87 Smith Street (The Smith)
87 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
BBL 3001767501 · BIN 3392395
- Year built
- 2007
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 50
- Floors
- 13
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Not documented in the materials on file — confirm the current house rules
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Smith 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.
87 Smith Street is an early ground-up condominium on the Smith Street–Atlantic Avenue corner where Boerum Hill meets Downtown Brooklyn. It closed its first units in December 2007, before the 2008 downturn and before the tower wave north of Schermerhorn Street. All 50 residences went to separate buyers between December 2007 and September 2009, per ACRIS. That early date is the reason the building's carrying costs have to be read carefully.
The building was sold with a 15-year 421-a exemption, the property-tax exemption New York City gave new residential construction. The exemption no longer applies. DOF's records show the benefit starting in 2008 and the exempt value falling to zero from the 2022/23 tax year. A buyer comparing this building with a Brooklyn condominium built in 2015 or later is comparing a fully taxed building with one that may still be abated. That difference usually shows up more in the monthly carry than in the purchase price.
Structurally, this is a stacked condominium. A hotel, two retail units, a community-facility unit and a commercial parking garage share the building with the residences, each as its own tax lot and each paying common charges under the plan's allocation. In 2018 the commercial units contributed roughly a quarter of common-charge revenue, per the audited statements. That spreads the building's costs over more owners. It also puts residential owners in a shared regime with commercial owners whose interests can differ. At the most recent year-end on file, a single commercial owner held about 22 percent of the common elements through one retail unit, the community-facility unit and the garage unit.
Architecture and unit composition
Meltzer/Mandl's design puts the hotel and commercial program in the base and the residences on floors 5 through 12. The upper floors have open exposures over the low brownstone blocks to the south and east. The offering plan warns that some units have lot-line windows, which would have to be sealed if an adjacent lot were built up. In every such case the plan states the affected bedroom keeps another legal window. Buyers should check the specific line.
The unit mix is mostly one- and two-bedroom homes, repeated six to a floor through the 11th floor. The A line is the smallest on each floor. The 12th floor is laid out differently, with eight units, including duplexes that run up to the 13th floor. A 2015 DOB filing combined two of those duplexes. The DOF unit lots are classed R4, residential units in an elevator building, and are held by individual owners, not a rental entity.
Building operations
The Smith Condominium is professionally managed and uses contracted concierge and janitorial service, per its audited financial statements. Utilities are submetered and charged back to unit owners, so residents pay their own electricity and gas consumption on top of common charges. In 2017 the board approved a special assessment of roughly $550,000 across all unit owners to fund exterior restoration and Local Law 87 work (the city's energy audit and retro-commissioning requirement). The 2018 statements also show façade waterproofing, HVAC, security and generator work. The condominium's governing documents do not require a reserve fund, and at the most recent year-end on file no reserve study had been commissioned. Buyers should ask for current reserves, the current budget and any open façade (FISP) cycle.
Nearby construction is also a diligence item. The city's borough-based jail program covers the existing detention complex at 275 Atlantic Avenue, across Smith Street. The plan replaces that facility with a larger building, so the corner faces a long demolition and construction period. Check the current schedule at offer stage.
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 closings 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 9, 2024 | 5D | $950,000 |
| Jun 21, 2024 | 10D | $1,050,000 |
| Oct 6, 2023 | 8C | $950,000 |
| Sep 19, 2022 | 10A | $895,000 |
| May 4, 2022 | 8D | $1,050,000 |
| Oct 21, 2021 | 8B | $1,087,000 |
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 3-00176-7501) 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.
Buying here? Condo closing costs with a mortgage typically run 3 to 6% of the price. See NYC co-op and condo closing costs, line by line.
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What to know if you’re buying
Underwrite full taxes. The 421-a benefit is gone. The current tax bill is the real number; anything from an older listing or budget may still reflect the exemption.
Read the commercial side of the regime. Ask how common charges are split between residential and commercial units, who controls the commercial votes, and whether any disputes with commercial owners are open.
Ask about assessments and reserves. A large exterior assessment was levied in 2017, and the governing documents require no reserve. Get the latest audited statements and board minutes.
Parking is not a residential amenity. The garage is a separately owned commercial unit. Any space comes by arrangement with its operator, not with the apartment.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with location and exposure. Floors 5 and up start above the hotel base, and upper-floor lines open over the brownstone blocks to the south and east.
Answer the tax question first. Buyers who compare against abated new construction will ask. Present the current full tax bill and common charges together so the monthly number is clear from the start.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 87 Smith Street, also evaluate:
- 71 Smith Street — The Boerum, two blocks north; a later residences-over-hotel condominium on the same street
- 211 Schermerhorn Street — 48-unit new-construction condominium over retail nearby
- 319 Schermerhorn Street — The Nevins; mid-size Boerum Hill new construction
- 457 Atlantic Avenue — boutique residences-over-commercial condominium on the same corridor
- 120 Boerum Place — 1983 loft conversion two blocks west; the older condominium alternative
- 11 Hoyt Street — large-tower condominium to the north; a full-amenity comparison
- 230 Ashland Place — 108-unit new-construction condominium at the Fort Greene edge
More Boerum Hill buildings
- 58 Saint Marks Place — 2019 condominium by Isaac & Stern Architects
- 610 Warren Street — 2015 condominium by Isaac & Stern Architects
- 71 Smith Street (The Boerum), The residential entrance is 265 State Street — 2016 condominium
- 8 St. Marks Place, Brooklyn — 2015 condominium
- The Atlantic (457 Atlantic Avenue) — 2004 condominium
- Wyckoff House (88 Wyckoff Street) — 1905 condominium
The neighborhood
For the full neighborhood — its buildings, character, and market — read The Roebling Team Guide to Boerum Hill.
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.
Considering a move at The Smith?
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