233 West 21st Street

The building fills a 50-foot lot just under 99 feet deep, brick-faced, with terra cotta copings, light shafts on both sides and a rear yard. The sponsor's engineer described a single Otis passenger elevator on DOB file from 1926 serving the basement through the sixth floor, with controls replaced in 1979, and a one-pipe low-pressure steam heating system fired by oil. DOB records show the burner converted to gas in 2014 and the oil tank abandoned.

The apartment letters run A through E on each floor. Listing records describe south-facing front apartments over the street, herringbone and hardwood floors, and windowed kitchens in renovated units. The combinations are visible in the record: 5C/D has traded as one apartment since at least 2014, and a 2020 DOB filing combined 1D and 1E.

Façade and the current assessment. DOB records show a full façade repair in 2014 — cracked brick and stone, defective lintels, repointing — and DOB NOW filings show a second façade restoration with sidewalk shed and scaffold permitted in December 2023 and through 2024. Listing records for a June 2026 sale disclose a monthly shareholder assessment running until December 2026. The purpose is not stated in the listing; the timing coincides with the 2023–24 façade work. Ask the managing agent what the assessment funds and whether another is planned.

Debt. ACRIS records underlying mortgage instruments in 2004 (consolidated at $830,000), in 2013 ($800,000), and most recently in August 2022, consolidated at $1.5 million. The rate, amortisation and maturity are not in any record we hold. Across 10,002 shares, that loan is a large part of the maintenance line. Ask for the note.

J-51, now gone. Department of Finance J-51 records show a small abatement from 1976 to 1986, then abatements begun in 1989, 1990, 1996 and 2001 at 90 percent of certified cost on 14-year schedules. The last credit ran in the 2012 tax year. The current exemption detail shows no program on the lot. Eligible primary-residence shareholders receive the city's standard cooperative abatement.

Rent-regulated apartments and the sponsor. At the 1986 offering, 11 apartments were rent-controlled, and a non-eviction plan left those tenants in place. The plan let the holder of unsold shares sell or sublet without board consent. Recorded share transfers since 2007 cover a wide spread of apartments and buyers, which points to an open-market building today, but we have no current schedule of unsold shares or regulated tenancies. Ask the managing agent for both — lenders test for them.

Structure comes from the offering plan on file; current policy comes from listing records. Confirm each with the managing agent before offering.

• Pets: permitted with board approval.
• Pied-à-terre: permitted, per listing records last updated in 2022.
• Minimum down payment: 20 percent.
• Tax deductibility: about half of maintenance, per listing records from 2022. The figure moves with the mortgage and the tax bill.
• Proprietary lease: sales, assignments and sublets require board consent under the lease and bylaws, per the offering plan.
• Flip tax, sublet term and fee, post-closing liquidity, purchases in a trust or LLC: not documented. Ask.

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-00771-0020) 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.

Ask about the assessment and the mortgage together. An assessment is running through December 2026 and the underlying loan was re-set at $1.5 million in 2022. Get the note terms, the current budget and the status of the façade work before you set a number.

This is a share purchase. Board package, interview and board discretion apply. The 20 percent minimum is the listed figure; the post-closing liquidity standard is not published. Run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator against your own numbers.

Pied-à-terre ownership is listed as permitted. That is less common than it should be in small Chelsea co-ops. The record is from 2022; confirm it is still current before you rely on it.

The tax line is full freight. The last J-51 credit ran in 2012.

Lead with the documents. An offering plan with a full engineer's report, a dated conversion and a clean landmark answer make this an easy building to diligence. Pair them with current financials and the assessment details.

Correct the landmark assumption. This block is outside the Chelsea Historic District. Buyers who assume otherwise overprice the cost of exterior work.

Disclose the assessment up front. It ends in December 2026; say so, with the monthly figure for your apartment, so it does not surface as a retrade.

If you're considering 233 West 21st Street, also evaluate:

• 210 West 21st Street — a 28-unit prewar cooperative across the street on block 770; the closest like-for-like
• 228 West 21st Street — a nine-unit cooperative assembled from three townhouses, across the street
• 315 West 23rd Street — The Broadmoor, the 1926 prewar cooperative with a doorman; the step up in service
• 240 West 23rd Street — The Arcadia, a loft building converted to a cooperative
• 125 West 21st Street — The Indigo, the condominium alternative on the same street
• 251 West 19th Street — Chelsea 19, a 1910 prewar loft condominium between the same avenues
• 210 West 19th Street — a boutique prewar Art Deco condominium two blocks south
• 422 West 20th Street — the Chelsea Historic District condominium; the designated counterpoint