95 Lexington Avenue (Lofts on Lex)

The building is five stories over a cellar, with a mezzanine level, on a lot of about 5,230 square feet. The plan classifies the construction as non-fireproof, which is normal for a converted masonry building of this age, and the building is fully sprinklered. The plan's description of the finished building varies: parts of it call it newly constructed, while the tax sections and the city filings describe a conversion of existing structures. These descriptions may refer to different scopes and milestones; reconcile the actual work with approved plans, occupancy records and the offering plan.

Floors two, three and four repeat the same four-unit plan, with units of about 1,010 to 1,210 square feet. The fifth floor has three larger units, 5A, 5C and 5D, of about 1,500 square feet, each with two terraces. 5B is about 1,020 square feet.

The first floor is where the building differs from its neighbors. Units 1B, 1C and 1D include below-grade recreation and storage rooms, which is why the Department of Finance carries them at about 1,890 to 2,520 square feet. The plan says plainly that these rooms may not be used as bedrooms, and that doing so could bring a violation against the building that the owner would have to cure. Buyers should read listing descriptions of these units with that in mind. 1C also has a garden and a balcony, and 1D a balcony.

Each apartment has its own boiler and hot-water heater, per the plan's budget, so heat and hot water are paid by the owner rather than through common charges. Kitchens were delivered with a refrigerator, dishwasher, microwave and gas range. Department of Finance square footage is an assessment figure, not a measured survey.

Taxes. The conversion received J-51 benefits, the city program for residential rehabilitation and conversion. The Department of Finance carries two separate benefits on all 20 units:

• The J-51 exemption. This keeps part of each unit's assessed value at its pre-conversion level. Base year 2007, benefit start 2014/15, 14-year term. The offering plan describes the same structure: ten years of full exemption, then four years of phase-out at 20% a year. The profile cites a 2027/28 tentative-roll amount about half the 2026/27 amount; verify the roll’s publication date, status and unit coverage before relying on that comparison. The profile identifies 2027/28 as the final exemption year from the Department of Finance term. Confirm that schedule against the current exemption notice and bills; ending this exemption does not establish the final tax payable or eliminate every other possible benefit.
• The J-51 abatement. This is a credit against the tax bill, based on certified conversion costs. The Department of Finance lists a benefit window from July 2013 to June 2033, but the credit applied to the unit bills has been zero since the second quarter of fiscal 2025. The benefit window is still open, but the credit has been used up.

Listing records describe the benefit as a 421-a abatement ending in 2028. The end date is roughly right. The program is wrong: this is J-51, per the Department of Finance and the offering plan.

Façade. A 2018 masonry façade job, filed by a registered architect, was signed off by the Department of Buildings. At five stories, the building is below the Local Law 11 threshold of more than six stories, so it is not on the city's five-year façade inspection cycle.

Governance. Recorded initial sponsor conveyances concluded in 2013; those deeds do not establish when board control transferred. Confirm governance from the governing documents and current board records. Ask for the current budget, the most recent financial statements and the reserve balance before contract; none were on file for this review.

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 $1,122/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 4.3% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-01967-7503; each condominium apartment is its own tax lot). 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.

Underwrite the current tax bill and scheduled changes. The profile identifies 2027/28 as the last J-51 exemption year and reports no recent abatement credit. Confirm the exemption schedule and all current benefits on the unit’s notices and bills; compare older tax figures with the current bill and model the stated July 2028 change without assuming the ultimate tax amount.

Count bedrooms the way the plan does. The below-grade rooms in 1B, 1C and 1D are not legal bedrooms. Appraisers and lenders will follow the certificate of occupancy, not the listing.

Budget for your own heating system. Each unit has its own boiler and water heater. Ask for the age and service records of the equipment in the unit you are buying.

Ask what the board has documented. The plan and by-laws on file do not set out a pet policy, a right of first refusal or transfer fees. Get the current house rules and any by-law amendments from the managing agent.

Get ahead of the tax question. Buyers will find the J-51 phase-out. Put the current bill and the 2028 step in the listing materials rather than letting it surface during the buyer's diligence.

Describe the lower level accurately. Recreation and storage rooms are an asset. Calling them bedrooms creates a problem at appraisal.

If you're considering 95 Lexington Avenue, also evaluate:

• 105 Lexington Avenue — the 32-unit loft conversion next door; a separate condominium with its own J-51 schedule
• 264 Cumberland Street (The Sanctuary) — a converted chapel in Fort Greene; the other church-to-condominium comparison nearby
• 75 Greene Avenue — a 22-unit adaptive-reuse condominium in a former institutional building in Fort Greene
• 10 Quincy Street — a 46-unit, four-story Clinton Hill industrial conversion
• 970 Kent Avenue — a large industrial loft conversion on the same Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant seam
• 524 Halsey Street — a 31-unit Bedford-Stuyvesant adaptive-reuse condominium
• 110 Clifton Place — a 1920s industrial building in Clinton Hill converted to a cooperative
• 315 Gates Avenue — a 2009 new-construction condominium nearby; the new-build alternative