55 Poplar Street (Bridge Harbor Heights)
55 Poplar Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
BBL 3002077501 · BIN 3255616
- Year built
- 1883
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 57
- Floors
- 6
- Pets
- Not publicly documented; confirm against current house rules
- Landmark status
- Not an individual landmark; in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission records, updated February 2026
- Subletting
- Not documented; confirm leasing rules in the by-laws and house rules
- Pied-à-terre
- No restriction documented; confirm occupancy rules in the by-laws and house rules
Compiled by The Roebling Research Desk from the building’s offering plan, amendments, and related building documents (primary source dated 2026-08). Reported and subject to confirmation. Board policies can change by amendment — confirm at the offer stage.
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf, 2026 to date
- $1,689
- floor-adjusted, 1 sale
- Listing discount
- 1.4%
- Recorded sales
- 69
- On record
- 2003–2026
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55 Poplar Street began its life housing newsboys. The Brooklyn Children's Aid Society, founded in 1866, commissioned Marshall Morrill to design the building, completed in 1883 as a home for the working boys — newsboys, bootblacks, and messengers — of Brooklyn's downtown. The Victorian Gothic building, with its arched windows and dormered mansard roof, held classrooms, dormitories, dining halls, and a gymnasium, and anchored the charitable institutions of the north Heights for a generation. By 1911 it held studio apartments, then a machine shop, and by the 1970s it sat derelict on a block the Cadman Plaza urban renewal plan had carved out of the neighborhood's northern edge.
The 1980s rescue is what created today's building. The City of New York deeded the block — bounded by Poplar, Hicks, Henry, and Old Fulton Streets, the northernmost block of Brooklyn Heights — to Poplar Street Associates, Inc., whose principals David Hirsch and Wids de la Coeur are credited in the architectural histories with the restoration. Renovation began in 1985, and the orphanage and its adjoining structures reopened in 1987 as Bridge Harbor Heights Condominium I: 57 residences and 8 deeded parking spaces, with a first closing recorded on August 12, 1987. A second phase, Condominium II at 75 Poplar Street, added 56 units across a new building and six rehabilitated 19th-century structures combined into one. The two condominiums share a Home Owners Association that maintains the landscaped grounds, the common heating plant, and shared building staff — a community structure that is rare in the Heights and central to how the property runs.
The offering plan's own description of the setting holds up four decades later: a low-rise, tree-lined district of 19th-century houses at the quiet northern lip of the Heights, inside the Brooklyn Heights Historic District — designated November 23, 1965 as New York City's first historic district — with lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge in view from the block's northern edge. What has changed is the waterfront below, where Brooklyn Bridge Park and the revived Fulton Ferry landing have turned a once-industrial outlook into one of the building's strongest location arguments.
For buyers, 55 Poplar occupies a distinctive position in Heights inventory: condominium ownership — scarce in a neighborhood dominated by cooperatives — inside a landmarked 1883 institutional building, with pricing to establish from dated matched Heights condominium sales, on a gated, landscaped urban-renewal block with a shared campus setting to compare against actual rowhouse conversions.
Architecture and unit composition
The 57 residences occupy the original Morrill building and its connected structures, in configurations from studios and one-bedrooms through duplex and mansard-level units. The conversion-era character is the draw: arched window openings, deep masonry walls, dormered top-floor spaces under the mansard roof, and irregular loft-style layouts recorded unit by unit in the plan. Finishes vary widely by unit after nearly four decades of owner renovation cycles; original-condition units and gut-renovated units trade very differently and should be evaluated accordingly.
The block's structure matters to daily life: the buildings sit within fenced, gated, landscaped grounds entered from the surrounding streets, with the shared open space maintained by the Home Owners Association. Eight parking spaces within Condominium I are deeded separately and may be owned only by Association members, per the plan.
Building operations
The property operates through a two-layer structure documented in the offering plan. Each condominium collects common charges for its own operations, while the Home Owners Association — funded by assessments shared between Condominium I and II — maintains the common grounds and shared heating plant and employs the shared superintendent and building staff. A covenant in the urban-renewal deed requires maintenance of the block's playground, available to the public and to P.S. 8 students during stated hours. Buyers should review both budgets during diligence; the documents are held in The Roebling Research Library.
Policy framework
Ownership form: Condominium — there is no co-op board admission; purchases run through the condominium's application and right-of-first-refusal process. Confirm pied-à-terre, subletting and ownership-entity rules in the current declaration, bylaws and house rules at offer stage.
Parking: Deeded spaces are limited (8 in Condominium I) and restricted to Association members under the plan.
Carrying costs: Model common charges and the Home Owners Association assessment together; the shared heating plant places heat within the common structure rather than on unit meters.
Pets, flip tax, financing minimums: Not publicly documented; confirm against the offering plan, amendments, and current house rules during diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $2,921/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $4
- Modeled exposure split equally across 57 units (the residential count on the city's lot record). Not an assessed amount; condominium owners are typically charged by each unit's common-interest percentage.
Source: NYC LL84 benchmarking and PLUTO · The Roebling Research Library. City data last refreshed October 2026.
