277 Hicks Street

Five stories of postwar masonry on the east side of Hicks Street, with private outdoor space integrated into the upper floors — the cooperative's 2012 capital program covered terrace, roof, and balcony work together, which tells you how much of the building's envelope is outdoor space. At grade, the building holds planted grounds served by an irrigation system, and at least one ground-floor residence is a duplex with a large private garden and multiple doors opening to it, a configuration Brownstoner has covered in its reporting on the building. Duplex ground-floor layouts of that kind reverse the usual arrangement, placing living space above and bedrooms below, and they price idiosyncratically — the right comparable is another garden duplex, not another two-bedroom.

With eighteen apartments across five floors, the building averages between three and four residences per floor, and the 2,455-share ledger spreads across a range wide enough to include both compact two-bedrooms and substantial duplexes. There is no offering plan on file for this building, so the share allocation and the current stock ledger are the instruments to use when comparing one apartment against another. Ask for both.

Exterior work, including window replacement and any change to terrace railings or paving visible from the street, requires Landmarks Preservation Commission approval under the district designation — a point worth confirming early with any renovation plan that touches outdoor space.

St. Charles Housing Corp. operates the building with an outside managing agent on a modest annual fee and a janitorial payroll rather than an attended lobby. Elevator maintenance, extermination, landscaping and sprinkler service run under outside contracts. Revenue beyond maintenance comes from assessments, laundry, sublet charges, and flip-tax proceeds on transfers.

The financing history is straightforward. In November 2004 the corporation took a $1.2 million first mortgage from the National Cooperative Bank at 5.87 percent, repayable over ten years with monthly escrow for real estate taxes and a maturity that has since passed — so the underlying debt has been refinanced, and its current balance, rate, and maturity are live diligence items. The corporation has disclosed that it has not conducted a study of the remaining useful lives of the common property and has not adopted a formal funding plan for future major repairs, relying instead on surplus, borrowing, maintenance increases, and assessments as needs arise. That is candid, and it is a reasonable posture for an eighteen-unit building, but it means a buyer should price capital risk directly: façade and parapet cycles under FISP/Local Law 11, the terraces and balconies, the roof, the elevator, and the heating plant replaced in the 2013 program.

Assessment history matters more than usual here. Capital contributions from shareholders have at times exceeded a full year of ordinary maintenance income, which is how a building this size funds a major project. Ask for a decade of assessments alongside the maintenance schedule.

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-00261-0018) 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.

Confirm the flip tax before you model resale. A transfer fee is documented in the cooperative's own accounts; the formula is not. Get it in writing.

Price the outdoor space specifically. Terraces, balconies, and the ground-floor garden are the reason to buy here, and they are not evenly distributed across eighteen apartments.

Ask for the assessment and capital history. The board has funded boiler and envelope work through assessments rather than reserves, and has said plainly that no reserve study exists.

Understand the building's date. The structure is postwar, inside a district celebrated for its prewar fabric. That is a value discount on finish detail and a value premium on layout and light — know which side of it your apartment falls on.

Verify the site's earlier history if it matters to you. The St. Charles Orthopedic Hospital association and the 1916 attribution to Donn Barber sit in LPC district records against a 1960 construction date in city records; Department of Buildings files are the place to resolve it.

Lead with the terrace or the garden. Private outdoor space is the scarcest commodity in the historic district and the fastest way to justify your number.

Bring the financial file to the table early. A board that raised maintenance and assessed to meet lender covenants and federal guidelines is a selling point once it is explained; unexplained, it reads as instability.

Name the block. Hicks below Joralemon, near Sidney Place and Willow Place, is among the quietest addresses in Brooklyn Heights and a walk from Borough Hall.

Comp to the district's postwar set, not the prewars. The correct comparables are the district's mid-century co-ops with outdoor space, priced on layout, light, and terrace area.

If you're considering 277 Hicks Street, also evaluate:

• 130 Hicks Street — the 1958 postwar co-op on the same street in the North Heights
• 245 Henry Street — 1955 Cohn & Cohn postwar co-op with garage and doorman
• 60 Remsen Street — 1955 doorman co-op at Hicks Street and Grace Court Alley, a few blocks north
• 100 Remsen Street — 1949 postwar co-op on a ground lease; a different balance-sheet profile worth understanding
• 70 Clark Street — 1960 postwar brick co-op opposite the former Hotel St. George
• 54 Orange Street — 1961 postwar co-op on the fruit-street blocks
• 135 Willow Street — 1955 postwar co-op with garage inside the historic district
• 2 Grace Court — the larger postwar-scale co-op on the Heights' quietest cul-de-sac
• 151 Joralemon Street — prewar walk-up alternative two blocks east, at a lower cost basis