330 Wythe Avenue (The Esquire Building)
330 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
BBL 3024037501 · BIN 3062888
- Year built
- 1914
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 75
- Floors
- 15
- Landmark
- No
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2025
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $1,550
- Listing discount
- 0.0%
- Recorded sales
- 56
- On record
- 2004–2025
Williamsburg's condominium stock is overwhelmingly a product of the 2005 Greenpoint–Williamsburg rezoning: towers and mid-rises on the waterfront and the Northside, built between 2006 and 2020, almost all of them new construction. The Esquire Building predates all of it. The sponsor bought the property on August 31, 2000, started a gut rehabilitation the following month, obtained a Board of Standards and Appeals variance to put housing into a heavy manufacturing district, filed the offering plan on July 30, 2001, and closed the first unit on November 20, 2001 — four years before the rezoning made any of it legal as of right.
That timing is the building's defining fact. It was converted under the old regime, one variance at a time, into a neighborhood that in 2001 had bars on Bedford Avenue and a power plant under construction on South 1st Street, a risk the offering plan disclosed to purchasers in plain language. The buyers who took that risk paid launch prices that ran from roughly $200,000 to under $600,000 for lofts of 1,000 to 2,000 square feet. Almost nothing else in Williamsburg has that cost basis, and the resale record — 150-plus deeds recorded across the building's 78 tax lots in the twenty-five years since — has been shaped by it ever since.
The second thing that distinguishes the building is the volume. The industrial structure was built for grain storage and later ran as a boot-polish factory and warehouse, which meant deep plates and tall floor-to-floor heights. The conversion exploited that rather than subdividing it away: 36 of the 75 residences are duplexes carved out of double-height industrial floors, with ceilings in the tallest spaces approaching twenty feet. The unusual consequence is that the building measures eight stories on the outside while several Department of Buildings filings for the same structure record 15 or 16 — a bookkeeping reflection of how the floors double up inside. There is no other loft building on the Southside that produces that section.
The third distinguishing fact is mechanical, and it is genuinely rare. The Esquire runs on a geothermal climate system, installed as part of the 2000–2002 conversion and secured by a geothermal easement recorded among the agreements binding on the condominium. In 2001 that was a fringe decision. Twenty-five years later it is the reason the building's common charges are consistently reported at levels that surprise buyers coming from newer, glassier product — and it is the single most useful thing a buyer can verify in the current budget.
What buyers should be clear-eyed about is the delivery condition. These were sold as white boxes. The offering plan provided one finished bathroom, a kitchen sink and cabinet, rough-in for the kitchen and a second bath, hookups for a washer and dryer, and in many units unpainted concrete floors and ceilings. Every kitchen, every second bathroom and every laundry installation in this building is owner work, done at some point between 2002 and now, to a standard that varies enormously unit to unit. Two apartments of identical square footage in the same line can be twenty years apart in condition. That is the central underwriting question here, and no building-level fact answers it.
Architecture and unit composition
The property is a corner parcel of roughly 24,250 square feet with about 139 feet on Wythe Avenue and depth running back along South 1st Street, and the building covers most of it — roughly 120,000 gross square feet in a single structure of eight stories plus cellar. The masonry is heavy and utilitarian, punched with large industrial window openings. There is no ornamental program; the building's architectural interest is entirely interior and sectional.
Residences begin at the first floor and run to the roof. Per the offering plan the composition is 39 simplex and 36 duplex residences plus a penthouse, ranging from approximately 1,000 to 2,000 square feet. The duplexes occupy the double-height industrial floors and carry the tallest ceilings in the building. Second-floor duplex residences open through glass patio doors onto private rear patios; the roof of the two-story South 1st Street wing was designated as a common deck terrace for residential unit owners. Several residences and duplexes carry balconies restricted by the plan to planting use.
The penthouse was not part of the original offering. The sponsor reserved the right to develop the existing 695-square-foot roof bulkhead into a two-story addition of roughly 2,910 square feet with exclusive use of the eight-story roof, and did so in the years following the first closings. The commercial condominium units occupy the ground floor and cellar; a third commercial unit was created by a further tax-lot subdivision filed in 2018.
Vertical circulation is two elevators serving all floors — a modest count for 75 residences, and a normal characteristic of loft conversions of this generation.