See full Local Law 97 analysis — emissions history, scenarios, methodology →Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the inspector (QEWI) identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair, with repairs due by the deadline stated in the filing. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials for you.
How to read this, and where it comes from
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — a licensed professional engineer or registered architect who meets DOB’s FISP qualifications and signs 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 data last refreshed October 2026.
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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 2026 | 4F | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,100 sf | $1,749,000 | $1,590/sf | +2.9% |
| Nov 18, 2025 | 6B | 2 BR · 1.5 BA · 1,069 sf | $1,695,000 | $1,586/sf | -3.1% |
| Oct 9, 2025 | 2C | 1 BR · 1 BA · 797 sf | $1,150,000 | $1,443/sf | -8.0% |
| Jul 7, 2023 | GRA | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,057 sf | $1,599,000 | $1,513/sf | +0.0% |
| Sep 9, 2022 | 1A | 3 BR · 1.5 BA · 1,057 sf | $1,480,000 | $1,400/sf | -1.3% |
| Aug 30, 2022 | 4K | 2 BR · 1 BA · 958 sf | $1,400,000 | $1,461/sf | -2.4% |
| Apr 20, 2022 | 1K | 1 BR · 1 BA · 958 sf | $1,175,000 | $1,227/sf | +2.2% |
| Apr 15, 2022 | 6J | 1,016 sf | $1,150,000 | $1,132/sf | — |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026 to date) cleared a median $1,689/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. Floor-adjusted means each sale is restated to a constant mix of floors, so the figure can differ from the plain median of the sales listed above. Median listing discount 1.4% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.
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 3-00207-7501; 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.
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At the recent median sale of $1.7M (3 sales in the past 24 months, since October 31, 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $70,701 to close, or 4.2% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $16,950
- Mortgage recording tax: $24,472
- Title insurance: $7,627
- Attorneys, lender, building fees, reserves and filings: $21,652
Assumes a resale (the seller pays transfer taxes), a $4,500 attorney fee and a mortgage on the rest.
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What to know if you’re buying
Review the actual condominium rules. The neighborhood's housing stock is overwhelmingly cooperative; 55 Poplar offers condo flexibility — sublets, pied-à-terre use, lighter approval process — inside the historic district, with relative pricing to establish from dated matched transactions.
Understand the two-layer carrying structure. Common charges plus the Home Owners Association assessment fund the building, the shared grounds, the heating plant, and shared staff. Run True Monthly Carrying Cost on the combined figure, and review both budgets.
The 1883 fabric cuts both ways. Character — arched windows, mansards, deep walls — comes with institutional-era quirks and a 1980s conversion now four decades old. Review the building's capital history, façade (LL11-equivalent) status, and any planned assessments.
Landmark rules govern the exterior. The Brooklyn Heights Historic District (1965) means LPC approval for exterior work, including windows and rooftop equipment.
Walk the block's geography. Brooklyn Bridge Park, Old Fulton Street, and the A/C at High Street are the daily anchors, with the 2/3 at Clark Street a few blocks south. The BQE trench runs north of the block — exposure varies by unit and should be assessed in person.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the story and the scarcity. An 1883 Marshall Morrill institutional building, the newsboys' home history, and condominium ownership inside the Heights historic district form a differentiated package; the buyer pool priced out of Heights co-op culture is real and durable.
Present the carrying structure transparently. Sophisticated buyers will find the Home Owners Association layer in diligence; framing it upfront — with what it funds — produces stronger outcomes than letting it surface late.
Condition drives the spread. Compare renovation condition and retained details using dated matched sales; price to recent same-condition, same-character comparables rather than building averages.
Closing estimate. Standard condominium mechanics; 30–45 day pacing is typical once terms are set.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 55 Poplar Street, also evaluate:
- 75 Poplar Street — Bridge Harbor Heights Condominium II; the sister condominium on the same block
- 8 Old Fulton Street (Brooklyn City Railroad Company Building) — 19th-century loft conversion at the foot of the block
- 28 Old Fulton Street — the Eagle Warehouse conversion, the Fulton Ferry rehabilitation the offering plan itself cited as the area's turning point
- 20 Henry Street — former candy-factory condominium conversion two blocks south
- Love Lane Mews (9 College Place) — boutique Heights condominium conversion peer
- 205 Hicks Street — small Heights condominium alternative in the central Heights
- 90 Furman Street — Brooklyn Bridge Park-edge condominium; the modern waterfront alternative
- The Sweeney Building (30 Main Street) — loft-conversion alternative across the bridge divide in DUMBO
More Brooklyn Heights buildings
- 44 Remsen Street — 1844 co-op
- 54 Orange Street — 1961 co-op
- 55 Hicks Street — 1914 co-op
- 56 Court Street — 1926 condominium
- 58 Pierrepont Street, 58 Pierrepont Street · Brooklyn Heights — 1834 co-op
- 58 Remsen Street — 1844 co-op
The neighborhood
For the full neighborhood — its buildings, character, and market — read The Roebling Team Guide to Brooklyn Heights.
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. Where this page compares one building or neighborhood to another, that is our analysis of the recorded record — it names the measure, the period and the sample it rests on, and it is an observation about medians rather than a prediction about any particular apartment.
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646.939.7375 · c.cohen@compass.com