- Year built
- 2004
- Type
- Condominium — ground-up new construction
- Units
- 16
- Floors
- 12
- Landmark
- No
- Amenities
- Common roof deck with grilling and East River bridge views per listing records; per-floor storage; bike room
- Pets
- Permitted per listing records
- Financing
- 10 percent minimum down per listing records — verify current requirements
Every recorded sale at this building, 2017–2025
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Recorded sales
- 23
- On record
- 2017–2025
7 Essex Street was the Lower East Side's proof of concept. Completed in 2004, when the neighborhood's skyline was still tenements and its condo market barely existed, this 12-story loft building across from Seward Park was among the first ground-up luxury condominiums in the district — architectural records document initial sales at $500 to $600 per square foot, with the penthouses near $900, pricing that then sat at the frontier of what the corridor had ever supported. Two decades later, with Essex Crossing built out a block north and the Lower East Side fully re-rated, the building reads as the corridor's pioneer rather than its experiment.
The product itself remains structurally unusual for the neighborhood: floor-through lofts, two to a floor, with east and west light and roughly 1,600 square feet each — a layout type the surrounding tenement stock cannot produce at any renovation budget. The building rises about five stories above its neighbors, so upper floors clear the low roofline in every direction: north toward the Midtown skyline, south to the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges, and east across Seward Park, whose frontage functions as a protected view easement — the park, one of the city's earliest municipal playground parks, is not a development site.
The location's logic has only strengthened. The East Broadway F station is half a block away; Straus Square, the Forward Building, and the restaurant rows of Canal, East Broadway, and Dimes Square sit within two blocks; Essex Market and the Essex Crossing development anchor the corridor a block north. What was "deep in the Lower East Side" in 2004 is now one of downtown's most heavily invested quarters.
Architecture and unit composition
Franke, Gottsegen, Cox's design is disciplined rather than demonstrative: a two-story limestone base, a glass-door entrance, and a facade organized around broad expanses of windows — listing records describe window walls running roughly 28 feet across the floor-throughs. The mid-floor lofts (floors 3 through 8) run about 1,600 square feet with ceilings between 9'8" and 10'2"; the two triplex townhouse units stack garden, first, and second floors with private outdoor space; and the two penthouses, at roughly 2,600 square feet with two wood-burning fireplaces each, are the building's trophy inventory. Renovation quality varies by unit two decades on — same-line condition comparison matters when pricing.
Building operations
This is a self-service boutique condominium: no doorman, video-intercom entry, a full-time superintendent per listing records, per-floor storage, a bike room, and a common roof deck. Common charges run materially below full-service buildings — the structural trade is package logistics and no staffed lobby. The building's governing documents should be reviewed during diligence; note that listing records and city records differ on the unit count (16 versus 19) and floor count (11 versus 12), a discrepancy the declaration will settle.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $4,845/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $21
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 closings 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 16, 2025 | 8A | $2,250,000 |
| Feb 25, 2025 | — | $7,000,000 |
| Jan 28, 2025 | 6B | $780,000 |
| Dec 5, 2024 | 7A | $815,000 |
| Mar 22, 2024 | — | $5,325,000 |
| Dec 21, 2023 | 8D | $1,380,000 |
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 1-00297-7503) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
The park is the amenity. Seward Park's frontage gives east-facing units protected light, green outlook, and renovated playgrounds and courts directly across the street — at a no-amenity building's carrying costs. For buyers comparing against amenity-stacked new development, price what you actually use.
Floor-throughs are the scarce product. Two units per floor, east-west light, and 1,600 square feet on one level is a layout the Lower East Side essentially does not otherwise produce outside conversions. The premium over the corridor's compact condo stock is rational.
No staff means no staff. Video intercom, a superintendent, and neighbors — that is the service layer. Buyers coming from doorman buildings should weigh the lower monthlies against the logistics honestly.
The financing framework is permissive. Listing records indicate 10 percent minimum down — investor- and first-time-buyer-friendly mechanics by Manhattan condo standards. Verify current requirements with the managing agent.
Reconcile the records during diligence. City and listing records disagree on unit and floor counts; the condominium declaration and by-laws settle both. Your attorney should also confirm sublet and alteration rules, which are thinly documented publicly.
What to know if you’re selling
Position against Essex Crossing, on value. Your buyer is cross-shopping One Essex Crossing and 242 Broome at higher price points. The pitch is the original article: full-floor scale, park frontage, and wood-burning fireplaces in the penthouse tier at a discount per foot to the new towers.
Sell the light and the protection. East over the park, west over low roofs, bridges to the south — these exposures are structural, not staging. Name them specifically in the marketing.
Same-building comps are thin — widen the lens correctly. With 16 residences trading infrequently, pricing should anchor to the corridor's loft-scale condo trades, not to building averages. We maintain the line-level history in the Research Library and build the comp set during pre-marketing.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 7 Essex Street, also evaluate:
- Blue (105 Norfolk Street) — Bernard Tschumi's pixelated 2007 condo; the corridor's design-statement peer
- One Essex Crossing (202 Broome Street) — the new full-amenity condo a block north; the price-ceiling comparison
- 242 Broome Street — Essex Crossing's first condo building
- The Forward Building (175 East Broadway) — landmark conversion on Straus Square; the historic-trophy alternative
- 50 Clinton Street — boutique Lower East Side condo
- 100 Norfolk Street — glass condo with setback terraces
- 196 Orchard — full-amenity condo on the Orchard Street retail spine
- 215 Chrystie Street — the downtown luxury benchmark to the west
The Roebling Team at 7 Essex Street
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Lower East Side and the broader downtown condo market as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because buyers and sellers at 7 Essex Street deserve building-specific intelligence — development history, records reconciliation, and corridor comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 7 Essex Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.