31-85 Crescent Street (The Crescent House)
31-85 Crescent Street, Astoria, NY 11106
BBL 4005790018 · BIN 4007103
- Year built
- 1960
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 116
- Floors
- 6
- Landmark
- No
- Amenities
- Live-in superintendent; interior courtyard; central laundry room off the lobby; package room; on-site garage and parking, by waiting list; bicycle transport permitted but no hall or stair storage
- Financing
- 80 percent maximum financing — a minimum 20 percent down payment, per the purchase application on file
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $1,246
- Listing discount
- 0.3%
- Recorded sales
- 182
- On record
- 2004–2026
Astoria's for-sale market has no dominant tenure. Condominium infill, cooperatives, row houses and two- and three-family houses all trade, none of it in a historic district, and a buyer working a price range rather than a product type will see all four in a single week. Inside that market The Crescent House is a specific and useful thing: a 116-unit, six-story postwar cooperative from 1960, three blocks from the Broadway station, with a live-in superintendent, a courtyard, on-site parking and a maintenance structure that has not been rebuilt around amenities nobody uses. It is one of the larger single-address co-op inventories in the neighborhood, which means it produces enough transactions to price from itself rather than from a neighborhood average that mixes houses and new condominiums into one number.
The conversion record is unusually clean for an Astoria co-op of this vintage. Crescent Tenants Corporation was incorporated in March 1982 and took title on November 30, 1984 — the tail end of the great conversion wave, and the reason the proprietary leases run to the end of 2081. What has not resolved in the forty years since is the sponsor position. The most recent audited financial statements on file disclose that approximately 18 percent of the apartments remain sponsor-owned and that approximately 18 percent of maintenance comes from that holder — roughly twenty apartments held by one entity. City records show the position was sold as a block in January 2007 from the original conversion sponsor's successor to an investor entity, which is why the holder today is an investor rather than the family that converted the building. For a buyer this is not trivia. Single-entity ownership above ten percent is the threshold at which conforming loan programs begin to restrict co-op lending, and a lender's project review will find this before the buyer does. Ask for the current sponsor and investor unit count in writing, ask which lenders have approved the building recently, and ask the question before an offer rather than after a commitment letter.
The third structural fact is the debt. The cooperative refinanced into a $1.75 million first mortgage in January 2013 on a ten-year term with a 2023 balloon, and then refinanced ahead of that balloon in July 2021 into a $2.5 million first mortgage with a $1 million credit line. That is a building that increased its underlying debt by roughly three-quarters in a single refinance. The proceeds are consistent with the capital record — the board assessed shareholders $6.05 per share for a twelve-month period beginning September 2020, roughly $184,000, for work performed on the building exterior. Ask what the 2021 proceeds funded, what remains of the credit line, and when the current mortgage matures.
Architecture and unit composition
The building covers a 29,382-square-foot irregular lot with 92,250 square feet built across six stories — an average of roughly 795 gross square feet per apartment, which fairly describes an inventory of studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms rather than family apartments. The plan is a broad brick block set around an interior courtyard, with a rear yard given over to service and parking. There is no commercial space and no professional tenancy in the tax record: this is 116 apartments and nothing else, which simplifies both the financials and the tax analysis.
Because this is a cooperative, apartments do not carry documented square footage. Price per room and price per share are the honest registers here, and both are available: room counts are fixed in the offering plan and the proprietary lease schedule, and share allocations are on the stock certificate. With roughly 30,700 shares across 116 apartments — an average near 265 — the share allocation is the fastest way to compare two apartments at this address, and the only reliable way to compare a Crescent House apartment against a co-op elsewhere in Astoria.
Within the building the variables are floor, courtyard versus street exposure, whether the apartment has been renovated under a board-approved alteration agreement, and whether a garage space comes with it. Parking is by waiting list, resident-only, one vehicle per licensed resident driver, and expressly non-transferable — a space returns to the corporation when the resident leaves. It does not convey with a sale, and any listing that implies otherwise should be checked.
Building operations
The cooperative runs a union payroll with a live-in superintendent and porter staff, an on-site laundry room off the lobby, a package room and the courtyard. The boiler was converted from No. 6 fuel oil to natural gas under a 2014 Department of Buildings permit, which removed the building from the city's heavy-oil phase-out obligations well ahead of the deadline. At 92,250 square feet the building is inside the city's building-emissions and energy-benchmarking regimes; ask the managing agent to state the Local Law 97 position in writing.
The financial posture is that of a well-run but thinly reserved postwar co-op. At the most recent year-end on file the corporation held cash in the high four hundred thousands against 116 apartments, and the statements disclose in the standard language that the governing documents do not require reserve accumulation, that no reserve study has been performed, and that no funding plan for future major repairs exists. In practice the board funds capital work by assessment and by borrowing: an annual assessment approximating the value of the New York City cooperative and condominium tax abatement, used to hold the maintenance increase down; the exterior-work assessment of $6.05 per share running from September 2020; and the enlarged 2021 mortgage. The corporation also holds one apartment as a corporate investment, purchased in 2010 and rented, which contributes rental income alongside garage and laundry revenue.
Real estate taxes are the largest single administrative line. Because the cooperative and condominium abatement flows to owner-occupants and is offset here by a matching assessment, model maintenance net of that assessment rather than at the headline figure, and confirm abatement eligibility on the specific apartment.
Policy framework
Purchaser and subtenant approval: Admissions Committee interview and board approval required for every purchaser and every subtenant.
Financing: 80 percent maximum, per the purchase application on file. A signed lender recognition agreement is required in triplicate at closing.
