301 West 118th Street (SoHa 118)

GF55 Partners — among the most active residential firms of the 2000s Harlem cycle — composed the building as a red-brick mass on a two-story limestone base, stepped back at the top floors, with corner windows working the boulevard frontage. The roughly 91 residences run from one-bedrooms in the high-600-square-foot range through two-bedrooms around 900–1,100 square feet and a deep inventory of three-bedrooms — roughly 1,600 square feet in the larger lines, per the floor plans in the offering plan on file — capped by three duplex penthouses. Balconies, terraces, and private yards appear on select lines; finishes from the sponsor program ran to Brazilian cherry floors, stone kitchens, and marble baths, with washer/dryers in many units. The commercial unit occupies the cellar, ground, and mezzanine levels, and a separate community facility unit sits at the lobby and third floor — both held outside the residential condominium per the plan.

Full-service by the standards of the corridor, where staffed condos remain scarce: 24-hour doorman with cold storage for deliveries, live-in superintendent, full-time porter, fitness center, children's playroom, media and recreation rooms, central laundry alongside in-unit machines, and the landscaped common garden. The condominium framework governs transfers — no board interview, standard right-of-first-refusal mechanics — and the offering plan and amendments on file document the original allocation of common interests, the sponsor's retained rights, and the restricted-unit provisions. Confirm current house rules, sublet practice, and any sponsor-retained positions with the managing agent during diligence.

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01945-7504) 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.

Underwrite the 421-a burn-off first. The offering plan documents the 25-year schedule: full exemption on the construction increase for 21 years after completion, then a 20-percent-per-year phase-down, with full taxes in year 26. Listing records cite expiration around 2035, which means the phase-down years are approaching. Model the post-abatement tax load on the specific unit — run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator at both current and projected taxes — before you price an offer.

Ask whether the unit was a restricted unit. The offering plan's amendments document HPD-restricted units with regulatory-agreement obligations and a common-charge equalization payment due on resale. If the unit you're buying carries (or carried) that status, your attorney needs the paper trail — which is on file with us.

The condo structure is a corridor advantage. No board interview, financing at lender discretion, and rental flexibility under the condominium framework — in a neighborhood where much of the pre-war stock is co-op or HDFC with material restrictions. Confirm current sublet house rules with the managing agent.

Service is the scarce amenity here. A 24-hour doorman, live-in super, and porter remain rare on this stretch of the boulevard. If you're comparing against the area's boutique condos, price the staffing into the common-charge comparison honestly — it is what you are paying for.

Walk the block in both directions. Morningside Park and its ridge are one block west; the 116th Street B/C is two blocks south; the boulevard's restaurant corridor runs at your feet. The location case is concrete and has only consolidated since 2008.

Get ahead of the tax question. Every informed buyer will model the abatement phase-down. The winning strategy is transparency: present the current tax bill, the documented schedule from the offering plan, and the projected post-exemption carry, and price against that math rather than letting the buyer's attorney frame it late in negotiation.

Market the full-service scarcity. Staffed, garden, gym, playroom, many three-bedrooms — this remains one of the few family-scale service buildings in South Harlem. Position against the corridor's boutique condos on exactly that axis.

Document the unit's history. If your unit was a market-rate unit, say so plainly; if it was a restricted unit, assemble the regulatory and equalization documentation before listing. Clean paper shortens contract negotiations measurably.

If you're considering 301 West 118th Street, also evaluate:

• 1485 Fifth Avenue (5th on the Park) — the same development organization's larger full-service condo at Fifth Avenue and 120th; the closest sponsor-lineage comp
• 100 West 119th Street — condominium two blocks east; the boutique-scale alternative
• 88 Morningside Avenue — park-facing condo on Morningside's western edge; the direct park-frontage comp
• The Kalahari (40 West 116th Street) — the corridor's other large GF55-designed condominium of the same cycle
• The Lenox (380 Lenox Avenue) — the pioneering 2000s Harlem condo on the Lenox corridor
• Brownstone Lane II (309 West 118th Street) — the immediate townhouse-condo neighbor, same sponsor lineage
• 2280 FDB (2280 Frederick Douglass Boulevard) — the boulevard's later full-service condo generation; the newer-vintage comp
• 111 Central Park North — the area's premium tier; what park frontage adds to the same submarket

The Roebling Team at Compass works the Harlem corridor — Frederick Douglass Boulevard, the Morningside Park blocks, and the avenue condo stock — as part of our Upper Manhattan practice. We publish this building profile because SoHa 118 buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — offering-plan documentation, tax-exemption mechanics, and restricted-unit diligence — not generic neighborhood commentary.

If you're considering a transaction at 301 West 118th Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.