From left: the Long Branch cottage and Bruce Springsteen

A two-bedroom cottage where rock star Bruce Springsteen wrote his “Born to Run” album has hit the market for $350,000, the Asbury Park Press reported. The Boss, though, never owned the home, in Long Branch, N.J. He was a mere renter in 1974 and 1975, when he crafted his string of hits, including “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.” [more]

Jackson Twenty-One renderings

Real estate developer Mitch Leigh hopes to break ground on Jackson Twenty-One — a Jackson Township, N.J. residential complex that’s been more than two decades in the making — this spring or summer, the New York Times reported. And Leigh, the Tony Award-winning composer of “Man of La Mancha,” has a friendly pitch for would-be buyers: “If you’re not a nice person, please don’t call.” [more]

From left: Daniel Spector and Tyler Bennett

In an effort to expand its Northern New Jersey presence, the Midtown, Manhattan-based Winick Realty today announced the opening of a new office located in Cranford, N.J. The new location, situated in suite 205 at 11 Commerce Drive, will be run by Daniel Spector and Tyler Bennett, both senior vice presidents.

“New York and Northern New Jersey have always been fragmented markets,” Bennett said in the release. “With this launch, we are creating one cohesive platform that provides all of our clients with one point of contact and one point of accountability that is uniform throughout the entire region.” [more]

Bank of America is finally unloading a 12-building office complex in Hopewell Township, N.J. in what could be a record deal for the state, Bloomberg News reported.

BofA acquired the 1.8 million- square-foot property from Merrill Lynch during its 2009 merger. And while neither the buyer nor the price have been officially announced, Fortress Investment Group has been named as a possible buyer and a potential price of $375 million to $400 million is being floated by the trade newsletter, Real Estate Alert, which was cited by Bloomberg. [more]

Avison CEO Mark Rose

Toronto-based commercial real estate brokerage Avison Young has opened its first New Jersey office, further increasing its presence in the Tri-State area, the company announced today. The opening of the new location follows closely the establishment earlier this year of Avison’s New York City office.

The new office will be headed by new recruit Jeffrey Heller, a former executive vice president at CBRE in New Jersey. Heller completed more than 200 transactions in his last five years at CBRE, with a net value in excess of $750 million, according to the announcement. Before joining CBRE, he served as an executive director in the New Jersey office of Cushman & Wakefield for 15 years. [more]

A rendering of the Sixth Street Embankment

The branding power of rail-line parks in New York has exceeded expectations —  with the High Line attracting millions of visitors every year and the nascent Low Line receiving a bevy of community funds. Not so in Jersey City.

A deal to transform a stretch of derelict Pennsylvania Railroad tracks into a copycat High Line has been stalled by concerns that so-called “clouded titles” may invalidate developments along the line — concerns that preservation groups are calling obstructionist delay tactics. [more]

From left: Revel CEO Kevin DeSanctis and the Revel casino

Since opening to much fanfare in April, Atlantic City’s $2.4 billion Revel casino has been a bust, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, and may be on the verge of bankruptcy. The casino had an operating loss of $35 million in the second quarter, according to the Division of Gaming Enforcement, although $17 million of it came from “one-time preopening charges.”

Meanwhile, conditions are improving for other boardwalk properties as non-gaming revenue increased 13.3 percent annually in Atlantic City. [more]

Gowanus Canal

The federal Superfund program is preparing to take on its biggest challenges in its three decades of existence: cleaning urban waterways. Most of these sites are in New York and New Jersey, the states with the most Superfund-eligible sites, and include the Passaic River in New Jersey, the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, Newton Creek on the Brooklyn-Queens border and the final section of the Hudson River. [more]

Pier Shops At Caesars

Its not just gamblers taking big losses at Atlantic City. The Pier Shops at Ceasars, once valued at $210 million and backed by a top-rated commercial-mortgage bond, has been deemed essentially worthless. According to Bloomberg News, no bidders in an auction were willing to pay more than $25 million for the $80 million mortgage on the property, held by loan servicer C-III Capital Partners. [more]

From left: Gov. Chris Christie, Newmark Chairman Jeffrey Gural and the Revel resort

Just as New York appears closer to legalizing gambling, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is blocking attempts to expand his state’s gambling options beyond Atlantic City, according to Bloomberg News.

After Pennsylvania legalized slots in 2006 and table games in 2010, it began usurping gambling revenue from Atlantic City. In fact, revenue for boardwalk casinos has fallen 37 percent since 2006, to $3.3 billion last year. And with more competition likely to arrive from New York, lawmakers want to amend the state constitution to allow casinos near the Meadowlands, closer to Manhattan. [more]