211 West 18th Street
211 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011
Chelsea
BBL 1007687503 · BIN 1086359
- Year built
- 2000
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 8
- Floors
- 9
- Landmark
- No
Every recorded sale at this building, 2005–2024
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $1,859
- Listing discount
- 1.5%
- Recorded sales
- 18
- On record
- 2005–2024
Eight apartments in nine stories on a fifty-foot Chelsea lot, five of them full-floor. That is the proposition, and it is a rare one: most buildings this small in Chelsea are prewar walk-up conversions, and most buildings with full-floor plates are considerably older and considerably more compromised. This one was designed from a clear site in 2000 by John Cetra, built to condominium specification, and delivered with a washer and dryer in every apartment — which sounds like a small thing until you compare it against the loft stock on the surrounding blocks, where in-unit laundry is frequently a negotiation with a board.
The structural history is the part worth knowing. The sponsor bought the site in January 2000, demolished the four-story commercial building standing on it, and then in August 2000 bought something less common: the excess development rights over the neighbouring five-story building at 209 West 18th Street, plus fee title to the air parcel above it. Floors six through nine of this building extend over that neighbour's roof. The plan calls it the "Air Space Addition," and delivering it required a Zoning Lot Development Agreement, a Building Operations and Reciprocal Agreement giving the sponsor rights of access over the adjoining property in perpetuity, lateral bracing of the neighbour's eastern load-bearing masonry wall at the fourth floor to provide partial support, recladding of its elevator bulkhead, a new roof and skylight over its elevator shaft, and rebuilt parapets. It also explains a puzzle in the public record: the Department of Buildings processed a nine-story residential building as an alteration rather than a new building, because part of the work was performed on an existing structure that was not being demolished.
It is worth being precise about which building on this block this is, because there is a second, similar-vintage boutique condominium on Block 768. 270 West 19th Street (The Sedona) sits on lot 7504 of the same block, one street north, and is a genuinely separate condominium: different sponsor, different architect, fourteen residential units plus a commercial unit, unit tax lots 1401 through 1415, built new in 2004–06, and — unlike this building — the beneficiary of a 421-a exemption that has since burned off. ACRIS records the two as entirely distinct chains of title. They are neighbours, not siblings.
The last structural fact a buyer should hold onto is the tax position, because it runs the opposite way from most Chelsea condominiums of this generation. Buildings of this vintage in this neighbourhood were routinely built with 421-a, which produced a decade of suppressed real estate taxes and then a phase-out that caught later purchasers by surprise. This building never had one. The offering plan told the original purchasers exactly that: taxes would rise roughly 38 percent when the units were first assessed at full post-construction value in 2003/04, and there was no abatement to soften it. Twenty years later, the practical consequence is that the real estate tax line on any apartment here is the mature, fully-assessed number. There is nothing waiting to step up.
Architecture and unit composition
Nine stories on a fifty-foot lot, built as contemporary masonry infill, with an elevator and a modest lobby rather than an amenity program. Built floor area is 14,339 square feet against a 4,600-square-foot lot — a built FAR of 3.12 where the zoning permits 6.02, the deficit made up by the purchased rights over 209.
The unit mix is unusually legible from the Department of Finance roll because the eight lots sum exactly to the building area. Unit 1 runs 1,249 square feet; Units 2, 3, 4 and 5 are identical at 1,312 square feet each and occupy full floors; Unit 6 at 2,768 square feet, Unit 7 at 2,610 and the penthouse at 2,464 are roughly double the size of the floors below them, consistent with duplex configurations across the upper stories. The offering plan's projected electricity schedules distinguish "one and two bedroom" units from "three and four bedroom" units, which tracks the same split — mid-size full-floor apartments below, family-scale duplexes above.
Ceiling heights, finishes and the extent of individual renovation vary; five of the eight units have traded at least twice since the sponsor closings, and several have been comprehensively redone. Because every apartment on floors two through five is a full floor, exposures run north and south with no interior corridor to absorb light, which is the practical advantage of a building this narrow.
Building operations
Small, self-contained, and inexpensive to run. There is no doorman; the plan budgets an elevator maintenance contract and building supplies rather than staff. Units are directly metered for electricity, with common-area electric covering mechanical systems, the elevator, hot water circulating pumps and lighting — the projected annual common electric charge in the first year of operation was under $17,000 for the whole building. Heating and air conditioning are metered to the units. Audited financial statements for 2014–2015 and federal returns are on file in The Roebling Research Library.
The one operating feature that has no analogue in an ordinary condominium is the reciprocal agreement with 209 West 18th Street. The two buildings are structurally and operationally entangled: this building's upper floors sit over the neighbour's roof, its access rights over that property run with the land, and the Zoning Lot Development Agreement contemplates what happens if the two lots are ever assessed as one. A buyer's attorney should read that agreement rather than skim it.
Policy framework
The condominium framework here is the plain-vanilla one, and the offering plan states it in terms that are worth quoting in substance because they answer the questions buyers actually ask.
Ownership entity. Units may be held by individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, trusts, sovereign governments or consulates. There is no LLC or trust prohibition in the plan.
Transfer. A unit owner may sell or lease to anyone, subject only to the Board of Managers' right of first refusal at the same price and terms. There is no board approval in the cooperative sense and no interview.
