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. The city filings govern.

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 exemption is already stepping down; on the 2027/28 tentative roll it is about half its 2026/27 amount. On the Department of Finance term, 2027/28 is the last year. From July 2028 owners pay the full assessed tax.
• 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. The condominium has been owner-governed since the sponsor sold out in 2013. 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

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 3-01967-7503) 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.

Underwrite the full tax bill. The J-51 exemption is in its last phase-out steps and ends after the 2027/28 tax year. The abatement credit is already exhausted. A seller's tax figures from a few years ago understate what you will pay, and the bill will rise again in July 2028.

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 burn-off. 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