Building operations
The Esquire runs lean. There is no doorman; the building operates with a superintendent, a video intercom system, and an amenity set that reads as practical rather than promotional: two elevators, a laundry room, bicycle and storage rooms, a composting facility, a pet-washing station, a community garden and a planted common terrace. The first-year operating budget in the offering plan carried total residential and commercial common charges of roughly $186,000 against a matching expense line, with staffing at about $34,000 — a genuinely low-overhead structure that the building has broadly maintained. Listing records over recent years have reported monthly common charges in the low hundreds of dollars for typical residences, with hot water and gas included.
The geothermal system is the reason that arithmetic works, and it is also the operating risk. A twenty-five-year-old geothermal plant is a specialized asset with a specialized maintenance path and a replacement cost that falls on 75 units. Any buyer should ask directly about the system's condition, its service history, and whether any reserve or assessment is earmarked against it. The same applies to the elevators, the roof and the façade, all of which are at or approaching the point where a conversion of this vintage typically faces its second major capital cycle. Ask for the current budget, the reserve balance, the assessment history and the most recent façade filing.
Sponsor control ended long ago. The first meeting of unit owners was held in July 2002 and the board passed to owners unrelated to the sponsor at that point; the sponsor held sixteen unsold units as of the eighth amendment in January 2003 and has since sold down.
Policy framework
Ownership form: Condominium. Sales and leases are subject to a board right of first refusal rather than a cooperative approval, which produces a 30-to-45-day closing pace.
Pets: Permitted, and protected by the governing documents rather than by house rule. The offering plan designates the property animal-friendly and denies the board the power to prohibit legal pets except by amendment under the declaration and by-laws. Read the current declaration to confirm no amendment has changed this.
Subletting, pied-à-terre, LLC, trust and foreign ownership: All permitted. A unit owner may sell or lease to anyone, subject to the board's right of first refusal and the requirements of the by-laws.
Alterations: Unit alteration work is governed by the by-laws and requires board process. Given that most residences were delivered unfinished, alteration history is a live diligence item — ask for the alteration agreement file and any DOB permits on the specific unit.
Heating and cooling: Each unit has its own heating and cooling equipment, and the offering plan places maintenance, repair and replacement of that equipment squarely on the unit owner, with no condominium responsibility.
Working capital: The plan established a working capital fund of two months' common charges collected at each closing. Any current resale capital contribution should be confirmed with the managing agent.
Real estate taxes: No building-wide exemption or abatement appears on the FY2027 roll. J-51 benefits were sought at conversion and expressly not guaranteed to purchasers; whatever was obtained has expired. Underwrite full unabated taxes on the specific unit.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
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 Unsafe — conditions requiring corrective action, which under FISP means a protective sidewalk shed and repairs. Review the subsequent filings, the repair status, and the building’s board and financial materials — we pull the repair scope and funding picture 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 Esquire has one of the longest continuous resale records of any Williamsburg condominium. First closings were recorded in November 2001, the bulk of the sellout ran through 2002, and deeds have been recorded in the building in nearly every year since — a shallow but genuinely continuous flow rather than the burst-and-silence pattern typical of newer condominiums. That depth is useful: it means a specific line can usually be priced against its own history rather than against the building.
Pricing here works as a loft-per-square-foot exercise. The variables that move value are ceiling height, whether the residence is simplex or duplex, exposure, private outdoor space, and above all the vintage and quality of the owner's build-out. A well-finished duplex with an eighteen- or twenty-foot volume and a terrace prices in a completely different band from an unrenovated simplex on the same floor, and both are in the same building. Common charges that are low by Williamsburg standards support value on the carrying-cost side, and the absence of any tax abatement means the number a buyer sees today is the number that persists.
The right comparable set is Williamsburg's true loft conversions — a short list — rather than the waterfront and Northside new-development towers, whose amenity load, service model and cost structure are fundamentally different. Indexed to the last complete year, the Southside loft market has traded on volume and character rather than on services, and the Esquire is the largest example of it. Unit-level transaction history is maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence.
