What The Sylvan's Townhome Rents Reveal About Owning in Englewood Cliffs

Englewood Cliffs now has a published monthly price for a three-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot home with an attached two-car garage. Garden Communities lists the townhomes at The Sylvan, the rental community on the former Unilever campus, from $7,395 to $10,600 a month, depending on layout. In mid-October 2026, Freddie Mac's 30-year fixed average was 7.40%. At that rate, the principal and interest on a $1 million loan, plus the borough's average property tax bill, comes to about $8,250 a month. That figure lands inside the townhome rent range.

That overlap matters to anyone weighing the borough this fall. Before The Sylvan, a buyer here had no local rental benchmark for a large modern home. Ownership costs could only be compared with other ownership costs. There is now a rent number on the same street grid, so a buyer can set the monthly cost of a house against it and weigh separately what ownership adds beyond that cost.

A Product the Borough Never Sold

The Sylvan's first phase is 112 rental townhomes. Garden Communities' December 2025 announcement described them as three bedrooms and three and a half baths in about 3,000 square feet, with private entrances, patios and balconies, and attached two-car garages. The same release said the first residents had already moved in. A 338-unit apartment building followed in 2026. NJ.com reported in July that leasing had begun on studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms at 1 Valentine Street, within a larger plan of 450 rental homes.

These are the townhome asks currently posted on the Garden Communities property page:

The official floorplans page shows "Contact Us" instead of a price for the townhome designs. The leasing FAQ says pricing and specials can change. Treat these numbers as a mid-October snapshot.

Putting Ownership in the Same Units

To compare a rent with a purchase, the purchase has to be stated as a monthly cost, and in Englewood Cliffs two inputs drive that number.

The first is property tax. According to the New Jersey 2025 Average Residential Statistics report, the borough's average residential tax bill was $15,880 on an average assessment of $1,363,086. That works out to about $1,323 a month. The 2025 general tax rate was $1.165 per $100 of assessed value. The general tax rates listed by year on the state's property tax data page currently run through 2025. An average assessment is not a sale price, so a specific house's bill depends on its own assessment.

The second is the mortgage rate. Freddie Mac's survey put the 30-year fixed average at 7.40% as of October 15, 2026, compared with 6.27% a year earlier.

The table below uses a round $1 million loan to show how these figures fit together. It is an illustration only, not a quote or a typical loan in the borough:

A year ago, that combined cost was close to the lowest Sylvan townhome rent. Now it sits near the middle of the range. The higher rate added roughly $750 a month to the same loan, which moved ownership from below the rental benchmark to inside it. Homeowners insurance, maintenance and any association dues would push the ownership side higher still. The rent side already includes the building's amenities, which the nj.com report lists as a pool, a fitness center, a dog run and a rooftop terrace.

These calculations are general information, not tax, lending or financial advice, and your own figures should come from a lender and a tax professional.

The Apartment Asks Have Moved Since July

The rental side has its own story. In July, NJ.com reported that two-bedrooms at The Sylvan started at $5,400 and corner two-bedrooms with a terrace started at $6,100. In mid-October, the floorplans page lists these starting rents:

• One-bedrooms from $3,050 for A-06 to $3,400 for A-04D, which includes a home office
• Two-bedrooms from $4,400 for B-01, $4,550 for B-02 and $4,700 for the B-09 corner, up to $5,700 for B-06
• The B-05T corner two-bedroom with terrace from $5,900

Several of these units are listed as available now, and others in early November. The July and October figures may cover different units, so the gap does not prove a price cut. Still, the entry point for a two-bedroom on the posted page is $1,000 below what NJ.com reported in July. That fits a building in lease-up, where hundreds of new apartments come online together and the owner prices to fill them. The Sylvan's apartment rents are set by supply arriving in one block, and that affects the rent benchmark a buyer compares against.

The Supply Came From a Courtroom

That supply exists because of a lawsuit. The borough's housing plan traces the history:

1. July 1, 2015: Englewood Cliffs filed its third-round affordable housing declaratory judgment action.
2. January 17, 2020: Superior Court Judge Christine A. Farrington found the borough's plan insufficient.
3. October 8, 2020: The borough, Fair Share Housing Center and 800 Sylvan Avenue LLC settled on 450 homes at 800 Sylvan, including 90 affordable family rentals.
4. December 22, 2020: The court entered a Final Judgment of Compliance and Repose.
5. July 15, 2022: The Appellate Division upheld the settlement.

The full record is in the borough's housing element and fair share plan. NorthJersey.com described the project as "the focus of a lengthy and contentious legal battle" when it opened on Sylvan Avenue in June. Jersey Digs reported in May that a lottery for the 90 affordable apartments was accepting applications.

This history matters for the market because a court-ordered settlement put about 450 rental homes onto a single campus at once. Rental supply in this borough did not build up a few units at a time. It arrived in one block, which helps explain both the early leasing push and the fact that the town now has a visible rent benchmark at all.

Where the County Numbers Point

Monthly sales statistics for Englewood Cliffs alone are not publicly posted, so Bergen County figures give the nearest view of the market. In September 2026, according to the NJ REALTORS Bergen County report, single-family homes:

• had a median sale price of $835,000, up 1.2% from a year earlier
• sold for 103.4% of list price on average
• spent 34 days on market
• had 2.6 months of supply

Townhouses and condos in the county had a median of $527,000 and sold for 99.6% of list. Supply rose 15.6% to 3.7 months, and closed sales fell 14.1%.

In other words, Bergen single-family homes were still selling above list in September, while attached homes had more supply and sold slightly under list. The Sylvan's townhomes add more attached-style housing to the area, this time as rentals. For a buyer, that strengthens the case for comparing rent against ownership, especially for a household whose main need is space rather than land.

Questions This Raises

Are The Sylvan's townhomes for sale? No. Garden Communities markets all 112 as rentals and posts rent ranges, not sale prices.

Does the average tax bill apply to a specific house? Only as a reference point. The $15,880 figure for 2025 is a borough-wide average. A specific home's bill depends on its own assessment and the rate in effect.

Will these rents hold? The posted asks are a mid-October snapshot. The leasing office says pricing and specials change, and several units list November availability.

If you are setting a Sylvan townhome rent against the cost of owning a specific house in Englewood Cliffs, I can help you compare the two using that home's real assessment, a current rate quote and recent nearby sales. Tony J Lee works through these numbers with buyers across Bergen County. Let's Connect.