Map of New JerseyThough monthly rents still lag behind, New Jersey landlords are catching up to Manhattan and Brooklyn in at least one respect: pet-friendliness. According to the New York Times, more and more Garden State rental developments are allowing in pet owners, albeit usually with an additional deposit fee and small monthly rent for their pets.
“We found we were having to turn away too many potential tenants,” said Melissa Giarratano, an asset manager of the nine-year-old rental complex owned by the Walters Group in Barnegat, N.J. called Atlantic Heights. There, the required deposit for a pet is $300, and tenants are charged an additional $75 per month for one pet and $100 for two pets.
In Hoboken, which has the youngest population in the state, landlords have widely relented to tenant expectations that their buildings be as pet friendly as those in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Developers elsewhere are beginning to follow suit. Two years ago when Value Companies opened the 140 Mayhill complex in Saddle Brook, it set weight limits for pets and added fees for pet owners, but built a doggie station in the back of the building. Today, about 20 percent of residents in the complex have dogs. [NYT]