90 Morton Street

The building is twelve stories and roughly 150 feet tall, retaining the industrial frame of the 1911 printing house. The conversion reconfigured the upper floors into a succession of terraced penthouses — the offering plan's stack runs to PH9A, PH9B, PH10A, PH10B, PH11A and PH11B — while the lower and middle floors carry a conventional lettered plan.

The residence lines are markedly different in scale and should be understood as three separate products in one building. The A and B lines are the large residences, carrying percentages of common interest around 2.9 to 3.3 percent each. The D line is mid-sized, at roughly 1.8 percent. And the C and E lines are studios, at roughly 0.24 to 0.27 percent of common interest each — an order of magnitude smaller than the A line. The penthouses sit above all of them, with PH10B at roughly 4.7 percent. Anyone comparing a common charge or a tax figure between two units at this building without checking which line they are in will draw the wrong conclusion.

DOB's file records a stair tower installation in 2019, a needle beam in 2021, heavy-duty sidewalk shed and pipe scaffold permits in 2021, sprinkler, standpipe, emergency generator and boiler work through 2022, an auxiliary radio communication system in 2022, and a builder's pavement plan for the full 203-foot frontage. All are signed off, and the master alteration closed out in March 2023.

This is the most consequential diligence item at the building, and it is disclosed by the sponsor itself in the Tenth Amendment to the offering plan, filed in 2021 and on file in The Roebling Research Library.

Seven residences — 2C, 2E, 3C, 3E, 4C, 5C and 6C — were withheld from the original offering. They were not offered because a Declaration of Restrictions made in July 2008 by prior owners of the assembled site, in connection with the City Council's approval of the rezoning of the property through ULURP, provided that a proportion of residential units developed on the property would be "Affordable Units": rentable only at rents affordable to households at no more than 80 percent of area median income as published by HPD, and conveyable only individually or as a group to an operator of affordable housing acceptable to HPD.

In the Tenth Amendment the sponsor set out its position at length and offered the seven studios for sale without any affordability requirement. Its reasoning, in summary: the declaration was never recorded and therefore gave no constructive notice; the version in the sponsor's possession bears handwritten text suggesting it is not final; the restrictions were never incorporated into the City Planning Commission's resolution or the City Council's resolution approving the rezoning; the mortgage lender whose interest would have been affected neither signed nor waived; and title passed through a foreclosure of that superior mortgage, which the sponsor's advice was had extinguished the declaration as a burden on the property. The sponsor further noted that the declaration defined the burdened "Property" as four tax lots collectively without allocating responsibility among them, that those lots have since been subdivided into a large number of separate ownerships, and that to the sponsor's knowledge no other building on the original site was complying.

The sponsor disclosed all of this as a special risk of the offering, and the disclosure is candid about what it does not resolve. Enforcement rights under the declaration rest only with the City Council or Community Board 2, and no other party may enforce it. If it were ever held enforceable, the sponsor made no representation as to what would be required — a binding determination could, on the sponsor's own account, mean that studio owners were obliged to rent in perpetuity at a deep discount to market, or to sell to an HPD-approved affordable-housing operator. The amendment expressly advises purchasers to raise the declaration with their title insurer, because it may affect the issuance of a policy or require endorsements, and to raise it with their lender, because financing a studio unit may be more difficult.

What this means in practice. For the twenty-eight residences outside the C and E lines, this is background. For the seven studios, it is the central question in the file, and it is why those units traded at prices far removed from the rest of the building. Any buyer of a C-line or E-line residence should read the Tenth Amendment in full, obtain a current title commitment naming the declaration, and confirm the lender's position in writing before going hard on a contract. Any owner of one should keep the amendment with the unit file.

There is no 421-a and no J-51 at 90 Morton Street. Two lines of evidence support this. The offering plan's Schedule A of unsold units, as amended in 2021, sets monthly real estate taxes at close to monthly common charges on every line — roughly $3,640 to $3,720 in monthly taxes against roughly $4,250 to $4,340 in monthly common charges on the A line, and roughly $3,260 to $3,330 against roughly $3,810 to $3,890 on the B line. That ratio is the signature of a fully taxed building; an abated building shows a nominal tax line that steps up over time. Second, the timing and form of the project foreclose the alternatives: 421-a in the relevant period required new construction or substantial rehabilitation with an affordability component, 421-g applied only to Lower Manhattan, and 485-x post-dates the building entirely.

