77 Livingston Street (The Robert Livingston)
77 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
BBL 3002660012 · BIN 3002557
- Year built
- 1964
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 238
- Floors
- 18
- Landmark
- No
- Financing
- Minimum 20 percent down commonly reported — confirm at offer stage
- Pets
- Cats and dogs reported permitted — confirm at application
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
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 1BR median
- $547K
- Recent range
- $335K – $995K
- Listing discount
- 2.7%
- Recorded transfers
- 342
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Robert Livingston 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.
The Robert Livingston is the building that makes Brooklyn Heights arithmetic work for buyers the townhouse blocks price out. With 238 apartments across 18 stories — one of the largest co-op inventories in or adjacent to the Heights — it supplies the studio and one-bedroom stock that the historic district, with its brownstone-scale prewar co-ops, structurally cannot. A first-time buyer who wants a doorman, an elevator, central air, and a maintenance bill that folds in utilities, all a few minutes' walk from the Promenade and every subway line at Borough Hall, is very often looking at this building whether they know it yet or not.
The architectural pedigree is more interesting than the modest yellow-brick exterior suggests. Philip Birnbaum designed more than 300 buildings across New York, and his reputation rests on a specific, unfashionable virtue: he planned apartments from the inside out. Birnbaum's stated aim was to design for the people who lived in his buildings, and the practical results — abundant windows, minimal wasted corridor space, layouts that furnish easily — hold up better after sixty years than many showier contemporaries. Critics of the era dismissed the genre; residents rarely did. The Robert Livingston is a characteristic Birnbaum performance, down to the gym in place of the rooftop pools he put atop some of his Manhattan towers.
The site carries a longer institutional history. The Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute — the private school founded here in 1855 that grew into Polytechnic Institute (today part of NYU's engineering school) — occupied the block until its 1957 relocation, and the 1964 tower belongs to the wave of postwar redevelopment that remade Livingston Street's institutional frontage into housing. The building's position tells the same story from the other direction: one block east of the historic district's edge, it offers Heights adjacency with the civic center's transit at its door — the 2/3/4/5, R, and A/C within a few blocks of Borough Hall and Court Street.
For sellers, the building's scale is the asset. A deep, homogeneous inventory of studios and one-bedrooms produces reliable comparables, steady absorption, and a buyer pool refreshed continuously by the entry tier of the Brooklyn market.
Architecture and unit composition
The 238 apartments run predominantly to studios and one-bedrooms, with a smaller complement of two- and three-bedrooms. Birnbaum's planning discipline shows in the line layouts: compact foyers rather than dead-end galleries, windowed kitchens and baths where the plan allows, and living rooms proportioned for real furniture. The golden-yellow brick facade is deliberately quiet; the design budget went into the plans. Central air conditioning — far from standard in the neighborhood's prewar co-op stock — is a practical differentiator, as is the elevator-and-doorman service model at a price tier where many alternatives are walk-ups.
Building operations
The building operates as a full-service cooperative with a 24-hour doorman and a live-in superintendent. Central laundry, a fitness room, a bike room, and rentable storage round out the amenity package; on-site parking has been reported and should be confirmed during diligence. Maintenance is reported to include utilities — buyers should verify the inclusion for the specific unit, because it materially changes any carrying-cost comparison against buildings where electricity and gas bill separately. Building financials, the current budget, and any assessment history are reviewed with clients during diligence through The Roebling Research Library.
Policy framework
Pet policy: Cats and dogs are reported permitted; confirm current rules at application.
Minimum down payment: Commonly reported at 20 percent; the board's current requirement should be confirmed at offer stage.
Subletting, pied-à-terre, and transfer fees: Board policies are not publicly documented. As with most Heights-adjacent co-ops of this vintage, buyers should assume board approval, primary-residence expectations, and sublet limits until the managing agent confirms otherwise.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $267,760/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $22,313
Source: NYC LL84 benchmarking and PLUTO · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
See full Local Law 97 analysis — emissions history, scenarios, methodology →Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available filing classified the facade as Unsafe — conditions requiring corrective action, which under FISP means a protective sidewalk shed and repairs. Review the subsequent filings, the repair status, and the building’s board and financial materials — we pull the repair scope and funding picture for you.
How to read this, and where it comes from
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. City record last verified September 2026.
Recent sales
Recent transfers at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 13, 2026 | 3C | 1 BR · 1 BA · 800 sf | $575,000 | $719/sf | -4.2% |
| Aug 6, 2026 | 18L | 1 BR · 1 BA | $600,000 | -0.8% | |
| Jun 11, 2026 | 6F | 1 BA | $490,000 | -1.8% | |
| May 7, 2026 | 6D | 2 BR · 1 BA | $995,000 | +4.7% | |
| Apr 21, 2026 | 16J | 1 BA | $400,000 | +14.6% | |
| Feb 26, 2026 | 9F | 1 BA | $540,000 | -3.6% | |
| Feb 11, 2026 | 15L | 1 BR · 1 BA · 650 sf | $525,000 | $808/sf | -16.0% |
| Feb 6, 2026 | 15M | 1 BA | $405,000 | -4.7% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $716/sf across 3 sales. Median listing discount 1.3% 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 3-00266-0012) 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; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.
What to know if you’re buying
This is the Heights' entry tier, structurally. A 238-unit inventory weighted to studios and one-bedrooms, with doorman service and reported utilities-included maintenance, at the border of the historic district — the value case rests on service and location per dollar rather than on prewar architecture.
Underwrite the maintenance correctly. If utilities are confirmed within maintenance for your unit, an apples-to-apples comparison against separately-metered buildings requires adjusting the other building's number upward. Run both through the True Monthly Carrying Cost framework.
Expect standard co-op process. Board application, financial disclosure, and an interview; commonly reported 20 percent minimum down. Well-organized financials move faster here than aggressive negotiation.
The location trades charm for connectivity. Livingston Street is the civic district's edge — courthouse and office foot traffic by day, quieter at night — with nearly every Brooklyn-bound subway line within a few blocks. Buyers wanting tree-lined historic-district frontage should weigh the comparables inside the district below.
What to know if you’re selling
Price from the building's own comparables. With this much homogeneous inventory, recent same-line trades are the anchor; the market will not pay a premium that ignores the last three studio or one-bedroom closings.
Market the carrying-cost math. Utilities-included maintenance (once confirmed), central air, and doorman service are the differentiators against both walk-up co-ops and newer condos with high common charges — lead with the monthly number.
Present the board package cleanly. A large, actively trading co-op runs on process; complete, well-documented applications protect your timeline.
Expect a financing-driven buyer pool. Entry-tier pricing means most buyers borrow near the maximum the board allows; deals here are more sensitive to rate environments than the trophy tier, and 2025's steadier rate backdrop helped this segment's velocity.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Robert Livingston, also evaluate:
- 75 Livingston Street — the landmark 1920s skyscraper co-op next door; prewar drama at the same corner of the civic district
- 110 Livingston Street — the former municipal building across the street, converted to condominium — the condo alternative at this location
- 96 Schermerhorn Street (Boerum Court) — co-op inventory of comparable accessibility two blocks south
- 40 Clinton Street — Heights co-op living inside the residential blocks, one avenue west
- 130 Clinton Street — prewar co-op alternative in the central Heights
- 57 Montague Street (The Breukelen) — prewar elevator co-op on the Heights' main retail street
- 75 Henry Street — large postwar co-op tower at the north end of the Heights
- 44 Pineapple Street — large-scale co-op alternative in the north Heights
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.
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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