160 Henry Street
160 Henry Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
BBL 3002360001 · BIN 3001819
- Year built
- 1923
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 35
- Floors
- 10
- Landmark
- Designated
- Financing
- By-laws on file cap shareholder financing at 50% of purchase price (Section 1, Shareholder Financing); flagged to confirm current
- Subletting
- Board consent under proprietary lease; no liberal policy documented
- Washer / dryer
- Basement common laundry per original documents; in-unit not documented
- Pets
- Permitted subject to house-rules nuisance standard (board sole judge); dogs carried/leashed in elevators and public areas
Compiled by The Roebling Research Desk from the building’s offering plan, amendments, and related building documents (primary source dated documents of mixed vintage (1923 constitution; house-rules letter 2000; HSBC questionnaire 2001)). Reported and subject to confirmation. Board policies can change by amendment — confirm at the offer stage.
160 Henry Street belongs to the small, defining class of Brooklyn Heights cooperatives that were born cooperative. The building was organized in October 1923 by the A. M. White Company, which offered 5,000 shares at $100 par with 99-year proprietary leases under the "100 percent co-operative plan" — the tenant-stockholder structure of the 1920s in which the building's full upkeep was funded by its owner-occupants from day one, with the sponsor guaranteeing carrying costs on unsold stock. The original prospectus, preserved in The Roebling Research Library, reads as a period document of Heights domestic life: apartments of six to nine rooms with libraries "so located that they may be used as bedrooms," maid's rooms and pantries, wood-burning fireplaces in the principal lines, and a first floor of non-housekeeping suites "suitable for doctors' offices." Original prices ran from roughly $12,200 to $25,200 per apartment, with monthly charges quoted to the dollar.
The construction brief was ambitious for its date: fireproof steel, concrete, and brick throughout; two enclosed interior "fire towers" so that no exterior fire escapes mar the street elevations; nailcrete-and-felt sound isolation under herringbone oak floors; separate passenger and service elevators; and a gated garden-court entrance on Henry Street with service routed discreetly to Love Lane. A century later those choices still read directly in the building's presence — clean landmarked elevations at one of the Heights' best corners, and apartment stock whose bones out-spec most of the district's converted rental fabric.
The corner itself does substantial work. Henry and Pierrepont is the crossing point of the Heights' two central spines: Pierrepont runs west to the Promenade and east to the Brooklyn Historical Society block, while Henry carries the neighborhood's daily life north–south. The Clark Street 2/3 express station is a block away, and Love Lane — the carriage-lane remnant that bounds the building's north side — supplies both the service entrance and one of the district's most storied small addresses directly across the lane at Love Lane Mews.
For buyers, the building's meaning is continuity: an owner-governed house with a century of unbroken cooperative operation, conservative finances of the old school — the by-laws on file cap financing at 50% of purchase price — and apartment layouts that the postwar market never replicated.
Architecture and unit composition
The original plan distributed five apartment lines across the upper floors: Type A (south) and Type B (east) at eight to nine rooms with three baths and two maid's rooms; Type C (northwest) at seven rooms; and Types D and E at five to six rooms on the lower floors — with the first floor given to smaller non-housekeeping suites. City records count 35 units today across ten floors, and a century of combinations and subdivisions means current room counts vary by apartment; share allocations from the 1923 schedule (5,000 shares at $100 par) remain the maintenance basis. Original finish specifications documented in the prospectus include herringbone oak floors in entertaining rooms, enclosed radiators, cedar-lined closets, and house-telephone service — much of it surviving or restored in the better-kept lines. Wood-burning fireplaces in the principal lines remain among the building's most valuable original features where intact.
Building operations
160 Henry Street Corporation operates in the traditional Heights manner: superintendent's quarters behind the service hall, basement laundry and per-apartment storage, and separate passenger and service elevator runs that the house rules historically required to be operated by building employees — a vestige of the staffed-elevator era that shapes the building's service culture. The building's financial statements on file run continuously across decades, and a documented capital assessment around 2000 (charged per share) reflects the board's practice of funding projects directly rather than through debt. The current managing agent, staffing configuration, and any active assessments should be confirmed during diligence.
Recent sales
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Recent transfers at this building, sourced from NYC Department of Finance records. Apartment-level detail (line, condition, asking-price context) verified upon consultation request.
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 15, 2024 | 2B | $2,290,000 |
| Mar 13, 2023 | 7A2 | $980,000 |
| Jun 7, 2022 | 1DE | $850,000 |
| Mar 31, 2022 | PH | $5,999,000 |
| Oct 13, 2021 | 9C-9D | $2,750,000 |
| Jun 3, 2021 | 3B | $1,675,000 |
Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-00236-0001) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
Structure the financing before you fall for the apartment. The documented 50% cap is far stricter than the 20–25% down standard elsewhere in the Heights; confirm the current rule and your capacity in writing early.
Original-ownership co-ops behave differently. There is no sponsor tail, no conversion-era unsold shares, and a century of owner governance; expect thorough board review and finances built on assessments rather than leverage.
The original fabric is the value. Fireplaces, formal dining rooms, maid's-room flexibility, and the garden-court entrance are the assets the market prices; renovation quality within that fabric drives spreads between otherwise similar units.
Check the elevator service model. The building's constitution assumed staffed elevators; understand the current operation and its impact on maintenance before comparing carrying costs.
The corner is a location hedge. Express transit one block away and the Promenade three blocks west — the two amenities that most reliably support Heights resale values — are both fixed features here.
What to know if you’re selling
Sequence the sale around the lease's mechanics. Build the managing agent's three-month window and the corporation's 15-day matched-terms right into your listing plan so neither surprises a buyer's attorney.
Market to the low-leverage buyer. The 50% financing cap defines the realistic pool; positioning and pricing should assume substantial-equity purchasers rather than maximum-leverage first-timers.
Document the provenance. "Built as a cooperative in 1924" is a marketable distinction in the Heights; the original prospectus details — fireproof construction, fire towers, original fireplace lines — give listings unusual narrative depth.
Price per room against the original-co-op tier. The right comps are the district's other born-cooperative houses and grand prewar lines, adjusted for renovation level and exposure.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 160 Henry Street, also evaluate:
- 35 Clark Street — George F. Pelham's 1922 co-op two blocks west; the 1980s-conversion counterpart
- 129 Columbia Heights — 1907 Beaux-Arts co-op at Clark and Columbia Heights
- 153 Henry Street — prewar Henry Street co-op neighbor
- 161 Henry Street — boutique prewar co-op directly across Henry
- 245 Henry Street — prewar co-op in the south Heights
- 130 Clinton Street — mid-size prewar co-op on the Clinton corridor
- 60 Remsen Street — grand-scale Remsen Street prewar co-op
- 100 Remsen Street — prewar Remsen alternative at similar scale
- Love Lane Mews (9 College Place) — the condominium alternative directly across Love Lane
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
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