88 Withers Street (Element 88)
88 Withers Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211
BBL 3027427502 · BIN 3425960
- Year built
- 2019
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 33
- Floors
- 8
- Landmark
- No
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at Element 88 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.
Element 88 is recognizable before it is anything else. Zproekt gave the building a heavily textured concrete façade that drew architectural press coverage while it was under construction. Among the low-rise houses and standard North Brooklyn new construction around it, the building stands out, and the design is the first thing buyers and appraisers will mention.
Tax is the fact that matters most financially. The offering plan says no real estate tax abatement will be available, and the Department of Finance record agrees: there is no 421-a benefit and no 421-a(16) homeownership exemption on any lot, in any year on record. That matters in this submarket because Brooklyn condominiums of Element 88's vintage often carry live abatements. The 421-a(16) homeownership option, which Manhattan excluded, was available in Brooklyn. So Element 88 is often compared with buildings whose owners pay a fraction of the tax on similar apartments. The owners here have paid full taxes from day one. That makes the carrying cost higher than some competing buildings, but it also means there is no abatement expiry ahead: today's bill is not a teaser that ends later.
The rest of the structure is simple. A sponsor filed a plan in late 2017, closed the first apartments in April 2019, and sold all 33 residences within about eleven months. The building now has a dispersed owner base, four years of resale history, and a final certificate of occupancy since May 2023.
Architecture and unit composition
The building occupies a 125-by-100-foot corner lot and rises eight floors over a cellar. Apartments occupy the upper floors, with four penthouses at the top. The first floor holds the residential lobby and the gym, and the two commercial units have their own street entrances. Per listing records, the apartments have high ceilings, oversized windows and zoned ducted heating and cooling. Some residences have open terraces as limited common elements (outdoor space owned by the condominium but reserved for one unit). The plan notes that these terraces cannot legally be used as bedrooms or living rooms.
The largest shared amenity is outdoor: a 5,507-square-foot common recreation area on the second-floor setback, available to every owner. It is a large outdoor space for a 33-unit building and is the amenity that most sets Element 88 apart from its immediate competition. The gym, bike room, dog wash and car-charging station make up the rest of the program.
Parking and storage are sold separately from the apartments. There are 25 parking units (one, PS16, designated accessible under the plan) and 33 storage units, each with its own tax lot and deed. Many apartment buyers bought a space or a storage unit at the initial sale, but not all did. A holding entity took several parking and storage lots from the sponsor in 2020 and has been reselling them since. Whether a given apartment comes with parking or storage is a deed question, not a floor-plan question.
Building operations
The first-year budget in the plan (June 2019 to May 2020) was modest and carried a small labor line, consistent with a building run by a superintendent and a virtual-doorman system rather than a staffed desk. Buyers who expect a full-service building should confirm current staffing.
Two structural points affect the common-charge line:
- The commercial units carry 7.90% of common interest, and the plan allocates the costs of residential-only services entirely to the residential, parking and storage units. The plan's permitted commercial uses include medical and health facilities, clubs and restaurants. Ask what currently occupies the retail space and what is permitted there. The commercial lots have changed hands since the sponsor sale, and a restaurant or medical tenant affects the building differently.
- Water is on a single common meter and billed to the condominium. Gas is not separately charged to the residences. Electricity is metered by unit.
The plan capped sponsor voting control at three years after the first closing, and the sponsor has since sold out. The building now has a final certificate of occupancy, which removes a common financing obstacle for resale buyers. As in any building of this age, ask for the current budget, the reserve balance, any assessment history, and any open warranty or construction-defect items left over from the sponsor period.
Policy framework
Ownership form: Condominium. There is no board interview. Confirm how the right of first refusal is waived under the by-laws.
Pets: No pet restrictions per the offering plan. Confirm the current house rules.
Leasing, pied-à-terre, LLC and trust ownership: Permitted under the standard condominium framework, conditioned on the owner being current on common charges. Several apartments are held by single-purpose LLCs per ACRIS.
Washer/dryer: Permitted in every residence. Hookups are provided; the owner supplies the machines.
Parking and storage: Separately deeded units. Confirm what conveys.