Use. Each unit may be used only as a dwelling.
Working capital. Two months of common charges payable to the condominium's working capital fund at closing.
What is not documented. The plan does not fix a flip tax or resale capital contribution, and the current house rules — pets, sublet notice requirements, alteration procedure, move-in fees — are set by the Board of Managers and are not published. The sublet application and purchase application on file in The Roebling Research Library indicate the board maintains a formal process for both; obtain the current versions and the current rules from the managing agent before you offer.
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 filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair before the next inspection cycle. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials for you.
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 2010–15 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
211 West 18th Street trades as a boutique Chelsea condominium with an unusually clean chain of title: the sponsor closed the eight units to separate, unrelated purchasers between May 2005 and July 2009, and every one of those apartments has since traded in arm's-length resales — several of them two and three times. All eight residential lots are assessed as class R1 condominium units and none as class RR. This is a genuine for-sale condominium, not a rental in a condominium wrapper.
Pricing here should be read in dollars per square foot against Chelsea's boutique condominium stock rather than against the neighbourhood's loft conversions, which carry different ceiling heights, different tax histories and different common-charge structures. The full-floor units and the upper duplexes are effectively two different products and should be compared separately. Index any market statement to the last complete year. Unit-level transaction history is maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence.
Recent closings 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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 2024 | 3 | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,309 sf | $2,433,000 | $1,859/sf | +3.5% |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 2 | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,312 sf | $2,225,000 | $1,696/sf | +0.0% |
| Oct 29, 2021 | 7 | 3 BR · 3 BA · 2,610 sf | $4,200,000 | $1,609/sf | -6.6% |
| Dec 20, 2019 | 5 | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,312 sf | $1,900,000 | $1,448/sf | off-mkt |
| Aug 21, 2017 | 2 | 2 BR · 1,312 sf | $2,450,000 | $1,867/sf | -2.0% |
| Jul 21, 2014 | 5 | 2 BR · 1,310 sf | $2,180,000 | $1,664/sf | -6.0% |
| Nov 1, 2013 | 2 | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,312 sf | $2,080,000 | $1,585/sf | -1.0% |
| Dec 28, 2010 | 1 | 1 BR · 1,249 sf | $1,325,000 | $1,061/sf | off-mkt |
Market read. Most recent trades (2024) cleared a median $1,859/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 1.5% 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 1-00768-7503) 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 from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.
What to know if you’re buying
The tax line is already mature. No 421-a, no J-51, no phase-out pending. Verify the current bill, but there is no hidden step-up in the way there is at several nearby buildings of the same vintage. That is a genuine advantage when you model the true monthly carry — run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator and take the tax number at face value.
Read the 209 West 18th Street agreements. The reciprocal agreement, the Zoning Lot Development Agreement and the air-parcel deed are the most consequential documents in this file and they are not standard condominium paperwork. Ask specifically about maintenance obligations for the portion of this building bearing on the neighbour's structure, insurance, and access rights. This is a two-hour job for a competent attorney and it should not be skipped.
Understand what an eight-unit building means for common charges. There are eight owners to absorb every capital expense, a façade cycle, an elevator replacement, a roof. Small buildings are cheap to run until something large needs doing. Ask for the reserve balance, the most recent façade inspection, and any assessment history.
Full-floor living without a lobby. If a doorman matters to you, this is not the building. If a private-elevator-landing full floor at Chelsea condominium pricing matters more, it is one of very few in the neighbourhood.
In-unit laundry came with the building. The machines were sponsor-installed, not hook-ups. Confirm the condition of what is actually in the apartment.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the full-floor plan and the tax position. Both are unusual for Chelsea at this price point and both survive attorney diligence. Buyers comparing this building against 421-a-era condominiums nearby are frequently comparing an artificially low tax figure against your mature one; make the comparison explicitly and on a stabilised basis.
Have the 209 agreements ready. Every buyer's attorney will ask. A seller who produces them in week one rather than week three keeps the deal on schedule.
Scarcity is the argument. Eight apartments, five of them full-floor, in a purpose-built condominium between Seventh and Eighth. There is very little direct competition, and the pricing evidence in the building is thin enough that positioning matters more than usual. Run the Seller Closing Cost Calculator and set the strategy before you list.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 211 West 18th Street, also evaluate:
- 270 West 19th Street (The Sedona) — the other boutique condominium on this same tax block; new construction in 2004–06, fourteen residences, and a 421-a history this building does not share
- 212 West 18th Street (Walker Tower) — directly across the street; the trophy conversion comparison at a materially higher price point
- 224 West 18th Street (The Campiello Collection) — boutique condominium a few doors west
- 163 West 18th Street (The Slate) — Chelsea condominium of adjacent vintage on the same street
- 166 West 18th Street (Yves Chelsea) — the new-development alternative one block east
- 251 West 19th Street (Chelsea 19) — small Chelsea condominium one street north
- 210 West 19th Street — boutique building on the block behind
- 100 West 18th Street — the larger full-service Chelsea condominium alternative
- 121 West 19th Street (The Lion's Head) — amenitised Chelsea condominium for buyers who want staff and services
- 144 West 18th Street (The Chainworks Building) — the loft-conversion comparison on the same street
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Chelsea — read The Roebling Team Guide to Chelsea.
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.
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