344 West 49th Street (The Gaslight)
344 West 49th Street, New York, NY 10019
- Year built
- 1910
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 40
- Floors
- 5
- Amenities
- Furnished common roof deck with open city views, central laundry, bike storage, live-in superintendent, per listing records
- Pets
- Permitted per listing records
- Financing
- 80 percent maximum (20 percent minimum down) per brokerage records
Hell's Kitchen is structurally a renter's neighborhood — the Special Clinton District has preserved its low-rise tenement core since 1974, and most of that stock never converted — which makes a documented 40-unit pre-war cooperative between Eighth and Ninth Avenues a genuinely scarce ownership product. The Gaslight is one of the corridor's cleaner examples: 1910 walk-up-era stock that was gutted and rebuilt in 1984–85, then converted under a non-eviction plan in 1986, with the full offering plan on file in The Roebling Research Library.
The conversion documentation tells the story precisely. The plan, dated July 14, 1986 and sponsored by Mitchell Hirth, allocated 3,127 shares across 39 apartments and conveyed the superintendent's unit to the apartment corporation itself — a tenant-protective, fully reset building rather than a lightly papered-over tenement. The J-51 tax correspondence in the plan documents demolition and reconstruction begun in 1984 and completed in 1985, which is why the building carries pre-war bones with mid-1980s systems, and why it has a passenger elevator and bright, regularized layouts that its five-story neighbors lack.
The policy framework is the practical headline. Per listing records the building permits pieds-à-terre, co-purchasing, parents buying for children, and subletting after just one year of ownership, with 80 percent financing allowed — a stack of flexibilities that most Manhattan co-ops screen out one by one. For first-time buyers priced out of condo product, and for buyers who want co-op pricing without co-op rigidity, this building's framework is the argument. The Special Clinton District does the rest: the protected low-rise blockscape keeps light in the units and keeps the furnished roof deck's open midtown views from being built out casually.
Architecture and unit composition
The building is a five-story pre-war of 75 feet of street frontage on a 7,531-square-foot lot — walk-up-scale massing with elevator-building function. The 1984–85 reconstruction regularized the interiors; the 40 units run from studios and one-bedrooms through larger combined and penthouse-level lines, several with private outdoor space at the top floor, per listing records. Finishes vary by owner cycle rather than by sponsor era at this point — nearly four decades of resales separate today's interiors from the conversion-era fit-out — so condition, not line, drives pricing spread within the building.
The block itself is the amenity case: a tree-lined Special Clinton District side street in the heart of the Theater District's residential hinterland, with Restaurant Row one block south and the Eighth Avenue corridor's transit at the corner.
Building operations
Self-sufficient small-co-op operations with more service than the scale suggests: live-in superintendent, passenger elevator, central laundry, bike storage, and the furnished common roof deck. There is no doorman — package logistics and access run on intercom and superintendent — and buyers comparing carrying costs against doorman buildings should price the trade in both directions. The offering plan is on file in The Roebling Research Library; current financial statements should be reviewed by your attorney during diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $9,025/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $19
Recent sales
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Recent transfers at this building, sourced from NYC Department of Finance records. Apartment-level detail (line, condition, asking-price context) verified upon consultation request.
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 2026 | 4D | $570,000 |
| Jul 30, 2025 | 3G | $620,000 |
| Nov 23, 2018 | 3F | $1,080,000 |
| Sep 7, 2018 | 3A | $1,075,000 |
| Mar 3, 2017 | 3E | $500,000 |
| Aug 12, 2015 | 2G | $600,000 |
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 1-01039-0057) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
The policy stack is the product. Pied-à-terre, co-purchase, parental purchasing, sublets after one year, and 80 percent financing — per listing records — is among the most flexible frameworks we track in a Manhattan co-op. If your situation involves any non-standard structure, this building's framework accommodates more than most; confirm specifics with the managing agent at offer stage.
Underwrite the flip tax carefully. The original 1986 plan documented a resale payment to the sponsor of 50 percent of the seller's profit on early resales. Provisions like this were routinely amended or extinguished as sponsors exited, but your attorney must confirm the current transfer-fee structure against the by-laws and amendments before you price an exit.
The 1984–85 rebuild matters for systems. This is not untouched 1910 plumbing and wiring — the J-51 correspondence in the plan documents demolition and reconstruction completed in 1985. Still, those systems are now four decades old; diligence should review the building's recent capital work and reserves.
The Special Clinton District protects the setting. The zoning overlay that has preserved Hell's Kitchen's low-rise core since 1974 is the structural reason the roof deck's views and the street's scale persist. Buyers should understand it also constrains what this building and its neighbors can ever become — stability, not speculation, is the thesis.
No doorman means no doorman. Intercom access, superintendent service, and self-managed package logistics. The carrying-cost savings are real; run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator against doorman alternatives.
Run the board math early. Even flexible boards review financials. The Co-op Board Qualification Calculator frames the standard debt-to-income and post-closing liquidity tests before you offer.
What to know if you’re selling
Market the flexibility, specifically. Sublet-after-one-year, pied-à-terre, and co-purchase allowances widen your buyer pool well beyond the standard co-op audience — including parents buying for children and buyers planning eventual rental use. State the framework plainly in marketing; it is the building's differentiator.
Position against condos, not just co-ops. Your buyer is cross-shopping Hell's Kitchen condo product at a substantially higher price per foot. The pitch is the discount with most of the flexibility — and the roof deck.
Document the provenance. The 1986 conversion and the 1984–85 rebuild are on file with us; providing the paper trail to serious buyers' counsel shortens diligence and survives attorney review.
Price to condition. With combination and renovation history varying widely across 40 units, same-building comparables need condition adjustment. We maintain line-level records in The Roebling Research Library.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 344 West 49th Street, also evaluate:
- 317 West 54th Street — 39-unit Hell's Kitchen co-op with a similar rebuilt-stock history; the closest like-for-like
- 205 West 54th Street (The Albemarle) — 1903 apartment-hotel-turned-co-op; the larger pre-war alternative
- 419 West 55th Street (Loft 55) — carriage-house loft conversion; the character-condo alternative nearby
- The Whitby (325 West 45th Street) — the Theater District's storied 1924 apartment-hotel co-op
- Parc Vendome (340 West 57th Street) — the grand pre-war co-op complex at the corridor's northern edge
- 460 West 42nd Street (Manhattan View at MiMA) — the full-amenity condo alternative at the neighborhood's southern end
- 635 West 42nd Street (The Atelier) — far-west condo tower; the price-per-foot contrast case
The Roebling Team at The Gaslight, per brokerage records
The Roebling Team at Compass works Hell's Kitchen, the Theater District's residential blocks, and the broader West Midtown market alongside our Billionaires' Row practice. We publish this building profile because Hell's Kitchen buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — conversion documentation, policy framework, and corridor comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 344 West 49th Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.