Galaxy Towers

Galaxy Towers, also known as the Galaxy Towers Condominium Association or GTCA, are a trio of 415 feet (126 m) octagonal towers located at 7000 Kennedy Boulevard East in the southeastern corner of Guttenberg, New Jersey, USA, overlooking the Hudson River. The towers were built in 1976 by a partnership of Norman Belfer, a Long Island developer who owned another high-rise in Guttenberg, and the Prudential Insurance Company of America. It began as an rental apartment complex, but converted to condominiums in 1980. It contains a mixture of condominiums, retail, and office space, including 1,075 apartments. The Brutalist style complex was designed by Gruzon and Partners and developed by Prudential Insurance Company. As of the 2010 Census, one-fifth of Guttenberg's residents live in the Galaxy.

The Galaxy Towers were built in 1976 by a partnership of Norman Belfer, a Long Island developer who owned another high-rise in Guttenberg, and the Prudential Insurance Company of America. The Galaxy Towers' 1,075 residential units consist of three 44-story towers and two 16-story connecting structures. Most of the complex's apartments offer spectacular, unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline, a feature enhanced by the octagonal shape of the buildings and their staggered configuration along the river.

Its location on the Hudson River in Guttenberg was said to be both its greatest advantage and its biggest drawback. The fact that the Towers has been likened to a self-contained city within a town that is only four-blocks long has plagued the Galaxy's owners from the building's inception. Its unusual status made it difficult to rent units when they were merely apartments, and then selling them after the conversion to condominiums was approved in 1980. Because the Galaxy began as a rental project that subsequently converted to condominium ownership, the Galaxy has had the marketing problem of tenants who elected not to buy their apartments, but whose occupancy hinders their sale to the public. In addition, environmentalists objected to their construction because they obliterated views of the Hudson Palisades, which they considered a valuable resource. The towers' $3.3 million in real-estate taxes exceeds by more than $1 million what Guttenberg collects from the rest of the property in town. As of November 2011, one-fifth of the town's population lives in the Towers, though reporter Stephen LaMarca incorrectly stated in the Hudson Reporter that 'most' of the town's population lives in the towers.

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