87 Columbia Heights

DOF records five stories and 56 residential units, and the building presents as a red-brick prewar apartment house of the pre-1920s generation — the moment when the Heights first began converting its bluff-top blocks from single-family use to purpose-built flats. LPC's district records assign no formal style designation, which is common for the district's utilitarian apartment stock; Slee & Bryson's Heights work of this period runs to restrained brick with quiet classical detailing, and the building reads in that register.

The apartment mix runs to one-, two-, and three-bedroom prewar layouts, with the interior vocabulary of the period — separated kitchens, defined rooms, generous ceiling heights, and the deep window reveals that come with masonry bearing walls. Public unit counts range from 53 to 60 against DOF's 56; the records reviewed do not reconcile them, and the corporation's share book is the authority. Two features to assess with matched sales are the reported double roof deck, which is how a five-story building on the bluff delivers harbor and skyline outlook to every shareholder rather than only to the top-floor west lines, and floor level, for the reason above. Assess exposure, floor, renovation condition and line configuration without assigning an untested order of importance. Exterior alterations generally require LPC approval; some maintenance may be exempt.

81-87 Owners Corp. operates a walk-up prewar of moderate size, and the profile follows from the building type: a live-in superintendent, a central laundry, bike and resident storage, and no elevator plant to maintain, modernize, or insure. Lobbies and hallways are reported to have been fully restored in 2023 — the kind of discretionary capital spending that signals reserves and a functioning board, worth verifying in the financial statements rather than taking on report.

No managing agent for the corporation is publicly documented to our standard, and we do not name one on report. Because the offering plan is not held in The Roebling Research Library, the document set here is thinner than at most Heights co-ops we cover, and the diligence sequence matters: obtain the offering plan and amendments, the current by-laws and proprietary lease, the house rules, and the last several years of audited financial statements before you get deep into an offer. Those documents settle the unit count, the pet and sublet rules, any flip tax, and the financing minimum — every one of which is reported rather than verified on this page. For this reported five-story 1916 masonry building, review façade condition, the roof beneath the deck and the original window openings. FISP generally applies only to buildings taller than six stories; confirm the actual DOB classification before requesting a cycle filing.

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 (2023): a median $1,077/sf (recorded) across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 0.0% from the last ask.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-00219-0005). 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.

Read the floor number first. There is no elevator. That single fact governs pricing, resale liquidity, and whether the apartment suits you in ten years.

Get the plan and the house rules before you bid. The offering plan is not in our library, and the pet, sublet, financing, and flip-tax positions are all reported rather than verified. The reported cats-only pet rule in particular is a deal-breaker for some buyers.

Underwrite the corporation across both buildings. Read the financials, reserve position, and any assessment history at the scale of the paired property.

Verify the roof deck and the 2023 lobby work. Both are the building's stronger selling points and both are reported; financial statements and board minutes will confirm scope, cost, and funding.

Confirm the unit and share allocation. DOF says 56; references run 53 to 60.

Name the architects. Most Heights walk-ups are anonymous. A documented Slee & Bryson attribution from the LPC's district records — with the Appellate Division courthouse and the Willow Street co-ops as neighbors-in-portfolio — is a pedigree line competing listings on the block cannot copy.

Lead with the address and the outlook. Columbia Heights, the bluff, the roof deck, Brooklyn Bridge Park below, two subway lines close: the strongest geographic case in the northern Heights.

Meet the walk-up objection directly. Publish the floor, the stair count, and the carrying cost. Buyers comfortable with stairs are also the buyers who understand the value they are getting; ambiguity only costs showings.

Assemble the corporate file. Plan, amendments, by-laws, house rules, and current financials — where the public document trail is thin, the seller who arrives with the paperwork controls the timeline.

If you're considering 87 Columbia Heights, also evaluate:

• 129 Columbia Heights — Frank L. Lowe's 1907 Beaux-Arts co-op at the Clark Street corner; the bluff street's other early apartment house
• 160 Columbia Heights — A. Rollin Caughey's Art Moderne co-op on the bluff; the full-service, harbor-view alternative
• 115 Willow Street — Slee & Bryson in a Gothic register, two blocks east; the direct pedigree comparable
• 128 Willow Street — Slee & Bryson's 1925 co-op across Willow Street; boutique prewar peer
• 15 Clark Street — Slee & Bryson's Heights apartment house where Bryson himself lived
• 59 Pineapple Street — Slee & Bryson's 1926 elevator co-op in the Fruit Streets; the elevator alternative at similar scale
• 60 Pineapple Street — loft-style conversion co-op nearby; open plans against prewar rooms
• 72 Orange Street — 1937 elevator co-op on the Fruit Streets; moderate-scale prewar peer
• 70 Clark Street — postwar co-op on the Clark Street corridor; the value alternative with an elevator