At a glance
Firm: FirstService Residential (New York); a subsidiary of FirstService Corporation, a publicly traded company New York lineage: The New York business was built on Cooper Square Realty, a long-established Manhattan manager that became part of FirstService and was rebranded FirstService Residential in June 2013. Public accounts describe Cooper Square Realty becoming a FirstService subsidiary earlier (reported as 2003), with the 2013 change being the name-over — verify the specific dates if they matter to your diligence. Headquarters: FirstService Residential operates nationally; the New York regional office is in Manhattan Focus: Third-party residential management across cooperatives, condominiums, and rental buildings, with ancillary energy, insurance/risk, and financial-services lines Scale: FirstService Residential is described in public materials as the largest residential property manager in North America, and its New York operation as one of the largest in the city — reported figures include several thousand properties and well over a million residential units continent-wide, and hundreds of New York properties. Treat specific counts as reported figures that change over time. Official website (secondary): fsresidential.com/new-york · public contact page: fsresidential.com/new-york/contact-us
Who FirstService Residential is
FirstService Residential is the residential-management arm of FirstService Corporation, a publicly traded company, and by its own account the largest residential property manager in North America. Its New York presence is not a startup entrant but the continuation of Cooper Square Realty, a well-known Manhattan co-op and condo manager that was absorbed into FirstService and rebranded FirstService Residential in 2013. That lineage matters for diligence: older building documents, offering plans, or financial statements may still reference "Cooper Square Realty," and buyers should read those as the same management continuity rather than a different agent.
For a buyer or seller, FirstService is the clearest example in this section of a large, institutional, corporate-scaled manager. In practice that tends to mean standardized processes, centralized customer-care and financial-services infrastructure, and formal technology platforms for board packages, payments, and service requests — with the usual trade-off that the felt quality of service still comes down to the assigned property manager and the on-site staff at the specific building. Because the platform is national and the New York book is large, confirming who actually manages a given building day to day — and how responsive that team is — is more useful than the corporate brand alone.
Common diligence questions
These are questions a buyer, seller, or attorney should ask about any building — they are not judgments about how FirstService performs, which varies building to building.
- Board-package turnaround and application processing: What is the current typical timeline from a complete board or condo package to a decision or waiver, and what application, processing, or technology fees apply?
- Access to financials, reserve studies, and minutes: How quickly can a buyer's attorney obtain audited financial statements, the current budget, any reserve study, and recent minutes through FirstService's platform, and are there charges for the diligence package?
- Managing-agent responsiveness and staffing model: Who is the assigned property manager, and is the building served by on-site staff (resident manager, doorman, porters) or primarily off-site? What is the escalation path through the customer-care structure?
- Closing, waiver, and move-in handling: How are right-of-first-refusal waivers or board consents, closing coordination, and move-in scheduling handled, and what fees or deposits apply?
- Special assessments and capital projects: Are any assessments in effect or contemplated? What major capital projects (facade/Local Law 11, elevators, roof, mechanicals) are planned or underway, and how are they funded?
- Flip-tax administration: If the building has a transfer fee, how is it calculated and collected at closing, and who confirms the figure in advance?
- Certificate-of-insurance process: What are the building's COI requirements and turnaround for contractors, movers, and vendors, and how are alteration agreements administered?
The Roebling Team
We publish management-company profiles because the managing agent shapes much of the lived experience of ownership — how fast a board or condo package moves, how diligence documents are produced, and how capital projects and assessments are handled. FirstService's corporate scale and Cooper Square lineage both matter to that experience, and we bring building-specific context to every transaction rather than relying on the firm's name alone.
Buying or selling in a building managed by FirstService Residential? Request building-specific guidance →
Corey Cohen, Principal · The Roebling Team at Compass 646.939.7375 · c.cohen@compass.com
Management-company assignments, building policies, contacts and procedures can change. Buyers and sellers should verify current information with the building, managing agent, board materials, and counsel. This page reflects publicly available information and building records on file; The Roebling Team at Compass does not represent FirstService Residential. © 2026 The Roebling Team at Compass.