65 Montague Street
65 Montague Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
BBL 3002410008 · BIN 3001942
- Year built
- 1934
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 42
- Floors
- 6
- Landmark
- Designated
65 Montague Street is the kind of building that makes the Brooklyn Heights co-op market work: an unshowy 1934 elevator building by Kavy & Kavovitt standing at the best end of Montague Street, two minutes from the Promenade, offering classic three- and four-room apartments at the entry point of the neighborhood's ownership market. The Heights' housing stock splits between 1830s–1880s row houses, grand pre-1930 apartment houses, and a thinner band of interwar elevator buildings; 65 Montague belongs to that third group, which trades on location and function rather than ornament, and which historically produces the neighborhood's most attainable co-op inventory.
The building's distinctive structural fact is corporate rather than architectural: Brooklyn Heights Owners Corp., formed in 1981, owns both 65 Montague Street and 20 Pierrepont Street — two buildings, one cooperative. The conversion plan, sponsored by Brooklyn Heights Realty Co. and dated August 14, 1981, offered both buildings' apartments together and closed on August 1, 1983. A buyer at 65 Montague therefore holds shares in a corporation whose balance sheet, underlying mortgage, and board span two buildings around the corner from each other. In practice this spreads fixed costs across a larger shareholder base than either building could support alone; in diligence it means the financials, capital planning, and house rules must be read at the corporation level, and unit-level comparisons should account for both addresses.
The conversion-era record, held in The Roebling Research Library, is unusually complete: the plan's amendments document the insider pricing of the early 1980s (a 1983 amendment cut the tenant price to $43.00 per share against $100.42 for outside purchasers — a reminder of how the Heights' co-op stock actually changed hands), the corporation's early finances, and the sponsor's sell-down through the early 1990s, by which point the sponsor no longer controlled the board.
For today's buyer, the value case is simple: Promenade-end location, elevator service, a functioning two-building cooperative with a documented history, and apartment layouts that fit the neighborhood's perennial demand for one- and two-bedroom prewar-scaled homes.
Architecture and unit composition
The building presents six stories of interwar brick, scaled to its corner of the Heights and protected — like everything around it — by the Brooklyn Heights Historic District designation of November 23, 1965. LPC's district records name Kavy & Kavovitt as architects and 1934 as the date; the firm's work here is functional interwar housing rather than a style statement, and the LPC style field is recorded as not determined.
At conversion, 65 Montague's apartments ran in four lines (A through D) across the six floors, predominantly four-room, one-bath layouts — living room, dining foyer or second bedroom, bedroom, kitchen — with three-room units at the smaller line positions; share allocations ran roughly 650 to 850 per apartment (offering plan amendments). City records attribute 42 units to the building against the plan's 48 across both cooperative buildings combined; combinations and the two-address structure make the stock ledger, rather than any public figure, the authority on today's count. Apartments trade on light and orientation — the western positions pick up harbor light off the Promenade blocks — and on kitchen and bath condition, which varies widely in buildings of this vintage.
Building operations
Brooklyn Heights Owners Corp. operates both buildings under one board and one budget. The conversion-era record shows a lean operation: a modest management fee, superintendent service, and the standard interwar-building systems (the corporation refinanced its underlying mortgage in the early 1990s, per the Tenth Amendment's financial exhibits). No current managing agent is publicly documented; management, staffing, and the corporation's current underlying mortgage and capital plan should be confirmed during diligence. The Roebling Research Library holds the plan's amendments (through the Tenth, January 1993), bylaws, proprietary lease, alteration agreements, resale application, and roughly a decade of financial statements for the corporation.
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 transfers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 2024 | 1C | $948,000 |
| Aug 26, 2022 | 1D | $1,300,000 |
| Apr 4, 2022 | 3D/4D | $3,250,000 |
| Oct 23, 2020 | 5C | $1,600,000 |
| Oct 20, 2020 | 5B | $1,250,000 |
| Oct 28, 2019 | 1A | $1,450,000 |
Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-00241-0008) 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
You are buying into a two-building cooperative. The financials, underlying mortgage, reserves, and board govern both 65 Montague and 20 Pierrepont. Read them at the corporation level, and ask how capital costs have been allocated historically.
Reconcile the unit count in diligence. City records (42 units at this address) and the plan (48 across both buildings) tell different stories; the corporation's stock ledger is the authority.
Expect interwar systems. A 1934 building means original risers, elevator modernization cycles, and LL11 façade work on a recurring schedule; ask for the capital history and any planned assessments.
Policies are board-set and undocumented publicly. Sublet, pet, financing, and flip-tax rules should be confirmed directly at offer stage; we do this as standard practice.
The location is the draw. The Promenade, Pierrepont Playground, and the 2/3 at Clark Street are all within a few minutes; Montague's retail noise fades by this block.
What to know if you’re selling
Frame the value position clearly. This is the Heights' attainable prewar-style tier at its best address; price against the entry-co-op comp set, including 20 Pierrepont sales, rather than the grand-building stock.
Condition drives outcome at this tier. Through 2025 the renovated-versus-estate spread stayed wide in small Heights co-ops; modest pre-sale improvements (paint, floors, lighting) historically return their cost here.
Have the two-building story ready. Buyers' attorneys will ask about the shared corporation; a clean explanation with current financials keeps deals on schedule.
Use the west-end location aggressively. Promenade proximity is the search term that surfaces this building; lead with it.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 65 Montague Street, also evaluate:
- 20 Pierrepont Street — the sister building in the same cooperative corporation; the most direct comparable that exists
- 62 Montague Street (The Arlington) — the 1887 Montrose Morris apartment house across the street; the character alternative
- 57 Montague Street (The Breukelen) — the block's large full-service prewar co-op
- 2 Montague Terrace — boutique Promenade-block co-op
- 60 Remsen Street — prewar elevator co-op one block south
- 100 Remsen Street — mid-size Remsen Street co-op peer
- 145 Hicks Street — larger north-Heights prewar co-op at a similar value position
- 35 Clark Street — smaller Heights co-op near the Clark Street 2/3
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
Considering a move at 65 Montague Street?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at 65 Montague Street would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — reviewed personally against condition, exposures, renovation quality, and the competition actually on the market.