- Year built
- 2010
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 55
- Floors
- 16
- Landmark
- No
- Amenities
- Common roof decks, storage, concierge/doorman service per listing records (verify the current staffing model — the building's audited budget on file is lean); listing records also cite an on-site garage, but the offering plan on file states the parking spaces are reserved for the exclusive use of the commercial units and their patrons — verify access before relying on it
Every recorded sale at this building, 2015–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Recorded sales
- 27
- On record
- 2015–2026
38 Delancey Street holds one of the few structurally protected outlooks on the Lower East Side: the tower sits directly across Forsyth Street from Sara D. Roosevelt Park, and its west-facing lines look over the park's full block of green to the NoLIta and SoHo skyline beyond — an exposure that cannot be built out. The building was part of the corridor's first condominium wave: trade-press coverage of Delancey Street's 2010 transformation documented the sales office opening that May and 42 units in contract by mid-August, at asking prices of $900 to $1,300 per square foot. It remains one of the corridor's better value propositions a full cycle later, trading well below the newer luxury product that followed at Essex Crossing and the waterfront.
The architecture is pragmatic rather than precious, but the floorplate is genuinely clever: every apartment in the building is a corner unit, with floor-to-ceiling glass on two exposures, and most lines carry private balconies or setback terraces. Combined with exterior-vented washer/dryer hookups and individual heating and cooling — both rarities at this price tier — the unit-level product is stronger than the building's understated dark-gray facade suggests.
What distinguishes this profile is that we hold the building's primary documents. The offering plan, the current board package, and the 2018–2019 audited financial statements are on file in The Roebling Research Library, and they tell a specific story: a sponsor-built condominium where the commercial base (cellar through third floor, including the parking) was retained by the sponsor on a separate tax lot, where the plan disclosed that resident owners might never control the board, and where the operating budget runs lean — with a special assessment in 2019 and an accumulated deficit at that year-end. None of this is disqualifying at the building's price point, but it is exactly the diligence work a buyer's attorney must do here, and we put the documents in their hands on day one.
Architecture and unit composition
The tower rises 16 floors per city records (17 in some counts) from a three-story podium that holds retail at grade and commercial offices above — the office floors have drawn institutional tenants, including a school lease of roughly 15,000 square feet in 2012 per trade-press coverage. Above the podium, the residential floors set back, producing the terrace inventory on the lower tower levels and keeping upper floorplates compact at roughly four corner units each.
The mix runs from one-bedrooms through two-bedroom corner lines and combination units, generally compact in footprint but efficient: 9-foot ceilings, red oak floors, and the two-exposure corner condition throughout. West-facing A- and D-line units above the podium carry the park outlook; east and north exposures read the tenement-scale rooflines of the historic Lower East Side. The premium inventory is the setback-terrace lines, where private outdoor space can exceed 700 square feet — a spread rarely available downtown below the luxury tier.
Building operations
The residential condominium operates lean by design. Listing records describe concierge/doorman service, common roof decks, and storage; the audited statements on file show a salary line consistent with a small staff rather than a full-service program, so buyers should verify current staffing hours directly. Management runs through a third-party managing agent, with the board-package process (fees, right-of-first-refusal waiver, pet approval form) documented in the application materials on file. The commercial podium and parking are separately owned and operated under a declaration of easements — residential owners hold ingress/egress easements through the shared areas. The offering plan, board package, and recent financial statements are on file in The Roebling Research Library and available to clients during diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $35,202/yr
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $80,055/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $53 – $121
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 closings 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 6, 2026 | 12C | $1,120,000 |
| Nov 19, 2025 | 8C | $1,080,000 |
| Nov 14, 2025 | 14D | $1,775,000 |
| Oct 3, 2024 | 10B | $1,755,000 |
| Sep 26, 2023 | 4E | $1,323,725 |
| Sep 18, 2023 | 5A | $1,220,000 |
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 1-00420-7501) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
Read the special risks before you fall for the view. The offering plan on file disclosed sponsor control mechanics — an unconditional right to rent unsold units and the possibility that owner-occupants never control the board. Have your attorney establish the current sponsor/investor ownership split and board composition as a first-order diligence item.
Underwrite the financials honestly. The audited statements on file show a lean budget, a 2019 special assessment, and an accumulated deficit at the 2019 year-end. At this price tier that is a negotiating fact, not a deal-breaker — but price it, and review the current statements for the trajectory since.
The park is the product. West-facing lines hold protected light and green outlooks across the full Sara D. Roosevelt block, with the F/J/M/Z at Delancey–Essex and the B/D at Grand Street minutes away. Spend time in the specific unit at different hours; the corner-glass condition varies meaningfully by floor and exposure.
Do not assume the garage. Listing records cite on-site parking, but the offering plan reserves the parking for the commercial units and their patrons. If parking matters to you, verify access and terms in writing before contract.
Mansion tax math bites at this tier. Much of the building's inventory trades around the $1 million threshold. Run the Mansion Tax Calculator at your target price before negotiating.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the corner condition and the park. Every unit here is a corner unit — most of the competing inventory on the corridor is not. Park-facing light, outdoor space, and vented in-unit laundry are the three features that move LES buyers; document all three precisely.
Get ahead of the financials. Any competent buyer's attorney will surface the budget posture and assessment history. We package the offering plan, financials, and board-package terms from the Research Library proactively — a transparent file shortens negotiations rather than weakening them.
Position against the new luxury stock, not against it. Your buyer is cross-shopping Essex Crossing and the newer towers at materially higher per-foot pricing. The pitch is concrete: comparable glass, corners, and outdoor space at a discount per foot, with the trade-offs stated plainly.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 38 Delancey Street, also evaluate:
- 196 Orchard — the corridor's full-amenity condo benchmark a few blocks east
- 215 Chrystie Street — Herzog & de Meuron tower; the corridor's top-tier pricing reference
- One Manhattan Square — the amenity-maximalist mega-condo alternative at the waterfront
- Blue Condominium (105 Norfolk Street) — Bernard Tschumi's 2007 pixelated tower; the closest first-wave LES condo peer
- 242 Broome Street — Essex Crossing boutique condo; the newer mid-scale alternative
- One Essex Crossing (202 Broome Street) — larger Essex Crossing condo with a full amenity program
- The Ludlow (188 Ludlow Street) — 2007-era LES condo tower; the like-for-like vintage comparison
- 50 Clinton Street — boutique LES condo; the smaller-building alternative
The Roebling Team at 38 Delancey Street
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Lower East Side and the broader downtown condo market as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because buyers and sellers here deserve building-specific intelligence — offering-plan mechanics, documented financial posture, and corridor-level comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 38 Delancey Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.