52 Lispenard Street

The combined structure presents roughly fifty feet of frontage on Lispenard Street — two 19th-century lots read as one — with the two-story enlargement set above the historic cornice line. The rooftop mock-up filed for Landmarks review in 2012 is the record of how that addition was negotiated: visible additions in Tribeca East are approved on a case-by-case basis, and the setback and materials were reviewed before construction.

The unit schedule runs TH1 and TH2 at the base, then units 2, 3, 4 and 5 through the middle of the building, then the penthouse. Recorded gross areas place the penthouse near 3,800 square feet. The Department of Finance carries lot 1701, designated TH1, in a different building class from the six residential lots and records its full 4,684 square feet as retail area; the final certificate of occupancy issued in August 2019 carries six dwelling units, one fewer than the temporary certificates that preceded it. The most defensible reading of the record is six residences plus a ground-level unit that is not counted as a dwelling. That unit remained in sponsor ownership on the FY2027 assessment roll.

Terraces and gardens are assigned to individual units as limited common elements rather than held in common. The plan on file caps roof-level improvements at 100 pounds per square foot of load and requires board approval for planting changes, which is worth knowing before planning any outdoor build-out.

52 Lispenard is a self-directed, low-staff building. The projected operating budget on file contemplates individual electric metering for each unit with a single house meter for the elevator, intercom, security video, common lighting and common air conditioning, and it carried a reserve contingency line from the first year. There is no doorman and no amenity program.

The building's principal forward exposures are the ones common to landmarked masonry: Local Law 11 façade cycles executed under Landmarks review, and the long-run maintenance of the 2012–2019 enlargement, which is now old enough to have a warranty history worth asking about. A buyer should request the current budget, the reserve balance, any assessment history, the most recent façade report, and the Landmarks permit history for the property.

Ownership form: Condominium. Purchases run through the condominium's application and right-of-first-refusal process rather than co-op board approval; confirm the procedure and timing in the declaration and bylaws.

Subletting: Permitted, with a minimum lease term of one year under the plan on file. The plan sets no limit on the number of owners who may purchase for investment.

Entity, trust and fiduciary purchasers: Permitted, subject to additional requirements set out in the by-laws.

Working capital contribution: Three months of common charges, payable at every closing including resales, per the plan on file. Confirm the current figure with the managing agent — it moves with common charges.

Real estate taxes: No exemption on any unit lot on the FY2027 roll. The plan states that to the sponsor's knowledge the building never received J-51 benefits. Underwrite full unabated taxes.

Landmarks: Exterior alterations require Landmarks approval. Interior work does not, but any change affecting a visible façade element, window, storefront, terrace enclosure or rooftop condition does.

Recent sales

Recent closings at this building, from The Roebling Research Library. 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.

Market read. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $2,035/sf (recorded) across 3 sales. Median listing discount 5.5% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-00194-7508; each condominium apartment is its own tax lot). Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified in The Roebling Research Library. 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.

Do not trust PLUTO on this lot. The year-built field says 1920 and the historic-district field is blank. Both are wrong. The buildings date to 1866–1868 and the property is inside the Tribeca East Historic District. Check a model's actual date and district inputs, comparable sales and treatment of those fields before concluding its estimate is incorrect.

Confirm what TH1 is. The record is genuinely mixed: seven unit lots, seven residential units in the offering plan, six dwelling units on the final certificate of occupancy, and 4,684 square feet recorded as retail at the base. Ask the managing agent for the current use and the certificate of occupancy before you underwrite the building's unit count or its common-charge allocation.

Six units is a small denominator. One deferred capital item is a meaningful per-unit number. Read the budget, the reserve and the assessment history before contract.

Landmarks binds the exterior. Terrace enclosures, window replacement, storefront changes and rooftop equipment all require review. Build the schedule and the cost into any renovation plan.

The roll shows no exemption. Check the apartment's tax bill for any abatement; with no exemption on the roll there is no step-up schedule to model, though bills still change with assessments and rates.

Check the (E) designation. The zoning lot carries an environmental (E) designation. Confirm that all remediation obligations at the property have been discharged.

If you're considering 52 Lispenard Street, also evaluate:

• 37 Lispenard Street — a boutique full-floor loft conversion on the same street; the closest peer by product type and scale
• 51 Walker Street — small loft condominium on the block immediately south, inside the same historic district
• 55 White Street — Tribeca East loft conversion at comparable boutique density
• 14 Leonard Street — small-building Tribeca condominium with similar economics and policy posture
• 91 Leonard Street — the amenitized new-construction alternative a few blocks south; the opposite service model
• 108 Leonard Street — large-scale landmarked conversion; the full-service comparison point
• 155 Franklin Street — Tribeca loft conversion with full-floor plates
• 335 Broadway — Broadway loft conversion in the same historic district
• 65 Worth Street — boutique Tribeca loft condominium with a comparable unit count
• 124 Hudson Street — Tribeca building; compare its current staffing and carrying costs