84–88 Charles Street

84–86 Charles Street is the wider and taller of the two, a six-story Romanesque Revival apartment house by P. Herter & Son. LPC's 1969 designation report notes the round-arched window heads of corbeled brick with terra-cotta trim at the third and top floors, carved human heads as keystones, terra-cotta spandrel panels and banded brickwork. The same report found the remodeled ground floor, with small paired windows in large square brick panels, out of keeping with the handsome floors above. Buyers should know that assessment, because any restoration of the base would go through LPC.

88 Charles Street is the older building, a five-story neo-Grec apartment house of 1887 by William Grant. LPC singles out the ground floor: a central doorway framed by Corinthian pilasters and console brackets carrying a stone cornice slab, and flanking windows under segmental brick arches with a sculpted woman's head as keystone. Heavy projecting lintels sit on band courses across the upper floors.

Both are walk-ups: six flights at the top of No. 84–86, five at No. 88. Apartments are small. Gross building area works out to under 600 square feet per apartment at No. 84–86 and under 500 at No. 88, before stairs and halls, so expect studios and one-bedrooms, with larger homes where owners have combined units. Confirm each apartment's exposure. Front apartments face Charles Street, and DOB filings at No. 88 mention courtyard windows at the rear.

Debt. The corporation carries no recorded building mortgage. It paid off its National Cooperative Bank loans in October 2018, per ACRIS. An unleveraged co-op has no refinancing exposure, and maintenance does not carry principal and interest. The trade-off is that major capital work is paid from reserves or assessments rather than borrowing. Ask for the most recent audited statements, the reserve balance and any planned work.

Taxes. Neither building has an active abatement at the building level. The J-51 history is old and small, so real estate taxes are likely the largest item in the budget. The only exemptions on the current roll are personal ones held by individual shareholders.

Façades. Local Law 11, the city's periodic façade-inspection law, applies to buildings taller than six stories. No. 84–86 has six and No. 88 has five, so neither should be in the cycle. That does not mean the masonry needs no work. Ask the managing agent about recent pointing, lintel, cornice and fire-escape work. Landmark approval adds time to any masonry or window project.

Utilities. Apartments are individually metered for gas and electricity, per the plan, so those costs sit outside maintenance.

Board package and interview. You are buying shares in the corporation and a proprietary lease, the lease that gives a shareholder the right to occupy a specific apartment. The board must approve the purchase. Expect a full financial package and an interview.

Everything else is undocumented. No house rules, sublet policy, flip tax resolution or financial statements are on file. Before you bid, ask the managing agent in writing for:

• the flip tax, a fee the corporation charges on a sale, and who pays it
• the financing ceiling (the maximum share of the price you may borrow), minimum down payment and post-closing liquidity requirement (the cash you must still hold after closing)
• the sublet policy: waiting period, maximum term, fee
• the pet, pied-à-terre, and trust or LLC purchase policies
• the washer-dryer policy and any alteration-agreement rules

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-00620-0054) 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.

Confirm which building you are buying in, and ask about both. One corporation runs two buildings of different ages. A capital project at either one is paid for by every shareholder.

Ask about sponsor and corporation-owned apartments. Get the count, whether they are rented, and on what terms. It matters for your lender and for the building's finances.

Get the audited statements. With no building mortgage, reserves and planned assessments are the whole capital story. They are not in the public record.

Have the policy stack ready. None of the building's rules are publicly documented. A buyer's attorney will ask for all of them. Having the flip tax, sublet and financing terms in hand shortens the board process.

Lead with what LPC recorded. The terra-cotta work at No. 84–86 and the carved doorway at No. 88 are documented in the designation report. That is useful, accurate copy.

If you're considering 84–88 Charles Street, also evaluate:

• 211 West 10th Street — 1903 walk-up cooperative on the same tax block; a separate corporation with an HDFC structure worth understanding
• 281 West 11th Street — Charles Rentz's 1901 five-story walk-up in the same historic district, with a small remaining sponsor position
• 323 West 11th Street — three 1897 walk-ups run as one cooperative, the same multi-building structure
• 344 West 11th Street — five-building walk-up cooperative in the Greenwich Village Historic District
• 25 Charles Street — The Abingdon, George F. Pelham's 1903 apartment-house cooperative on the same street
• 79 Perry Street — small walk-up cooperative two blocks south
• 350 Bleecker Street — West Village cooperative around the corner
• 256 West 10th Street — Hudson Mews, a three-building 1978 conversion nearby