—it’s not a sure thing, and there’s plenty of ongoing drama with a renovation that currently underway (or stalled).

The floors look to be the originals, so while they look to be in good condition, I would propose allocating any budget surplus to a multi-layered European Oak upgrade. (There’s nothing like being able to tip-toe and not have your light-sleeping baby wake up, and Emily Thomas knows this well!)

Coming up: Decision Day!

Methodology
I identified properties priced around or below $1,000,000 near NJ Transit’s Northeast Corridor Line stops, one Midtown West option, and one LES reference point to compare commute time, costs, and ownership overhead. Assumptions span rates, pricing, and a range of factors covered in the full methodology, all intended to normalize monthly costs across property types.

Full methodology here.