- Year built
- 1891
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- Designated
55 Hudson Street is a quintessential Tribeca loft cooperative — a Romanesque Revival building erected in 1891 as a warehouse and offices for the American Express Company, designed by Edward Hale Kendall, and converted to residential cooperative use in 1983. It occupies the southwest corner of Hudson and Jay Streets, a boutique-scaled corner building of roughly 45 residences that delivers the authentic loft architecture for which the neighborhood is prized.
The case for the building is the case for Tribeca lofts generally, in concentrated form: a handsome 19th-century commercial structure, deep floor plates with high ceilings and oversized windows, a corner site with strong light, and the boutique intimacy of a small co-op — all in the heart of one of Manhattan's most desirable downtown neighborhoods. Where many newer Tribeca condominiums simulate loft character, 55 Hudson has it by birth.
Architecture and unit composition
Kendall's design is a robust example of Romanesque Revival commercial architecture: arched windows on the upper floors, a terra-cotta cornice over an arcaded brick parapet, and bandcourses articulating the masonry — the muscular brick-and-stone vocabulary that defines Tribeca's warehouse stock and underlies its enduring appeal.
The 1983 conversion produced loft apartments out of the building's deep commercial plates — high ceilings, large windows on multiple exposures from the corner site, and the structural rhythm of the original building expressed in the interiors. Layouts vary by floor, as is typical of conversions of this vintage, and the boutique unit count keeps the building quiet and owner-occupied in character. The combination of corner light, loft volume, and authentic 19th-century envelope is precisely what draws buyers to this kind of building rather than to standardized new construction.
Building operations
55 Hudson runs as a boutique loft cooperative with a live-in superintendent rather than a large doorman staff. The signature amenity is a 6,000-square-foot landscaped common roof deck with sweeping downtown views; the building also offers a bike room and both basement and individual floor storage. Building policy permits pets, and washer/dryers are allowed in apartments. The co-op maintains a comparatively flexible posture for an established building — co-purchasing, guarantors, gifting, subletting, and pied-à-terre ownership are accommodated subject to board approval — which broadens the buyer pool relative to stricter cooperatives. We confirm the building's current terms for each buyer before an offer.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The facade passed its last inspection with no required repairs — nothing to budget for here, and no facade assessment on the horizon for roughly five years.
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent). Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library.
See the full facade history →Recent sales
With roughly 45 apartments, 55 Hudson trades infrequently — a handful of resales in a typical year — and loft inventory in a small Tribeca co-op is reliably scarce. Pricing tracks the converted-loft tier of Tribeca, with value driven by floor, ceiling height, light, outdoor exposure, and renovation rather than a single per-foot figure. Because the building's sales page is generated from public records tied to the BBL, it reflects recorded transfers as they post; for pricing on a specific line, a current comparable read is the right tool.
What to know if you’re buying
The draw is authentic loft architecture in a small, well-run Tribeca co-op with an unusually flexible policy posture — pied-à-terre and subletting accommodated, pets and washer/dryers permitted, and a generous roof deck. Buyers should still expect a cooperative purchase with a board package, but the building's openness to varied ownership structures makes it more accessible than many co-ops of its caliber. Focus on the variables that drive value here: floor, corner versus interior light, ceiling height, and renovation condition, which spans original loft to fully modernized. We help buyers find the line and floor that delivers the loft they actually want.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the loft and the location. A Romanesque Revival corner building, a 6,000-square-foot roof deck, and a flexible board posture are durable selling points, and the building's accommodation of pied-à-terre and sublet purchasers widens the audience beyond what stricter co-ops can reach. Benchmark to Tribeca loft co-ops and conversions rather than to glass-tower condominiums, and position the specific apartment on its light, volume, and condition. Because turnover is low, a well-prepared listing tends to draw committed downtown loft buyers quickly. We market 55 Hudson resales to that audience and against the right Tribeca comparison set.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 55 Hudson Street, also evaluate these Tribeca loft buildings and conversions:
- 145 Hudson Street — Tribeca loft conversion nearby
- 100 Hudson Street — Tribeca loft co-op
- 108 Leonard Street — landmark Tribeca conversion
- 44 Laight Street — Tribeca loft condominium
- 92 Laight Street — converted Tribeca loft building
- 28 Laight Street — the Cobblestone Lofts, Tribeca loft condominium
The Roebling Team at 55 Hudson Street
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Tribeca, the Financial District, and the broader Lower Manhattan loft market. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers of Tribeca loft co-ops deserve building-specific intelligence — the architecture, the cooperative structure and its flexibility, and where a given line sits in the market. A short consultation is the right first step.
Get the full picture on this building.
Current availability including off-market, the full comp set, and the board & financials read most listings don't show.