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. The recorded 2018 mortgage satisfaction does not establish absence of all current debt, credit lines or financing obligations. Confirm current balances and the board’s actual capital-funding plan. Without a loan in place, major capital work would come from reserves, assessments or new borrowing, subject to the board, the governing documents and the lending market. Ask for the most recent audited statements, the reserve balance, any planned work and how the board intends to fund it.

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. Confirm whether the proposed masonry or window work needs an LPC permit, qualifies for staff approval or is exempt maintenance; timing depends on the actual scope.

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

Recent transfers at this building, from The Roebling Research Library. 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.

Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2022): a median $1,836/sf (recorded) across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 0.4% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-00620-0054). Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified in The Roebling Research Library. 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.

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 on record, the reserve balance, planned assessments and any financing the board is considering make up the capital picture. None of that is in the public record.

Have the policy stack ready. The reviewed material does not establish the current rules. A buyer's attorney will ask for all of them. Having the flip tax, sublet and financing terms in hand lets counsel assess requirements early; timing still depends on the application and review 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 nearby to the north
• 350 Bleecker Street — West Village cooperative around the corner
• 256 West 10th Street — Hudson Mews, a three-building 1978 conversion nearby