You're maintaining two apps anyway b/c there is the client and the server. The OP didn't say it explicitly, but I'm assuming they are already building the serve

You're maintaining two apps anyway b/c there is the client and the server. The OP didn't say it explicitly, but I'm assuming they are already building the server side no matter what and need to at a frontend. The backend development already builds a bunch of objects that will need to partially reimplemented in the frontend. It's just a matter of how many of them. My two cents (to the OP) is that you should consider the people or teams building the thing. If you have one team doing all frontend and backend, doing it (almost) all server side makes sense. If you have a dedicated person doing the frontend, commit to a js framework and make a good API to the backend. Certainly don't make a frontend JS guru render html in Java or .NET.