Real estate taxes: No abatement, now or at any point. Underwrite the current bill for the specific lot.
Recent sales
The sponsor's sellout was fast. All 33 residences closed between April 2019 and March 2020, most of them in spring and summer 2019. The sponsor holds no residential inventory. On the fiscal 2027 roll, the 33 residences are held by 33 distinct owners. The commercial units have also been sold, one in 2021 and the other in 2024. Resale activity has been steady for a building this size and was heaviest in 2025.
Element 88 should be priced against the newer North Williamsburg and Greenpoint boutique condominiums, and two adjustments apply. The first is the tax line. Against abated competition, a price-per-foot comparison makes Element 88 look expensive. On a true monthly carrying-cost basis the gap narrows, and it narrows further as competing abatements phase out. The second is the design. The façade and the 5,500-square-foot common deck are features comparable buildings do not have, and buyers either value them or they do not. Unit-level transaction history is maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 22, 2025 | PS22 | $1,362,500 |
| Jun 17, 2025 | PS19 | $1,185,000 |
| Jun 24, 2025 | PS6 | $1,815,000 |
| May 20, 2025 | PS4 | $1,950,000 |
| Sep 19, 2024 | 3C | $1,200,000 |
| Mar 26, 2024 | C2 | $1,125,000 |
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 3-02742-7502) 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.
At the recent median sale of $1.81M (4 sales since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $74,606 to close, or 4.1% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $18,150
- Mortgage recording tax: $26,204
- Title insurance: $8,167
- Attorneys, lender, building fees, reserves and filings: $22,084
Assumes a resale (the seller pays transfer taxes), a $4,500 attorney fee and a mortgage on the rest.
Keep up with Element 88 and its market
The Roebling Report, monthly: Manhattan sales data and analysis, including buildings likeElement 88. Unsubscribe anytime.
We’ll use your email for The Roebling Report and note your interest in this building. See our privacy policy.
What to know if you’re buying
The tax bill is the real bill. There is no abatement to expire, and none to count on. Compare buildings on True Monthly Carrying Cost, not on price per foot.
Confirm parking and storage by deed. Both are separate tax lots. Not every apartment was sold with them.
Ask about the commercial units. Their use and their share of common charges affect the building. Find out what is there now and what the plan permits.
Check the terrace rules. Open terraces are limited common elements that cannot be enclosed or used as living space under the plan.
What to know if you’re selling
Present the tax position as stability. A buyer comparing abated buildings should see that your number will not jump later. Put the current bill and a carrying-cost comparison in the listing package.
Lead with the design and the deck. The façade and the common outdoor space are what no competing building has. Photograph both.
Package the parking and storage clearly. If a space or storage unit conveys, list it as its own value line with its own lot number.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering Element 88, also evaluate:
- 415 Leonard Street: 2008 condominium a few blocks north on Leonard Street; an older building whose 421-a has now expired
- 147 Hope Street: 38-residence Williamsburg condominium with underground parking and no tax abatement; the closest like-for-like
- 215 North 10th Street (NX): 31-unit Williamsburg condominium with no abatement and a design-led architect
- 110 North 1st Street: 38-residence Northside condominium with separately deeded parking and storage lots
- 171 Calyer Street: 21-unit Greenpoint condominium with no abatement and separately deeded parking, storage and retail
- 65 Eckford Street: 22-apartment condominium near McCarren Park, carrying full taxes
- 28 Herbert Street: 16-residence Passive House condominium on the Greenpoint–Williamsburg border; the boutique new-build alternative
- 20 Bayard Street (The Bayard Views): the park-facing tower a few blocks north; the older, full-service comparison
More Williamsburg buildings
- 764 Metropolitan Avenue — 2017 condominium
- 80 Metropolitan Avenue — 2008 condominium
- 80 Roebling Street — 2006 condominium by Karl Fischer Architects
- 90 North 5th Street — 2010 condominium
- 98 Havemeyer Street (Williamsburgh Mews) — 2002 condominium
- Austin Nichols House (184 Kent Avenue) — 1914 condominium
The neighborhood
For the full neighborhood — its buildings, character, and market — read The Roebling Team Guide to Williamsburg.
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 Element 88?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.