11 Schermerhorn Street

Six stories, twenty-nine apartments, one elevator, a compactor chute, a basement laundry room and storage closets, and a courtyard behind the building with a designated children's play area. The offering plan's Schedule A organizes the building into an east-front line, an east-rear line, and two west lines, five apartments to a floor, in two-, three-, and occasionally four-room configurations. At conversion the tenancy was a mix of rent-controlled and rent-stabilized households, which the schedule marks apartment by apartment — the ordinary pattern for a 1986 Brooklyn plan and a reminder that the building's unit mix was shaped by decades of regulated occupancy before any share was sold.

Exterior work runs through Landmarks under the 1965 district designation. Window air conditioners require approved supporting brackets and prior sign-off on the installation; awnings, ventilators, signage, and antennas all require written approval. Inside, the house rules require 80 percent floor covering with padding outside kitchens, bathrooms, and closets, and confine construction to weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. with prior written approval and proof of contractor insurance.

11 Schermerhorn Street Apartment Corporation has operated the building since the December 1986 closing. The conversion budget described a resident, non-union superintendent paid under the New York State Building Service minimum wage order, #6 oil heat, and a laundry concession taking half of gross receipts — a lean model appropriate to a twenty-nine-unit building and a large part of why maintenance here compares favorably to the Heights' staffed elevator co-ops. Current staffing, fuel, and laundry arrangements should be confirmed with management.

The house rules give an unusually clear picture of day-to-day governance. Shareholders must keep working keys with the superintendent and carry cooperative or homeowner's insurance with evidence and renewals filed. Moves run Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on 48 hours' notice against a $2,500 deposit; deliveries require 24 hours' notice. Front doors may not be propped open unmonitored, and residents are asked not to buzz in anyone they do not personally know — a security posture that reflects the block. Late maintenance draws a $50 fee after the tenth. Alterations carry a $25 application fee and a $2,500 deposit, with $100 retained where the work involves demolishing a wall or moving appliances and cabinetry.

The co-op's audited financial statements in The Roebling Research Library run from 2000 forward, supporting trend review of maintenance growth, reserves, and assessment history. For a 1914 masonry building, the FISP/Local Law 11 façade cycle and elevator modernization are the capital items to examine first.

Pets: A considered, documented pet regime rather than a boilerplate prohibition — but a real gate, and one to clear before contract rather than after. Litter must be bagged and binned in the basement rather than sent down the compactor chute.

Washer-dryer: Stated in the rules as a building-systems protection. Anyone whose search requires in-unit laundry should treat this as disqualifying.

Subletting: Beyond the two-month security deposit and the 20 percent monthly surcharge, the lessee's renter's insurance must be evidenced and renewed on file, with a $250 application fee and a $50-per-applicant credit check. The economics are deliberately hostile to investor ownership and favorable to owner-occupancy.

Sales fees: $250 application fee, $50 per applicant for credit checks, and a $2,500 move-in/out deposit with $250 retained.

Smoking and odors: No smoking or lit tobacco in any interior common area; shareholders may not permit unreasonable cigarette, cigar, or cooking odors to escape into the building.

Showings: Open houses, group tours, and exhibitions require prior consent from management or the board, and the front door must be monitored by the shareholder or the shareholder's agent throughout.

Roof and courtyard: Roof access requires prior board approval. Children under ten must be accompanied by an adult in the courtyard play area. No personal property may be stored on fire escapes.

Pied-à-terre, financing minimums: Not documented in the materials reviewed. Confirm both at offer stage.

Recent sales

Recent transfers at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. Prices are the transfer amounts recorded with the NYC Department of Finance; apartment-level detail is checked against the building’s own file in The Roebling Research Library before publishing.

Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2022): a median $872/sf across 2 sales. The building has traded as recently as 2024. Median listing discount 2.3% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-00268-0015) and verified listing data. Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified by The Roebling Team research desk. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.

Walk the block at three different hours. This is the historic district's Downtown edge. The transit access is extraordinary and the street is busier than the Heights' interior. Both are true, and only one of them shows up in photographs.

In-unit laundry is not available and will not be approved. The house rules prohibit washers and dryers outright. Confirm the current rule, but plan on the basement laundry room.

Start the pet conversation before you sign. Board approval, a written application and agreement, possibly a reference and a meeting with the animal, and a possible deposit. This is a solvable step, not a formality.

Expect prewar rooms at prewar scale. The original schedule is built around two- and three-room apartments. Judge the specific unit on light, floor, and renovation quality rather than on the building's average.

Name the architect. Robert T. Lyons — St. Urban, Gramercy Park Hotel, 903 Park Avenue — with 11 Schermerhorn as his only documented Brooklyn building, and a credible Bing & Bing association behind it. Very few buildings on this side of the district can offer a line like that.

Sell the transit math explicitly. Borough Hall and Court Street put nearly every Brooklyn line within a five-minute walk, and the commute times are the honest headline for this address.

Frame the location before a buyer does it for you. Brooklyn Heights Historic District, at the Downtown edge, one block from Atlantic Avenue. Buyers who are told this up front price it; buyers who discover it on arrival discount it.

Lead with carrying cost. A twenty-nine-unit prewar with a lean staffing model and no documented flip tax presents unusually well on a True Monthly Carrying Cost basis against the district's full-service co-ops. Put the numbers in the marketing.

If you're considering 11 Schermerhorn Street, also evaluate:

• 96 Schermerhorn Street (Boerum Court) — co-op three blocks east at Boerum Place, outside the historic district; the direct Downtown-edge comparison
• 76 Schermerhorn Street (The Symon) — new-construction condominium on the same street, for buyers weighing tenure form and vintage
• 130 Clinton Street — prewar co-op one block west on Clinton, deeper inside the historic district
• 40 Clinton Street — larger Clinton Street co-op toward the Heights' residential core
• 110 Livingston Street — the Board of Education building's condominium conversion, two blocks southeast
• 77 Livingston Street — prewar co-op on the Livingston corridor at comparable price positioning
• 75 Livingston Street — the 1926 tower co-op nearby, for buyers who want prewar scale with more services
• 100 Remsen Street — prewar co-op in the Heights' residential core, for a direct read on what the quieter blocks cost