A really interesting article came out today from the local Maplewood newspaper, that basically was ringing the alarm bell about the disappearing diversity here in a town whose calling card is, well… diversity.
It’s outrageous that a home 2 blocks away from us went for $1.1 million, according to the town council.
Part of my story, while I was in “The Producers”, “Mamma Mia”, creating “Southern Comfort”, doing shows in regional theater, concerts all over the place, coaching, developing other shows, vocal coaching and directing… like that wasn’t enough… Tom and I were running a real estate staging company… while he was also working full time in corporate America.
Staged Right Homes.
Yes, I came up with that name natch.
We moved to Maplewood 23 years ago and Tom started the staging company 16 years ago… he wanted a backup from the crazy world of financial services in case he got laid off… plus acting is so stable.
Like rings on a tree trunk, we’ve seen the history and evolution of the housing market here in the Jerzburbs.
We’ve had 3 houses in Maplewood … presently we’re in the “this is outrageous” 1.1 million dollar neighborhood… which is still transitional. In order to ensure a future here we downsized and cut our monthly expenses… so we sold our second house and moved to the pioneer upcoming neighborhood…. Hilton.
We decided to buy a house we were flipping.
I’d say in the last 3 yearsish every single house we’ve staged all over this area goes for 10-50% over ask.
Yep. 50%
Every one.
When a couple retiring got nearly double the asking price for their home that we staged recently , I was so happy for them.
They could retire comfortably.
How wonderful.
Who in their right mind wouldn’t want that?
“I don’t know what we can do as a government, but this is outrageous,” said TC Member Vic De Luca. “We talk a lot about diversity and being welcoming, but if you don’t have the dollars, you’re not welcomed here.”
Vic lives down the street from us… I like him.
And I agree with him.
He’s right.
“We’re pricing ourselves out and I speak to the realty community and just folks who are selling — think about what’s happening here, that folks just can’t come and live here anymore unless you have a lot of money,” said De Luca. “And we’re going to be losing a lot of the economic diversity. We talk a lot about diversity and being welcoming, but if you don’t have the dollars, you’re not welcomed here.”
“A moment to raise a concern,” said Township Committee Member Vic De Luca at the July 15 TC meeting. “We talk a lot about affordability in Maplewood and this week a house on Hilton Avenue was put up for sale for $1.1 million.”
“Wow,” said Mayor Nancy Adams.
“I don’t know what we can do as a government, but this is outrageous. We have it on the books at $684,000 — that’s what it’s assessed at. And if you go online and you look at comps, all the comps are sales in College Hill and down in this area around Town Hall,” said De Luca.
There’s a lot more to this story.
And here it is.
Some of it is optics, and some of it is decisions by the township that have contributed to the disappearing diversity in Maplewood.
But either way, that genie is way out of the bottle.
A couple of years ago, at the opening of a local dispensary here in downtown Maplewood, a council member came up to me and asked if we were going to buy the warehouse we rent for our staging company.
We had been renting warehouses for about 10 years in the only industrial neighborhood in Maplewood.
Me: “Um, no we don’t have that kind of money.. and it’s not really something we’ve ever considered”
Council Member: “Ok, we’re going to kick all the old people out”
Me: “I guess I’m one of the old people”.
I thought it was a very strange encounter.
Several months later, the council voted to rezone the area for restaurants and bars etc.
According to our landlord, it was pushed through with no discussion or input from the residents, or businesses in that neighborhood.. and it surprised him.
And that started the gentrification of Newark Way.
One council member called it a “glow up”.
“ Newboy” is the sexy new name bestowed on the neighborhood now.
Anyway, the warehouse next door was bought by a local guy who has purchased many buildings in that area… and, you guessed it… the warehouse we were renting.
People lose their leases all the time, which I understand… but not with the full weight of the township not only supporting it, but thrilled for the opportunity to make a bougie new neighborhood.
By the way, we’re fine. Our business is thriving… but not only was it costly and a pain in the ass to move a 5,000 square foot warehouse during Christmas week, we never heard a peep from the council or the guy who bought the building … who told our landlord that we had talked and “everything was fine”.
He never said a word to us. And we were very supportive of him and his business(es).
Anyway, that was the shittiest part.
Where day care centers for low income families stood, and warehouses… Maplewood now has brew pubs, pizza parlors with $10 slices, a cheese shop with expensive amazing fromage, an oyster shop with pricey ala carte seafood and a pasta shop with sassy tagliatelle.
So far.
There are social media blasts from the openings of the new businesses here with the town council smiling and cutting ribbons and all that jazz.
The truth is, they own much of the gentrification.. ok the “glow up” …in Maplewood.
Clearly, the town council can’t regulate home prices, but they can.. and should have.. considered the long term impact of rezoning and pushing for a spanky new neighborhood.
And how their decisions affected diversity.
Obviously, we work with and know many realtors out here… and they are all guilty as charged by getting the best sale price for their clients.
We are also guilty of staging hundreds of homes out here to appeal to buyers who pay top dollar.
The realtor who sold the infamous $1.1 million house has really branded herself as the sort of pre-prison Martha Stewart of Maplewood.. she publishes a glossy magazine twice a year that somehow I get in my mailbox.
It’s glamorous, and makes Maplewood look like the Hamptons.
She’s made herself famous out here by putting her name on several charities .. and sponsoring many events that are pretty much always attended by town council members wanting to hop on her wagon.
I’ve always wondered about the blurry line of philanthropy and self promotion.
But, good for her.. and every realtor who advocates for their clients.
That is also, good or bad, a factor in the evolving character of Maplewood.
It seems the answer, according to the town, to increase diversity is to build more low income rentals and tighten up rent control laws.
That’s not going to help.
Renting does not build equity. It doesn’t build tax revenue either… and caters to developers and builders.
It sounds good, but it’s as performative as the rainbow sidewalk on Valley Street.
Vic, the former mayor, said the house that sold for over a mil was on the books for $684,000… as if that is affordable. Or more affordable.
In order to buy that house with 10% down, you’d have to make $190,000 a year to live in it.
We’ve loved living here… it’s been quite a ride.
We still do.
Tom and I are blessed to be here in the first place.
We moved here with a $20 grand 10% down payment and a PMI loan 23 years ago.
That was a miracle.
Do we want a million bucks for our house now?
Yes.
Yes we do.
Has the diversity and character of Maplewood changed?
Yes, it has.
That can’t be a surprise to anyone.
Have we contributed to the erosion of diversity and affordability here?
Yes, we have.
We should all be asking those questions.
Here’s the answer:
That train left the station.
Robert DuSold 
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