The consequence for a buyer is that the tax figure is stable and permanent. There is no expiry year to model, no step schedule, and no cliff — but equally no discount, and the tax line is a full share of the monthly carry from the first day of ownership. Pull the current tax bill for the specific unit and model it with the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator.

The 2021 Schedule A gives the shape of the charge across lines: roughly $4,250 to $4,340 a month on the A line, roughly $3,810 to $3,890 on the B line, roughly $2,364 on the D line, roughly $320 to $350 on the studios, and roughly $6,250 on PH10B. Those are plan figures from 2021 and will have moved.

What the common charges actually cover is not itemised in the amendments reviewed for this profile, and it matters more than usual here because of the amenity programme. A 64-foot indoor pool, a spa and a fitness centre carry real plant, real staffing and real replacement cycles, and thirty-five owners carry all of it. Request the current budget, the most recent audited financial statements, the reserve balance, and confirmation of whether any assessment is live or contemplated. Ask specifically how the pool plant is reserved for.

The building's right of first refusal is the standard condominium mechanism; the leasing and sublet terms sit in the declaration, by-laws and house rules. Confirm each with the managing agent rather than assuming West Village condominium defaults.

Recent sales

Recent closings 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. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $3,441/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. Floor-adjusted means each sale is restated to a constant mix of floors, so the figure can differ from the plain median of the sales listed above. Median listing discount 0.0% from the last ask.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-00602-7502). 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 from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.

If it is a C or E line, read the Tenth Amendment first. The 2008 private declaration is disclosed as a special risk and touches title insurance and financing. This is not a footnote; it is the first item in the file.

The tax line is permanent. No abatement, no step schedule, no expiry — and no discount. Model the full tax from day one.

Interrogate the amenity carry. The pool, spa and fitness plant are the building's differentiator and its largest recurring cost. Get the budget, the reserves and the replacement schedule.

Check the environmental designation. The property carries an E-designation from the 2008 rezoning. Confirm the compliance position on the current record.

Verify the line before comparing anything. Common interest at this building ranges from roughly 0.24 percent to roughly 4.7 percent. A charge or tax figure means nothing without knowing the line.

The conversion signed off in 2023. For a building occupied from 2019, that is a long tail. Confirm the certificate of occupancy status and that no punch-list items remain open against the sponsor.

Lead with the pool and the plate. A 64-foot indoor lap pool in a thirty-five-unit West Village conversion is genuinely scarce, and the 1911 industrial frame produces plates that newer construction in the neighbourhood does not.

Correct the landmark record. The building is frequently described as sitting inside the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension. It is not designated, and a seller who says so plainly avoids a buyer discovering an error mid-diligence.

If you are selling a studio, get ahead of the declaration. A seller who supplies the Tenth Amendment, a current title commitment and a lender's position converts the building's most awkward disclosure into a solved problem.

Arrive with the financials. Budget, audited statements and reserve position answer the amenity-carry question before it becomes an objection.

Closing is condominium-paced. Right of first refusal rather than board approval; 30 to 45 days is typical.

If you're considering 90 Morton Street, also evaluate:

• 601 Washington Street — same block, same land assembly and same rezoning; a far smaller condominium
• 111 Leroy Street — also on block 602; the third building descended from the same assembly
• 1 Morton Square — the immediate Morton corridor peer, and a larger full-service condominium
• 160 Leroy Street — nearby far-West-Village trophy condominium with a comparable amenity tier
• 150 Charles Street — the closest peer for amenity depth, including a pool, at a higher price tier
• The Shephard (275 West 10th Street) — prewar West Village conversion of similar boutique scale
• 400 West 12th Street — Superior Ink; the West Village conversion-and-new-build hybrid peer
• 603 Washington Street — small former-industrial loft cooperative directly nearby; the co-op alternative
• 55 Morton Street — Morton Street prewar alternative at much smaller scale
• 32 Morton Street — small Morton Street building; the boutique low-density alternative