- Year built
- 1930
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 37
- Floors
- 6
- Landmark
- No
- Amenities
- Common garden/courtyard, bike room, mail/package room, elevator (upgraded in recent years per listing records), Art Deco lobby
- Pets
- Permitted per listing records
Every recorded sale at this building, 2022–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Recorded sales
- 23
- On record
- 2022–2026
The Lower East Side's condominium era is usually dated to the boutique wave of the mid-2000s — Blue on Norfolk Street, the glass mid-rises of Orchard and Ludlow — but 20 Clinton Street got there first. Its 1999 non-eviction conversion (offering plan on file in The Roebling Research Library) made it one of the neighborhood's earliest condominiums, registered as condo number 1096 with the city at a time when the surrounding blocks were entirely rental tenements. For most of a decade, this six-story Art Deco building was effectively the way to own an apartment on the Lower East Side — and it remains the neighborhood's value entry point for condominium ownership today.
The conversion story, documented in the plan and amendments on file, says something about how the building lives: this was a tenant-anchored conversion. The plan was declared effective in September 1999 with 59 percent of units under contract, 22 of them to tenants in occupancy buying at insider pricing — the plan's aggregate insider price of roughly $4.15 million was half the outsider figure. The tenants also organized to acquire the superintendent's apartment (Unit 2C) on behalf of the condominium at a negotiated price, per the first amendment. The result was a small, owner-occupied house from day one rather than a sponsor-dominated investor building.
The location has appreciated around it. The first block of Clinton below Houston is one of the Lower East Side's tree-lined restaurant rows, and the building sits within a short walk of the Second Avenue F, the Delancey–Essex J/M/Z and F, Essex Crossing's market and retail anchors, and the gallery corridor along Orchard Street. The neighborhood's condo stock has since grown a luxury tier above it — which is precisely what keeps 20 Clinton's relative-value case intact.
Architecture and unit composition
The building is a six-story Art Deco brick apartment house spanning a 100-foot frontage across what were once four tenement lots — larger in plan than the neighborhood's 25-foot walk-up norm, which is what gave the conversion its courtyard and its elevator. The roughly 38 residences are predominantly compact one- and two-bedrooms in pre-war configurations; combinations (the building's documented FG-line pairings among them) and top-floor units provide the larger inventory, and renovation levels vary widely unit to unit — from estate-condition originals to gut renovations with high-end kitchens, per listing records. Nine commercial units line the retail base along Clinton Street.
Building operations
This is a lean, self-service condominium by design: virtual doorman and package room rather than staffed lobby, a live-in superintendent, bike room, an upgraded elevator, and the shared garden courtyard — a configuration that keeps common charges low for the borough. Two diligence notes from the documents on file: first, the offering plan's special-risk disclosures flag the nine commercial units' broad use rights, so current retail tenancies are worth reviewing; second, the sponsor's engineer noted in 1999 that the building's electrical service capacity was limited — your attorney should confirm what system upgrades have been completed in the twenty-five years since. The offering plan and amendments 1–10 are on file in The Roebling Research Library.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
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 closings 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 13, 2026 | 3A | $1,225,000 |
| Jan 20, 2026 | — | $4,500,000 |
| Nov 25, 2025 | 6A | $2,350,000 |
| Dec 5, 2025 | 6B | $1,100,000 |
| Nov 21, 2025 | 3B | $1,050,000 |
| Sep 3, 2025 | — | $7,250,000 |
Full closing history with price-per-square-foot over time, the complete retrade record, and every line that has traded.
Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-00350-7501) 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
This is the neighborhood's entry-level condominium — structurally. Condominium mechanics (no board interview, 20 percent down per listing records, investor- and pied-à-terre-workable under the condo framework) at walk-up-adjacent pricing, in a neighborhood where the alternative condo stock starts several hundred dollars per foot higher. Confirm current policy specifics with the managing agent.
Price the service model honestly. A virtual doorman and package room are not a staffed lobby. The trade is materially lower common charges; buyers coming from full-service buildings should weigh the monthly savings against the convenience gap.
Review the building-systems history. The 1999 engineer's report on file flagged electrical capacity. Much may have been upgraded since — the elevator has been, per listing records — but your attorney should confirm the trail in board minutes and financials during diligence.
Understand the retail base. Nine separately owned commercial units with broad use rights front Clinton Street. The block's tenancy is restaurant-row in character; visit at night to price the street's energy for your own use.
Condition spread is wide. Tenant-era originals and renovated units coexist. Run the Renovation Cost Calculator against asking prices on unrenovated inventory — the math frequently favors buying condition here.
What to know if you’re selling
Sell the scarcity and the carry. Sub-$1 million Manhattan condominiums with low monthlies are a structurally thin market with a deep buyer pool — first-time buyers, parents, and investors. State the common charges and the condo mechanics plainly in the marketing; they are the product.
Position against the new LES condos, not against tenement walk-ups. Your buyer is cross-shopping newer product at a much higher per-foot cost. The pitch is the gap: established condominium, garden courtyard, prime Clinton Street block, at the neighborhood's value tier.
Document the building's conversion-era DNA. The tenant-anchored 1999 conversion and owner-occupied character read as stability to buyers and their attorneys. We provide the offering plan and amendment trail from the Research Library to serious buyers' counsel.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 20 Clinton Street, also evaluate:
- 196 Orchard — the neighborhood's full-amenity condo benchmark; the step-up alternative
- One Manhattan Square — the LES's amenity-tower option at Manhattan Bridge scale
- Blue Condominium (105 Norfolk Street) — Bernard Tschumi's 2007 boutique condo; the design-forward alternative
- 50 Clinton Street — the street's 2016 boutique condominium; the newer comp two blocks south
- 242 Broome Street — Essex Crossing's boutique condo component
- 100 Norfolk Street — cantilevered boutique condo; the newer-construction mid-tier
- 215 Chrystie Street — Herzog & de Meuron's hotel-condo at the neighborhood's western edge; the trophy ceiling
The Roebling Team at 20 Clinton Street
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Lower East Side and the broader downtown condo market as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because Lower East Side buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — conversion documentation, policy framework, and neighborhood comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 20 Clinton Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.