185 Prospect Park Southwest (The Lakeview)
185 Prospect Park Southwest, Brooklyn, NY 11218
BBL 3052790019 · BIN 3122645
- Year built
- 1961
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 57
- Floors
- 700
- Landmark
- No
- Flip tax
- 1.5 percent of the gross sale price, paid by the seller, under paragraph 16(a)(iv) of the proprietary lease
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Lakeview, after the cooperative corporation would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — reviewed personally against condition, exposures, renovation quality, and the competition actually on the market.
This is one of a small group of elevator apartment houses along the Windsor Terrace edge of Prospect Park, and one of the few whose governing documents and current finances are fully on file. That changes how it is bought. At many Windsor Terrace cooperatives the board's terms surface only late in a deal; here the sublet regime, flip tax, pet limits, smoking rule and mortgage schedule are all known before an offer.
The building is a 1961 postwar block on a lot of row houses, built at more than twice the density the zoning now allows. It faces the park across Prospect Park Southwest, with parking and a garden behind. Twenty-three years after it was built it converted under a non-eviction plan: Lakeview Associates offered shares to tenants in May 1984 at a discount to the outside price, and the corporation took title that October. A non-eviction conversion leaves rent-regulated tenants in place, so the sponsor's inventory sells out slowly. ACRIS shows sponsor sales of apartments continuing until 2013.
The rulebook is on the strict side for Brooklyn. Smoking is barred inside apartments by the proprietary lease itself, so a future board cannot relax it by amending the house rules. There is no in-unit laundry. Subletting is capped at five apartments building-wide and costs three months' maintenance a year. These rules narrow the buyer pool, and buyers should know them before the first showing.
Architecture and unit composition
A six-story brick building of 1961 in the plain postwar style, set back from the park on a 22,300-square-foot lot with parking and a garden behind. Its 57 shareholder apartments run in lines numbered 01 through 09 per floor. Listing records show one-bedrooms through larger corner apartments; the plan's floor plans on file set out the full line schedule. Building-department filings show at least two combinations: 204 and 304 into a duplex with a convenience stair (2007), and 306 with 307 (2005).
Postwar construction means square rooms, through-wall air-conditioning sleeves, and practical plans with fewer prewar details. Park frontage is the premium; corner lines and apartments with terraces or balconies follow. The house rules protect the front elevation: no window air conditioners on the park side.
Building operations
The 2024 audited statements show a lean corporation that runs close to break-even. Revenue of about $842,000 is mostly maintenance, with meaningful parking income (about $51,000) and flip-tax receipts. Real estate taxes are the largest expense, followed by payroll, repairs and mortgage interest.
The debt is conservative and scheduled. In March 2022 the corporation refinanced into a $2,500,000 underlying mortgage at a fixed 3.00 percent, ten-year term, amortizing on a 30-year schedule, due April 1, 2032. The balance was about $2.36 million at year-end 2024. A $500,000 line of credit was undrawn. Because the loan amortizes, the balloon at maturity will be below the original principal. It is still the building's largest scheduled event, and the rate reset in 2032 will affect maintenance.
Reserves are modest. Reserve cash was about $203,000 at year-end 2024, down from about $225,000 a year earlier, after the corporation spent roughly $139,000 on façade renovation and a new gate. No reserve study has been done. Façade compliance is current: the Cycle 9 filing moved from safe-with-repairs to safe after 2022 repair work, and the Cycle 10 report, filed September 8, 2026, is rated safe.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 25, 2026 | 307 | $1,925,000 |
| Aug 17, 2026 | 301 | $1,225,000 |
| Mar 3, 2026 | 501 | $1,295,000 |
| Feb 12, 2026 | 401 | $1,225,000 |
| Dec 10, 2025 | 609 | $622,000 |
| Oct 28, 2025 | 303 | $1,100,000 |
Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-05279-0019) 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.
At the recent median sale of $1.23M (7 transfers since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $25,394 to close, or 2.1% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $12,250
- No mortgage recording tax or title insurance on a co-op purchase
- Attorneys, lender, building fees and filings: $13,144
Assumes a resale (the seller pays transfer taxes), a $4,500 attorney fee and a mortgage on the rest.
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What to know if you’re buying
The smoking rule reaches inside the apartment. It is in the proprietary lease, not the house rules. If that disqualifies you, it does so before the first showing.
No washer-dryer, ever. The house rules prohibit installation. Buyers coming from a condominium tend to underestimate how much this matters to them.
Plan on living here before you sublet. Two years of residence first, then at most two years in any four, at three months' maintenance a year, against a five-apartment cap. This is an owner-occupant building.
Ask the three money questions. The financing ceiling, the post-closing liquidity requirement, and whether any assessment is planned against a reserve near $200,000. None is in the documents on file.
Parking is not part of the purchase. Spaces are rented and do not transfer with the shares. Ask about the waiting list.
What to know if you’re selling
Hand buyers the rulebook early. Smoking, laundry and sublet rules kill deals when discovered after the board package is in. Disclose them in the listing and at the first showing.
Price the 1.5 percent flip tax into your net. It is charged on the gross sale price and paid by you at closing.
Lead with the park and the mortgage. Park frontage sells itself. A fixed 3 percent underlying loan running to 2032, with an undrawn credit line, is a clean answer to the first question every buyer's attorney asks.
Assemble the package before you list. The managing agent's application is long and rejects incomplete submissions. A buyer's broker will value a seller who has the financials and house rules ready.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 185 Prospect Park Southwest, also evaluate:
- 651 Vanderbilt Street (Park Vanderbilt) — Windsor Terrace's largest elevator cooperative, a few blocks north near the park; the direct postwar peer
- 140 East 2nd Street (Hamilton House) — the neighborhood's most-traded cooperative; prewar stock at the Kensington edge
- 135 Prospect Park Southwest — park-facing elevator cooperative a few buildings north; the closest location comparable
- 155 Terrace Place (Prospect Park Mews) — Windsor Terrace's 1988 condominium; the fee-simple alternative with parking
- 40 Prospect Park West — early-1940s Park Slope elevator cooperative on the park; the ceiling comparison
- 35 Prospect Park West — the Emery Roth cooperative on the Park Slope Gold Coast; top of the park-front tier
- 300 Eighth Avenue — accessible prewar Park Slope cooperative
- 1 Plaza Street West — the 1927 sixteen-story cooperative at Grand Army Plaza, at the park's north end
More Windsor Terrace buildings
- 14 Prospect Park Southwest (Windsor Terrace Owners Corp.) — 1920 co-op
- 140 East 2nd Street (Hamilton House) — 1940 co-op
- 155 Terrace Place (Prospect Park Mews) — 1990 condominium
- 207 Prospect Park Southwest (Windsor Tower) — 1990 condominium
- 651 Vanderbilt Street (Park Vanderbilt) — 1963 co-op
- The Simone, 35 McDonald Avenue — 2007 condominium
The neighborhood
For the full neighborhood — its buildings, character, and market — read The Roebling Team Guide to Windsor Terrace.
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.
How to read the facts on this page. Items attributed to an offering plan describe the building as it was offered at that filing — unit mix, square footage, the amenity program as planned. They are not a statement about how the building operates today. Tax and compliance figures are sourced separately to current City records and carry their own dates. House rules, staffing and fee policy can change by board resolution without any public filing: treat every policy line here as a starting point for diligence and confirm it with the managing agent. Where this page compares one building or neighborhood to another, that is our analysis of the recorded record — it names the measure, the period and the sample it rests on, and it is an observation about medians rather than a prediction about any particular apartment.
Considering a move at The Lakeview, after the cooperative corporation?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.