- Year built
- 1900
- Type
- Condominium
- Landmark
- No
Every recorded sale at this building, 2002–2025
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $3,089
- Listing discount
- 6.7%
- Recorded sales
- 33
- On record
- 2002–2025
285 Lafayette Street is one of the great industrial-to-residential conversions on the SoHo/NoLIta seam. The building began life as the Hawley & Hoops chocolate factory, a turn-of-the-century manufacturing loft, and in 1999 it was reborn as a 30-unit condominium — the kind of small, high-ceilinged, full-floor loft building that defines downtown's most coveted ownership stock. Reimagined by WYS Design Partnership with interiors by Costas Kondylis, the conversion kept what made the factory special — cast-iron columns, exposed timber, oversized windows, and ceiling heights that climb toward 26 feet in the upper homes — and added the systems and finishes of a contemporary luxury building.
For buyers, the appeal is scarcity. Thirty residences across nine floors is genuinely boutique; many homes are full-floor or near-full-floor lofts with the volume and light that only an original industrial frame delivers. It is the SoHo loft ideal in its purest form, in condominium ownership, on one of downtown's best blocks.
Architecture and unit composition
The building's character is industrial and authentic: a masonry loft with the heavy proportions of early-twentieth-century manufacturing, an oversized-arched facade, and the deep floor plates that make full-floor living possible. The 1999 conversion preserved the structural drama — cast-iron columns, exposed timber beams, and the original window openings — and married it to refined modern finishes.
The 30 residences run from large multi-bedroom lofts to dramatic full-floor and penthouse homes, the most spectacular of which carry ceilings as high as 26 feet. This is space measured in volume, not just square footage: open layouts, abundant light from multiple exposures, and the kind of ceiling height that is effectively unbuildable in new construction. The building has long drawn a creative and design-minded ownership base for exactly that reason.
Building operations
285 Lafayette runs as a boutique full-service condominium. As a condominium, ownership carries the flexibility the form is known for — financing latitude, pied-à-terre and investor ownership, and a purchase that clears through a right-of-first-refusal rather than a co-op board package and interview. Subletting and resale are governed by the condominium's bylaws; buyers should review the bylaws and house rules for specifics, but the structural advantages of condominium ownership apply.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $147,411/yr
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $240,790/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $409 – $669
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The facade passed its last inspection with no required repairs — nothing to budget for here, and no facade assessment on the horizon for roughly five years.
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent). Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library.
See the full facade history →Recent sales
Recent closings at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. Apartment-level facts are independently verified before publishing; sale prices reflect the recorded transfer amount at the NYC Department of Finance.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 26, 2025 | 3E | 3 BR · 3.5 BA · 3,175 sf | $7,850,000 | $2,472/sf | -12.8% |
| Dec 19, 2023 | 7B | 6 BR · 3.5 BA · 5,350 sf | $14,950,000 | $2,794/sf | -19.2% |
| Jun 12, 2023 | 2E | 2 BR · 2 BA · 2,600 sf | $4,995,000 | $1,921/sf | -3.9% |
| Feb 8, 2022 | 4D | 2 BR · 1.5 BA · 2,750 sf | $7,075,000 | $2,573/sf | -1.7% |
| Jan 28, 2022 | 6B | 3 BR · 3 BA · 3,750 sf | $7,200,000 | $1,920/sf | -4.0% |
| Sep 28, 2021 | 7DE | 4 BR · 4.5 BA · 5,090 sf | $16,400,000 | $3,222/sf | -2.4% |
| Aug 24, 2020 | 2F | 1 BA · 1,040 sf | $1,950,000 | $1,875/sf | -7.1% |
| Jun 28, 2019 | 5E | 2 BR · 2 BA · 2,660 sf | $7,070,000 | $2,658/sf | off-mkt |
Market read. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $3,089/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 6.7% 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 1-00510-7501) 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 condominium structure is a real advantage — flexible financing, pied-à-terre and entity ownership, and a lighter purchase process than a co-op. Within the building, the variables are ceiling height, floor, and exposure: the upper full-floor and penthouse lofts with the highest ceilings are the trophy inventory and price accordingly. This is a building you buy for the loft volume and the location — the SoHo cast-iron district, NoLIta's restaurant-and-boutique blocks, and the Broadway/Lafayette and Prince Street subways are all immediately at hand. Inventory is scarce enough that decisive buyers should be ready to move when a home appears.
What to know if you’re selling
A resale here markets on the things new construction cannot replicate: authentic industrial bones, ceiling heights toward 26 feet, full-floor scale, and a boutique 30-unit building on a marquee downtown block. Benchmark to other premier SoHo/NoLIta loft conversions, not to glass-tower product. The condominium closing path is faster and more predictable than a co-op's, and scarcity works in the seller's favor — with so few homes and infrequent turnover, a well-positioned loft here meets genuine pent-up demand.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 285 Lafayette Street, also evaluate these downtown loft and boutique-condominium peers:
- 40 Bond Street — Herzog & de Meuron condominium nearby
- 25 Bond Street — BKSK Architects's 2008 Manhattan condominium
- 1 Bond Street — boutique downtown condominium
- 565 Broome Street — Renzo Piano Building Workshop's only Manhattan residential project, completed 2018. A 30-story twin-tower condominium
- 57 Thompson Street — SoHo loft-district peer
- 136 Sullivan Street — boutique SoHo building
The Roebling Team at 285 Lafayette Street
The Roebling Team at Compass works the SoHo, NoLIta, and downtown loft-conversion market — buildings where ceiling height, floor plate, and scarcity drive value more than any single comp. We publish this profile so buyers and sellers at 285 Lafayette have building-specific intelligence before they transact.
If you're considering a purchase or sale here, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point — we'll benchmark the loft, the building, and the comparison set with you.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across East Village + NoHo — read The Roebling Team Guide to East Village + NoHo.
Get the full picture on this building.
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Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A broker’s honest answer to three questions — what your apartment would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — for your apartment at 285 Lafayette Street, in this market. Put together by a person, not an algorithm.