205 Hicks Street

The building is six stories of prewar brick on a wide, shallow lot — roughly 100 feet of frontage on Hicks Street against about 52 feet of depth, carrying just under 25,000 square feet of building. That geometry produces an apartment house that is broad rather than deep, with most units reaching a street or rear exposure rather than an interior shaft, consistent with the light-and-air discipline Andrew J. Thomas built his reputation on a few years later.

The 1986 share schedule describes the stock: twenty-two apartments running four lines across the upper floors, with share allocations from roughly 251 to 464 and total cash prices to outside purchasers ranging from about $125,500 to $232,000 at conversion. The smaller line ran three-room configurations; the larger lines ran four- and five-room layouts. The superintendent's apartment is in the basement and carried no shares. Three ground-floor stores occupy the commercial frontage and were leased to the sponsor at conversion, producing rental income to the corporation. Apartments trade on floor, exposure and condition, and exterior work — windows and storefronts included — runs through the LPC under the district designation.

205 Hicks Street Apartment Corporation has operated the building since the 1986 closings. The conversion budget describes an operation that was small but unionized: a union agreement covering the resident working superintendent, elevator and exterminating service contracts, and management by Gam Holding Corp. Projected first-year maintenance was $14.60 per share against 8,036 shares, with commercial rent from the three stores supplementing shareholder maintenance — a structure that still matters, because commercial income remains part of how a 22-unit building funds a six-story plant.

The Roebling Research Library holds the 1986 offering plan, the proprietary lease and house rules, the by-laws, the purchase application, and audited financial statements from 2007–08 through 2011–12; current financials, the underlying mortgage, the reserve position, the commercial lease terms and any open assessment are reviewed with clients during diligence. The recurring capital items are FISP/LL11 façade cycles, elevator modernization, roof and boiler life, with the commercial frontage adding storefront and sidewalk-vault exposure a purely residential building does not carry.

Subletting: The proprietary lease permits subletting or assignment only with written consent given by a majority of the board, by the managing agent or an officer acting under board or shareholder resolution, or by the holders of two-thirds of the outstanding shares — with no consent required for transfer to a spouse or between co-lessees. That shareholder-override structure is a period artifact of the plan documents; current board practice, any residency requirement and any sublet fee should be confirmed directly.

Occupancy and pets: The lease restricts use to a private dwelling apartment for the lessee, the lessee's family and household employees. No bird or animal may be kept without the corporation's express written permission, which is revocable; dogs are never permitted in elevators or public portions unless carried or on a leash.

Quiet and alterations: Floors covered to 80 percent by rugs or equivalent outside kitchens, pantries, baths, closets and foyer; no instruments, radios or television speakers between 11:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. where they disturb other occupants; noisy construction weekdays only, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Window air-conditioning units and ventilators require express approval, as landmark-district elevations generally do.

Flip tax, financing minimums, pied-à-terre, washer-dryer: Not documented in the papers on file; confirm against the current house rules and purchase application during diligence.

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. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $1,339/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount -3.5% over ask.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-00242-7501) 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; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.

Confirm the tenure structure in writing. City records carry the property on a condominium billing lot; the building's governing documents are cooperative. Have your attorney establish exactly what you are buying, how the commercial units are held, and how the tax assessment is split.

Understand the commercial component. Three ground-floor stores sit under the apartments and contribute income to the corporation. Ask for the current leases, their expirations, and what share of the budget they carry.

Read the sublet clause, then ask the board. The two-thirds-of-shares override is a 1986 artifact. What matters is the board's current written policy, including any residency requirement and fee.

A 22-unit building carries its capital alone. Façade cycles, elevator, roof and boiler land on a small denominator. Ask for the assessment history, the reserve balance and the status of the underlying mortgage. The eviction-plan filing, by contrast, is history: it appears in the 1986 paperwork and occasionally in title work, and has no bearing on a purchase today.

Name the architect. An LPC attribution to Andrew Thomas puts this building in the orbit of one of the most consequential American housing architects of the 1920s. Most Hicks Street prewars are marketed without any attribution at all.

Get ahead of the tenure question. Buyers running public data will see a condominium tax lot and a cooperative building and will ask. A one-paragraph answer with the plan documents attached keeps the deal on schedule.

Lead with condition. In a building where renovation state sets the spread, documented work and clean alteration files are the price-makers. Where the kitchen and bath are original, price to that rather than to the best sale in the building.

Price against the central-Heights prewar set, and surface the corporation's record. The right comps are Hicks, Remsen and Montague-adjacent co-ops of similar scale. A long, steady financial history and a stable commercial tenancy are underwriting assets with lenders; put them in the deal room early.

If you're considering 205 Hicks Street, also evaluate:

• 130 Hicks Street — boutique prewar co-op on the same street; the closest scale comparable
• 145 Hicks Street — the larger north-Heights prewar co-op on Hicks
• 76 Remsen Street — Slee & Bryson prewar co-op one block south, converted in 1963
• 60 Remsen Street — prewar elevator co-op peer on Remsen Street
• 68 Remsen Street — mid-size prewar co-op nearby
• 62 Montague Street (The Arlington) — Montrose Morris's 1887 apartment house around the corner
• 65 Montague Street — interwar elevator co-op at the Promenade end of Montague
• 38 Livingston Street (The Colonial) — the same sponsor principal's other 1986 Brooklyn Heights conversion
• 20 Pierrepont Street — interwar co-op one block north; the entry-tier alternative