- Year built
- 1901
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 23
- Floors
- 9
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Confirm specifics at offer stage
- Subletting
- Permitted under the condominium bylaws
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
Every recorded sale at this building, 2009–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf (floor-adjusted)
- $1,520
- Listing discount
- 5.5%
- Recorded sales
- 41
- On record
- 2009–2026
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at 21 Ludlow Street 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.
21 Ludlow Street is a boutique pre-war loft condominium at the southern edge of the Lower East Side, on Ludlow between Canal and Hester — the seam where the LES meets Chinatown. Built in 1901 as a loft/commercial building and converted to condominium ownership in 2006, it is one of the earlier condominium conversions on this part of the Lower East Side: authentic pre-war loft bones, an elevator, and the deeded flexibility of condominium ownership in a neighborhood still dominated by tenement walk-ups and co-ops.
For the buyer who wants a genuine downtown loft with condominium latitude — no board interview, pied-à-terre and investment use permitted — inside the density and energy of the Lower East Side, 21 Ludlow is a clean proposition: a small, pre-war, elevatored condominium with real loft scale on one of the most atmospheric streets downtown.
Building operations
The condominium runs on a boutique loft model: an elevator, a central laundry room, in-unit washer/dryers, outdoor entertainment space, and terraces or balconies on select residences. There is no full-time doorman — typical and appropriate for a 23-unit pre-war loft condominium, and a factor in keeping common charges contained.
As a condominium, ownership is by deed rather than shares. Purchases avoid the share-loan structure and interview process of a cooperative; financing is a matter between buyer and lender; and pied-à-terre, investment, and subletting uses are permitted under the bylaws. Pet rules, any transfer fee, and specific sublet terms should be confirmed against the current bylaws at offer stage.
Architecture and residences
Built in 1901, the building carries the loft/commercial DNA of its era: masonry construction, generous window openings, and the floor-to-floor heights that make pre-war loft conversions so sought after. The 2006 residential conversion turned that shell into 23 condominium residences across nine stories, served by an elevator.
The homes carry loft-scale proportions — large windows, high ceilings, and open layouts — with in-unit washer/dryers, and select residences add terraces or balconies. Many homes have been renovated over the years while retaining the character of the original building. The nine-story, elevatored plan gives the building light and a practical vertical convenience uncommon in the neighborhood's pre-war stock.
The Lower East Side block
Ludlow Street is one of the defining corridors of the Lower East Side — bars, restaurants, galleries, and boutiques threaded through nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century buildings. The stretch between Canal and Hester places 21 Ludlow at the neighborhood's southern edge, where the LES meets Chinatown and the F train at East Broadway and the B/D at Grand Street are close at hand. To own here is to own inside that layered downtown fabric — steps from Dimes Square, the LES restaurant and nightlife density, and the markets and streetlife of the Chinatown border.
Local Law 97
This building is below the 25,000 sq ft threshold at which LL97 emissions caps apply. No regulatory capital pressure from this law specifically, current or 2030.
See full Local Law 97 analysis →Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available FISP filing classified the facade as Safe — no repairs were required at that inspection. Facade inspections run on a fixed five-year cycle; future inspection, repair, and any assessment decisions remain building-specific.
How to read this, and where it comes from
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent).
Penalties shown are amounts DOB assessed against filings on record across 2015–20 to 2025–30. The FISP dataset does not record whether they were paid, contested or remain open, so treat the figure as history rather than a current balance and confirm the building’s standing with the managing agent.
Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
Recent sales
Condominium pricing is read on a per-square-foot basis, and 21 Ludlow trades as a boutique pre-war loft condominium — loft-scale layouts, pre-war character, and the flexibility premium that deeded ownership commands. With only 23 residences, resale volume is thin: a handful of closings in an active year. Pricing is driven by floor, exposure, outdoor space, layout, and renovation condition rather than by any neighborhood average, and the loft scale and elevatored, deeded structure are part of the value story. When underwriting a purchase or a list price, capture the specific unit's square footage, floor, light, outdoor space, and finish level rather than leaning on an LES headline number.
Recent closings 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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 2026 | 7B | 1 BR · 1 BA · 604 sf | $928,200 | $1,537/sf | -2.3% |
| Oct 7, 2024 | C2 | 398 sf | $200,000 | $503/sf | off-mkt |
| Oct 7, 2024 | C1 | $300,000 | off-mkt | ||
| Oct 31, 2023 | 5B | 1 BR · 1 BA · 604 sf | $475,000 | $786/sf | off-mkt |
| Jul 13, 2020 | 2C | 1 BR · 1 BA · 568 sf | $880,000 | $1,549/sf | -11.6% |
| Sep 26, 2019 | 5C | 2 BR · 1 BA · 568 sf | $850,000 | $1,496/sf | off-mkt |
| Sep 6, 2018 | 3B | 1 BR · 1 BA · 650 sf | $893,750 | $1,375/sf | +0.0% |
| Jun 7, 2018 | 5B | 1 BR · 1 BA · 650 sf | $980,000 | $1,508/sf | -6.7% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,520/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. Floor-adjusted means each sale is restated to a constant mix of floors, so the figure can differ from the plain median of the sales listed above. Median listing discount 5.5% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
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 1-00298-7503). 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; square footage from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.
At the recent median sale of $928K (4 sales since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $33,950 to close, or 3.7% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $0
- Mortgage recording tax: $13,401
- Title insurance: $4,177
- Attorneys, lender, building fees, reserves and filings: $16,372
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
This is a condominium, so the path is straightforward: no board interview, financing set by your lender, and a review of the building's financials, reserve, and bylaws during due diligence. Read the bylaws on pet rules, any transfer fee, and sublet terms, and confirm them at offer stage. As a pre-war loft building converted in 2006, review the reserve and any capital-planning history on the building envelope, the elevator, and systems — a pre-war conversion carries its own diligence profile.
The reasons to buy are the loft and the flexibility: an authentic pre-war loft with an elevator, deeded ownership with pied-à-terre and investment latitude, and a boutique scale in the heart of the Lower East Side at the Chinatown border.
What to know if you’re selling
The story is pre-war loft character with condominium flexibility. A 1901 loft building with high ceilings, an elevator, and deeded latitude is a specific, marketable proposition that sells to buyers who want authentic downtown space and modern ownership terms inside the LES. Pricing is an apartment-specific exercise: square footage, floor, light, outdoor space, and condition drive the number. We position the loft narrative, benchmark against the right tier of boutique Lower East Side condominiums, and market to the downtown buyer who wants character and flexibility together.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 21 Ludlow Street, also look at these Lower East Side and downtown boutique buildings:
- 196 Orchard — Lower East Side condominium nearby
- 48 Orchard Street — boutique Lower East Side condominium nearby
- 7 Essex Street — boutique Lower East Side condominium nearby
- 38 Delancey Street — Lower East Side condominium nearby
- 155 Henry Street — boutique pre-war Lower East Side condominium
- 115 Norfolk Street — design-forward Lower East Side condominium
The neighborhood
For the full neighborhood — its buildings, character, and market — read The Roebling Team Guide to Chinatown.
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 21 Ludlow Street?
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