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.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| May 14, 2026 | 6D | $995,000 |
| Mar 6, 2026 | 9F | $540,000 |
| Feb 24, 2026 | 15L | $525,000 |
| Feb 12, 2026 | 14O | $535,000 |
| Feb 13, 2026 | 16D | $760,000 |
| Jan 28, 2026 | 2K | $549,000 |
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.
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.
Considering a move at The Robert Livingston?
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 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.