Recent closings 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2025 | 6D | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,066 sf | $1,520,000 | $1,426/sf | +12.6% |
| Apr 23, 2025 | 5J | 2 BR · 2 BA · 2,000 sf | $2,980,000 | $1,490/sf | -0.5% |
| Apr 1, 2025 | 7D | 1 BR · 1 BA · 1,002 sf | $1,670,000 | $1,667/sf | +4.7% |
| Nov 8, 2024 | 6J | 2 BR · 2 BA · 2,350 sf | $3,887,500 | $1,654/sf | -16.4% |
| Sep 5, 2024 | 7B | 2 BR · 1,292 sf | $1,850,000 | $1,432/sf | -5.1% |
| May 15, 2023 | 7F | 2 BR · 1,062 sf | $3,350,000 | $3,154/sf | off-mkt |
| Jun 30, 2022 | 4K | 1 BR · 2 BA · 2,000 sf | $2,999,000 | $1,500/sf | +0.0% |
| Apr 7, 2022 | 5B | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,270 sf | $2,275,000 | $1,791/sf | +17.6% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $1,550/sf across 3 sales. Median listing discount 0.0% from the last 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 3-02403-7501) 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
Underwrite the build-out, not the building. Residences were delivered as white boxes with rough-in only. The kitchen, the second bath and the laundry are owner work of unknown vintage. Get the alteration file and a competent inspection before you price the unit.
Ask about the geothermal system in writing. It is the reason the carrying costs are low and it is the building's most specialized capital asset. Age, service history, remaining life and any reserve earmarked against it are the four questions.
Read the pet provision in the declaration, not the house rules. The offering plan gives owners an unusually protected right to keep legal pets. If that matters to you, confirm it survives in the current governing documents.
Duplex versus simplex is the primary value axis. Thirty-six of the residences are duplexes on double-height plates. It is a different product from a simplex of the same footprint, and it should be priced as one.
Understand the commercial units. Three commercial condominium units occupy the ground floor and cellar, one of them created by a 2018 subdivision. The residential board does not control their use. Ask what is there now and what the declaration permits.
Do not be confused by the floor count. PLUTO and the conversion filing say eight stories. Some later DOB filings say 15 or 16. Both describe the same building; the difference is the double-height floors.
What to know if you’re selling
Photograph the section. Ceiling height is the asset, and it does not read on a floor plan. Wide shots, natural light, and a plan that shows the depth of the plate and the duplex volume.
Lead with the carrying cost. Low common charges and no abatement to expire is a durable, verifiable advantage over most of the competing Williamsburg inventory. Put the number in front of buyers early.
Tell the conversion story accurately. A grain warehouse turned boot-polish factory, converted by variance in 2000–2002, four years ahead of the rezoning that produced everything else around it. That provenance is real and it is not repeatable.
Price against the loft set, not the towers. The waterfront and Northside new-development buildings carry different services and different economics. Comparables drawn from them will misprice a unit here in either direction.
Disclose the build-out honestly. In a building where every kitchen is owner work, buyers assume the worst unless shown otherwise. Permits, invoices and dates convert skepticism into price.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Esquire Building, also evaluate:
- The Gretsch (60 Broadway) — the 1916 Gretsch instrument factory converted in 2003; the closest direct peer in the borough by product, vintage and conversion generation
- The Mill Building (85 North 3rd Street) — 63-residence conversion of a circa-1910 industrial building on the Northside; the smaller loft-conversion alternative
- Austin Nichols House (184 Kent Avenue) — the 1915 Cass Gilbert warehouse converted in 2016; the waterfront loft conversion at far greater scale and a much later basis
- 161 Grand Street — 18-residence conversion of a 1911 building; the boutique loft alternative a few blocks north
- The Oosten (429 Kent Avenue) — 216-residence Southside courtyard condominium; new construction answering a loft brief, at a different cost structure
- Schaefer Landing North (440 Kent Avenue) — the 2006 South Williamsburg waterfront condominium; views and services against volume and character
- 346 Kent Avenue — large-scale Southside condominium near Domino Park; the amenity-first contemporary alternative
- 80 Metropolitan Avenue — 123-residence 2008 condominium with townhouse component; the first post-rezoning generation
- 127 Kent Avenue — 43-residence 2025 Northside condominium; the current top of the market, and a useful measure of how far the basis has moved since 2001
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 Esquire Building?
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