The Shinnecock, 939 Union Street
939 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215
BBL 3010647501 · BIN 3349056
- Year built
- 2003
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 22
- Floors
- 16
- Landmark
- No
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Shinnecock 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.
The Shinnecock is a 16-story building on a 50-foot lot, set between 1880s brownstones and the 1920s apartment houses of Plaza Street. The prewar apartment houses around Grand Army Plaza are largely cooperatives. Its immediate neighbors on the block, 925 Union Street and the three Plaza Street West buildings, are all co-ops on the Department of Finance roll. That makes The Shinnecock a condominium in a co-op setting, which matters to buyers who want condominium financing, subletting flexibility or a purchase through an entity without a co-op board.
Its landmark status is the most misreported fact about it. Listing records put it inside the Park Slope Historic District. The LPC's building database does not. The lot sits in a gap between the original 1973 district and the 2016 extension. The gap was contested when the building went up. Per the offering plan, the owners of two abutting apartment buildings sued the LPC and the sponsor in March 2001, arguing that the Commission should have reviewed the project. A trial court agreed in April 2001 and halted work. The Appellate Division stayed that order in May 2001 and let construction proceed. The plan pages we read do not report the appeal's outcome. The building was completed, and the lot remains undesignated today.
The tax position is simple: the 421-a benefit ran out after 2019/20, and every apartment pays full taxes.
The building's size drives its costs. Twenty-two apartments carry a staffed lobby. In 2022, payroll, payroll taxes and benefits made up about half of total spending, and the condominium spent more than it collected.
Architecture and unit composition
The building fills a 50-by-90-foot lot on Union Street and rises about 145 feet. The height came partly from air rights. The offering plan describes a contiguous parcel to the north, 40 feet on Berkeley Place and 100 feet deep, whose development rights the sponsor secured under an air rights agreement. On today's tax map the only Berkeley Place lot on the block with those dimensions is 274–276 Berkeley Place, an 1890–91 house inside the historic district. The link between that lot and the rights, and between those rights and the LPC dispute, is our reading of the plan and the map; the plan pages on file do not name the lot.
The unit plan changes with height. Two townhouse units sit at the base. The third through ninth floors carry two apartments each. Above the ninth floor the plan shifts to one apartment per floor, designated 10, 11, 12 and 14, and then to two penthouses. Terraces, roof decks and patios are limited common elements assigned to specific apartments.
Heating and cooling run through packaged terminal units with hydronic coils in each apartment, fed from central plant; domestic hot water comes from a central gas-fired heater, per the plan.
Building operations
Taxes. Under the statute's 15-year schedule, the benefit ran at the full rate for 11 years, through 2015/16, then stepped down 20 points a year and ended after 2019/20. The Department of Finance record matches: the exemption is present through 2019/20 and zero from 2020/21. Apartments have carried full Class 2 taxes since 2020/21.
Finances. The audited statements for 2022 on file show common-charge revenue of about $452,000 against expenses of about $514,000, an operating shortfall of about $45,000. Cash at year-end was about $186,000, and the statements report no dedicated replacement reserve. Payroll, payroll taxes and employee benefits totaled about $257,000. The supplemental schedule shows boiler repairs of about $43,000. Ask for the 2023 through 2025 statements, the current budget, and whether common charges have been raised or an assessment levied since 2022.
Sponsor position. The sponsor sold the apartments in 2004 and 2005 and holds nothing on the current roll. The declaration was amended in 2018; ask what changed.
Capital and compliance. At 16 stories and about 22 years old, the building is on the city's five-year Local Law 11 façade cycle. Boilers, elevators, roofing and the in-unit terminal units are the systems to ask about. With no replacement reserve at the end of 2022, any major project is likely to be funded by an assessment or a common-charge increase.
Recent sales
The Shinnecock trades as a small, staffed, mid-2000s condominium near Grand Army Plaza. Benchmark it on a dollars-per-square-foot basis against the other condominium stock at the north end of Park Slope, and on a monthly-cost basis against the co-ops on Plaza Street and Prospect Park West, which are the realistic alternatives. With 22 apartments, resale activity is thin, often one or two sales a year, so pricing rests on very few prints. The upper floors, with their single-apartment layouts and the building's height, trade as a different product from the two-per-floor lines below. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 20, 2024 | 8B | $1,795,000 |
| Aug 2, 2022 | 9B | $1,860,000 |
| Oct 8, 2019 | 3B | $1,450,000 |
| Dec 6, 2018 | 8B | $1,612,000 |
| Dec 11, 2017 | 14 | $2,450,000 |
| Sep 12, 2017 | 10 | $2,325,000 |
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 3-01064-7501) 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
Read the finances first. A 2022 operating shortfall and no dedicated reserve are the facts to test. Ask for the current budget and recent statements before you price.
Confirm the landmark status yourself. The lot is not designated. That means no LPC review of exterior changes here, and no protection for the building's own façade or setting.
Check the pet rule against your plans. Pets need board consent, and tenants may not have them at all. That limits the rental market for an investor.
Expect a right of first refusal. The board can match an accepted offer. In practice, condominium boards rarely exercise it, but the waiver step belongs in the closing timeline.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the condominium structure. In a co-op-dominated submarket, condominium ownership is the differentiator.
Have the financials ready. Buyers' attorneys will ask about the reserve. A current budget and a clear answer on any assessment shorten diligence.
Correct the landmark claim. Do not market the building as inside the historic district. The LPC's record says otherwise, and buyers' counsel will check.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Shinnecock, also evaluate:
- 1 Prospect Park West — the 2019 condominium conversion of a 1920s clubhouse at Grand Army Plaza; the closest condominium alternative
- 39 Plaza Street West — the 1926 Rosario Candela co-op on the same block, in Extension II
- 1 Plaza Street West — the 1927 co-op tower on the plaza
- 9 Prospect Park West — a 1928–29 co-op facing the park
- 35 Prospect Park West — a 1929 co-op built as a cooperative
- 40 Prospect Park West — an early-1940s co-op on the park
- 50 Plaza Street East — a 1925 co-op across the plaza
- 140 Eighth Avenue — an interwar courtyard co-op a few blocks south
More Park Slope buildings
- 904 Union Street — 1910 co-op
- 910 Union Street (Park Union) — 1931 condominium
- Baltic Park Slope (613 Baltic Street) — 2016 condominium
- The Park Pavilion, 372 15th Street — 2005 condominium
- The Vue, 162 16th Street — 2008 condominium
- Timber House (670 Union Street) — 2018 condominium
The neighborhood
For the full neighborhood — its buildings, character, and market — read The Roebling Team Guide to Park Slope.
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 Shinnecock?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.