Public School 9 Annex
279 Sterling Place, at Vanderbilt Avenue · Prospect Heights
BBL 3011650001 · BIN 3029076
- Year built
- 1895
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- Designated
- Amenities
- Elevator, communal garden and gated parking
Every recorded sale at this building, 2005–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 3BR median
- $2.5M
- Recent range
- $2.2M – $2.8M
- Listing discount
- -5.2%
- Recorded transfers
- 19
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A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at Public School 9 Annex 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.
Public School 9 Annex is an 1895 institutional building whose former classrooms became loft apartments. James W. Naughton's design occupies the northeast corner of Sterling Place and Vanderbilt Avenue, with an elaborate masonry façade and large windows. The residential conversion preserved unusually tall interior volumes and produced apartments with markedly different sizes and arrangements.
The cooperative conversion dates to 1989. Published accounts connect it to the relocation of artists displaced by the MetroTech development: a settlement enabled the group to rehabilitate the former school. The work included plumbing, electrical and heating systems, replacement windows and new floors. The building's residential history began with the adaptation of existing rooms and circulation.
The property also has communal outdoor space and gated parking, amenities that derive from the school site. Within the building, homes range from small loft-style studios to expansive upper apartments with terraces. A buyer is choosing a particular portion of a converted civic building, with its own ceiling geometry, window pattern and interior divisions.
Architecture and unit composition
Brick rises above a sandstone base. Round arches, carved stonework, terra-cotta ornament and gabled dormers articulate the front, while classical details frame the end pavilions. The plan resembles an H, with a narrower rear section connected to the broad Sterling Place frontage. This creates recessed exterior areas and several orientations for the apartments.
The original institutional proportions remain important inside. Some homes have ceilings around fourteen feet high and exceptionally tall windows. Loft arrangements can divide the height between living and sleeping areas, while larger apartments accommodate enclosed bedrooms alongside substantial open rooms. The window spacing and ceiling height come from the earlier use; the apartment partitions were introduced through conversion and later work.
The upper inventory includes a residence of roughly 3,150 square feet with vaulted ceilings, skylights, exposed brick arches, two fireplaces and two private terraces. Its interior contains several living areas and a windowed kitchen. That is one end of a broad range: smaller studio lofts have also traded here, including homes with an outlook toward the courtyard.
Bedroom count alone gives an incomplete description of this inventory. A large three-bedroom plan can have considerable open space beyond the bedrooms, and a studio may use a raised sleeping area. The amount of enclosed space, the relationship between levels and the location of the windows determine how much of the original classroom volume remains open.
Building operations
An elevator serves the cooperative. The garden is shared, while private terraces belong to particular residential configurations. Parking is gated; an apartment purchase should not be assumed to include a space unless the assignment is part of the transaction.
The exterior is individually landmarked as well as within a historic district. Stonework, large historic window openings and the complex roofline are central building assets and recurring maintenance responsibilities. Exterior alterations require attention to the landmark designation, including work associated with an individual apartment's windows or terrace.
A low built floor-area ratio doesn't mean the property can be enlarged. Landmark review and the existing structure constrain what an owner or the cooperative could change. An attic apartment's skylights and roof terraces are part of that protected building envelope, not an independent roof-development opportunity.
Policy framework
Financing: Up to 80%, implying at least 20% down — confirm with the managing agent.
Pets: Permitted — confirm with the managing agent.
In-unit washer/dryer: Installed in some homes; confirm approval for a new installation with the managing agent.
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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 2026 | 3C | 1 BA | $600,000 | +9.1% | |
| Sep 23, 2025 | 4A | 3 BR · 1.5 BA · 3,150 sf | $2,800,000 | $889/sf | -5.1% |
| Apr 29, 2024 | 2A | 3 BR · 2.5 BA | $2,225,000 | +6.2% | |
| Jan 25, 2022 | 1C | 2 BR · 1.5 BA | $1,420,000 | +1.8% | |
| Oct 21, 2019 | 1D | 2 BR · 1.5 BA | $1,050,000 | +5.2% | |
| Sep 7, 2017 | C1 | 2 BR | $1,050,000 | -10.3% | |
| Jan 4, 2017 | 1G | 1 BR | $772,279 | +6.5% | |
| Oct 17, 2014 | 2C | 1 BR | $750,000 | +12.1% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2025): a median $889/sf across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount -1.8% over ask.
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 3-01165-0001) 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.
Buying here? Co-op closing costs typically run 2 to 3% of the price. See NYC co-op and condo closing costs, line by line.
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Comparable buildings
- 296 Sterling Place: A similarly scaled prewar cooperative with a conventional apartment-house layout.
- 315 St. Johns Place: A larger prewar cooperative for comparing purpose-built apartments with converted loft space.
- The Mews at Grand Army Plaza: A nearby cooperative with a larger residential inventory and a different internal arrangement.
- 904 Union Street: A smaller low-rise cooperative for comparing ownership scale close to the park.
- 50 Plaza Street East: A taller prewar cooperative offering an apartment-house alternative near Grand Army Plaza.
More Prospect Heights buildings
- Butler Plaza (44 Butler Place) — 1925 condominium
- Mark 324, 324 Saint Marks Avenue — 2006 condominium
- Museum Court, 115 Eastern Parkway — 1922 co-op
- Rivera Court, 338 Prospect Place — 1931
- The Abraham Lincoln (61 Eastern Parkway) — 1930 co-op
- The Mark, 268 Saint Marks Avenue — 2013 condominium
The neighborhood
For the full neighborhood — its buildings, character, and market — read The Roebling Team Guide to Prospect Heights.
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
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.
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