561 Pacific Street

The building sits on an 11,775-square-foot corner parcel and rises twelve floors above grade over a cellar and sub-cellar, in Class I-B non-combustible construction. The project incorporates development rights acquired from other lots on the same block under a Zoning Lot Development Agreement recorded in March 2015 and amended in July 2017 — which is why a corner site of this modest footprint supports a twelve-story building at a built floor-area ratio above the R8A base.

The vertical organization is clean. Residential entry is from Pacific Street; the commercial unit has separate entrances on Pacific Street and Fourth Avenue; the community facility entrance is on Pacific Street; parking is entered from Pacific Street as well. The first floor holds the community facility and the retail frontage, with additional commercial space at cellar level. Residences occupy floors 2 through 12, with the two top marketing levels — PH1001 and PH1101 — carrying three apartments each, so the plate thins as the building rises and the penthouse floors are genuinely different products from the mid-block floors below.

Two passenger elevators serve the whole building, one terminating at the twelfth floor and one continuing to the roof. Amenity space is concentrated below grade and on the roof rather than on residential floors: a fitness center and lounge at cellar level, a rear courtyard at cellar level, and outdoor space on the west side of the roof. Laundry, the 32-bike bicycle room and the 26 storage bins sit in the sub-cellar with the parking.

Terraces and balconies appurtenant to individual residences are residential limited common elements: the owner handles painting, decorating and ordinary non-structural maintenance, while structural and extraordinary repairs are a common expense unless the owner caused the damage. Any change to a limited common element that deviates from what the sponsor delivered requires express written board permission — a real constraint on terrace build-outs.

The plan set a long sponsor control period: the sponsor reserved the right to control the board of managers until the later of 120 days after 100 percent of the units have been conveyed, or five years after the first unit closing. It also reserved the right to cause the board not to bill common charges to any owner during a "Common Charge Delay Period" in which the sponsor pays actual expenses directly, and the right to use its majority vote to refund common charges collected in excess of actual expenses — with the plan warning that such refunds can produce later assessments. All three provisions are worth confirming against the current amendment and the audited statements.

The recurring capital items in a building of this vintage are the two elevators, the roof and roof terrace assembly, the sub-cellar parking and mechanical level, and the façade. The plan places the building squarely in the Façade Inspection Safety Program with a first cycle projected in 2022 and five-year cycles thereafter, and assigns responsibility for those inspections to the owner-controlled board once sponsor control ends. Ask for the most recent FISP filing, the reserve balance and the current assessment schedule in writing. Management history and current agent details are maintained in The Roebling Research Library and confirmed with clients during diligence.

The commercial and community-facility components are the second operating story. Both are first-floor units with the right to subdivide without board approval unless the change materially affects residential owners, and both are required to maintain heat on a 24-hour basis so as not to burden the residential units — a provision the board can enforce. Read the current common-charge allocation between the residential, commercial and community-facility components before assuming the residential base is what the budget headline implies.

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-00186-7503) 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.

Check the north elevation first. Units 501, 601, 701, 801, 901, PH1001 and PH1101 carry lot-line windows that can be required to be sealed or infilled if the neighbor builds. The plan puts the cost at roughly $8,000 per window as a common expense to affected owners. Ask what is on the adjoining lot and what its development rights are.

Parking and storage are licenses. Sixteen spaces and 26 bins against 63 residences, offered at the sponsor's discretion. Confirm in writing whether the unit holds one, the current fee, and the assignment mechanics on resale.

Budget the working capital contribution. Two months' common charges are due at closing under the plan.

Read the commercial and community-facility allocation. A first-floor community facility and a retail unit with cellar space are both entitled to subdivide and both carry allocated common charges. The residential base is what remains after that allocation.

Confirm the FISP status. The plan places the building in the five-year façade inspection cycle beginning 2022. Ask for the filings, the reserve balance and any current assessment.

Lead with ODA and the corner. The stacked-volume massing is legible from the street and is the building's clearest architectural argument in a market full of flat street walls. Photograph the corner and the reveals.

Package the license. If the unit holds a parking or storage license, document the license, the monthly fee and the transfer mechanics up front. It is worth real money and buyers discount what they cannot verify.

Anchor to your floor band. The plate thins toward the top, so the penthouse levels and the lower floors are not the same product. Building averages understate a three-apartment penthouse floor and overstate a low interior line.

Get ahead of the lot-line question. If your unit is on the north elevation, disclose it with the plan language and the cost estimate. Buyers' attorneys find it, and finding it late costs more than disclosing it early.

Closings are condominium-fast. Right of first refusal only, no board interview, no financing minimum beyond the lender's.

If you're considering 561 Pacific Street, also evaluate:

• 509 Pacific Street (The Hendrik) — 38-unit Boerum Hill condominium on the same street with a full-time doorman; the service contrast
• 323 Bergen Street — the newest and largest condominium on the same eastern Boerum Hill blocks
• 556 State Street (Boerum Heights) — earlier-generation new construction nearby, with deeded rather than licensed parking
• 10 Nevins Street (The Brooklyn Grove) — larger Boerum Hill condominium closer to Downtown
• 550 Vanderbilt Avenue — Pacific Park condominium across Atlantic Avenue; the closest peer on finish and service
• 700 Pacific Street — Prospect Heights new development on the same transit complex
• 71 Smith Street (The Boerum) — condominium at the Smith Street retail spine
• 11 Hoyt Street — the large amenity tower at the Downtown Brooklyn seam
• 423 Atlantic Avenue — the loft co-op alternative on Atlantic Avenue