125 Prospect Park West

The 1973 designation report describes a large brick corner building with a central entrance court facing the park. The effect comes from a few elements: a rusticated limestone first floor, quoins at the corners, a bandcourse that doubles as the sill line of the sixth-floor windows, and a cornice carried on evenly spaced console brackets. The 8th Street elevation repeats the same treatment flush, with no entrance. The court plan brings light into the middle of a 100-foot frontage and gives the park-facing apartments on either side of it a view straight across to Prospect Park.

ACRIS labels apartments in six lines, A through F, on six floors, with a small number of additional units. 6E and 6F have been combined and trade as one apartment. City counts differ by one — PLUTO carries 38 apartments, HPD 37 — and Department of Buildings filings go back and forth between the two, which is consistent with that combination. Confirm the current count and the share allocation for the specific apartment with the managing agent.

The park-facing lines are the premium product. The 8th Street lines face south across the side street over the district's rowhouses; the corner lines have both exposures.

Capital work. Department of Buildings records show façade repair in 2004 (lintel replacement, scraping and painting of the cornice and fire escapes) and a larger job filed in 2016 covering façade repair, roof replacement, and window and door replacement, with sidewalk shed and scaffold permits in 2017. Obtain current façade-condition and completion records. FISP applies to buildings higher than six stories; the described six-story height does not establish a mandatory filing cycle, so confirm DOB’s classification.

Underlying mortgage. Per ACRIS, the corporation refinanced in 1999, 2004 and 2011, and in April 2015 took $1.7 million of new money from a savings bank, consolidated into a $3.75 million loan. The reviewed records did not establish the current maturity date, rate or amortization; obtain the recorded loan instruments, amendments and current lender statement. Given the loan's 2015 origination, ask the managing agent whether it has been refinanced since, when it matures, and what the maintenance budget assumes about the rate at renewal.

Taxes. J-51 is a city program that reduces real estate taxes for qualifying renovation work. This building has used it three times. A 1990 abatement on $27,600 of work ran through the mid-1990s. A 2010 abatement, on about $150,000 of certified work, was used up in the 2020/21 tax year. A 2013 abatement, on about $77,000 of work, took its final partial year in 2023/24. There is nothing left to burn off; the tax bill no longer carries a J-51 credit. The co-op abatement continues, but it applies only to apartments that are a shareholder's primary residence.

Recent sales

Recent transfers at this building, from The Roebling Research Library. 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 (2019): a median $1,195/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount -1.5% over ask.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-01089-0040). Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified in The Roebling Research Library. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price.

Get the policy stack in writing. Current financing limits, flip tax, subletting, pet and washer/dryer terms were not established in the materials reviewed for this profile. Ask the managing agent for the house rules, the purchase application and the board's current financing requirement before you bid.

Ask about the 2015 mortgage. Get the current balance, maturity, rate and amortization. Compare debt service with taxes, staffing, insurance and capital requirements before ranking its effect on maintenance.

Budget for Landmarks review. Any exterior change — including window replacement in your own apartment — needs an LPC permit as well as board approval.

Price off the co-op abatement correctly. If you won't be living in the apartment full time, your share of the building's taxes may be higher than the current owner's.

Lead with the view and the district. A park-facing prewar apartment on a landmarked block is a specific product, and it is the reason buyers pick this building over the outside-district towers to the north.

Have the capital-work history ready. The 2016 roof, window and façade program is a selling point with both the board and a buyer's lender; have the scope and completion status to hand.

Price by line. Park-facing, corner and 8th Street apartments are separate products. Use comparable sales from the same line.

If you're considering 125 Prospect Park West, also evaluate:

• 86 Prospect Park West — the 1908–09 four-story walk-up co-op at 4th Street; also inside the district
• 75 Prospect Park West — a six-story, 24-apartment park-front co-op at 3rd Street; similar scale, outside the district
• 27 Prospect Park West — the 1928 fifteen-story co-op at Montgomery Place, excluded from the district
• 9 Prospect Park West — the 1929 fifteen-story park-front co-op at President Street
• 35 Prospect Park West — Emery Roth’s 1929 co-op at Garfield Place; compare specific apartment dimensions before ranking sizes
• 40 Prospect Park West — the 1942 park-front co-op at Garfield Place
• 300 8th Avenue — a 1920 elevator co-op on the historic-district line, with smaller apartments
• 90 Eighth Avenue — Sugarman & Berger's 1927 co-op at President Street, inside the district