Primary residence: The purchase application asks whether the buyer intends to occupy the apartment as a primary residence. A pied-à-terre policy is not documented in the materials on file; confirm with the managing agent.
Subletting: Two consecutive years maximum, in one-year terms, after one year of ownership, with a subtenant interview and board consent at the board's sole discretion. Unauthorized subletting carries escalating monthly fines and referral for lease termination.
Pets: Written board consent, case by case; one dog and one cat per apartment; dogs 25 pounds or less at adult weight.
Alterations: Board approval required before any work, including painting and floor refinishing. Licensed contractors and certificates of insurance naming the corporation. Work weekdays only, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with a $250-per-day fine for unapproved work and $500 per day if damage results.
House rules of note: Eighty percent of each room's floor area must be carpeted; no washers or dryers in apartments; no satellite dishes; smoking prohibited in all common areas including the rear garden; moves by appointment only with a $500 refundable deposit and a published fine schedule.
Board terms not documented: Flip tax, minimum post-closing liquidity and debt-to-income requirements are not stated in the materials on file. Do not assume the market defaults; ask the managing agent.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $13,650/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $10
Source: NYC LL84 benchmarking and PLUTO · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
See full Local Law 97 analysis — emissions history, scenarios, methodology →Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair before the next inspection cycle. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials for you.
How to read this, and where it comes from
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent).
Penalties shown are amounts DOB assessed against filings on record across 2005–10 to 2020–25. The FISP dataset does not record whether they were paid, contested or remain open, so treat the figure as history rather than a current balance and confirm the building’s standing with the managing agent.
Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
Recent sales
The Crescent House produces a steady, legible transaction record — city transfer-tax filings show apartments trading here in most quarters going back to the mid-2000s, when ACRIS began capturing cooperative share transfers, and the volume is high enough that a seller can almost always be positioned against same-line, same-exposure closings from the last twenty-four months rather than against an Astoria average.
Price per room is the right register, and price per share is the sharper one. Renovation state is the dominant variable inside the building — a 1960 postwar apartment in original condition and one taken down to the studs under a board-approved alteration agreement are different products at the same share count — followed by floor and by courtyard versus street exposure. The two things that move a Crescent House transaction outside the building are the financing question raised by the sponsor and investor concentration, and the subletting cap, which removes investor buyers from the pool entirely and narrows the market to owner-occupants. Both are worth addressing in the first conversation rather than the last. Market statements are indexed to the last complete year. Unit-level transaction history is maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 29, 2025 | 604 | 1 BR · 1 BA | $526,435 | -4.3% | |
| Sep 4, 2025 | 2A | 1 BR · 1 BA | $390,000 | -7.1% | |
| May 13, 2025 | 2B | 2 BR · 2 BA · 981 sf | $1,155,000 | $1,177/sf | +5.0% |
| Mar 28, 2025 | 107 | 1 BA | $304,200 | -4.6% | |
| Feb 5, 2025 | 5C | 1 BR · 1 BA · 700 sf | $827,482 | $1,182/sf | +0.9% |
| Feb 4, 2025 | 3E | 1 BR · 1 BA · 636 sf | $811,620 | $1,276/sf | +6.1% |
| Jan 14, 2025 | 6B | 1 BR · 1 BA · 715 sf | $918,303 | $1,284/sf | +6.2% |
| Jan 13, 2025 | PHA | 1 BR · 1 BA · 695 sf | $916,425 | $1,319/sf | +5.3% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2025): a median $1,246/sf across 5 sales. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 0.3% 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 4-00579-0018) 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; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.
What to know at The Crescent House
Resolve the sponsor and investor unit count before you make an offer. Approximately 18 percent of the apartments were sponsor-held at the most recent statements on file. Get the current figure in writing and confirm which lenders have closed loans in the building this year.
Ask what the 2021 refinance funded. The underlying mortgage grew from $1.75 million to $2.5 million, with a $1 million line alongside it, immediately after an exterior-work assessment. That is a coherent story, but it should be told by the board rather than inferred.
Model maintenance net of the annual abatement assessment, not at the headline figure, and confirm abatement eligibility on the specific apartment.
Understand what you cannot do. No washer or dryer. Two years of subletting, ever. One dog, twenty-five pounds. Board approval to refinish a floor. These are ordinary postwar co-op terms, but they are firmer here than in the condominium stock this building competes with on price.
Sellers: lead with share count and renovation. The share allocation is the cleanest comparison a buyer can make, and it is the fastest way to explain why your apartment is worth more than the one that closed last quarter.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Crescent House, also evaluate:
- 25-40 Shore Boulevard (Shore Towers) — the 409-unit Astoria waterfront condominium at Astoria Park; the neighborhood's high-volume, full-amenity alternative in the other tenure
- Kennedy House (110-11 Queens Boulevard) — the 405-unit Forest Hills cooperative with rooftop pool and attended garage; the closest Queens peer on scale and co-op governance
- Lane Towers (107-40 Queens Boulevard) — Forest Hills doorman cooperative over the subway; transit rather than courtyard as the proposition
- 11-02 49th Avenue (L Haus) — Long Island City condominium of similar unit scale; the condo-tenure comparison one neighborhood south
- 27-28 Thomson Avenue (Arris Lofts) — Long Island City loft conversion; large apartments at a different price tier
- 22-18 Jackson Avenue (Galerie) — 182-unit Long Island City condominium; the full-amenity new-development alternative
- 5 Court Square West — boutique Long Island City condominium; the small-building contrast
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.
Considering a move at The Crescent House?
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A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Crescent House 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.