Sell Your Property in Boerum Hill
We Buy Brownstones, Row Houses & Development Sites in Boerum Hill
From landmarked Greek Revival row houses on Pacific Street to mixed-use buildings on Atlantic Avenue and Smith Street, Red Hook Development buys Boerum Hill property directly, as-is and off-market.
- All-cash, as-is purchases: tenants, violations and estates welcome
- Landmarked and non-landmarked buildings, including LPC-sensitive projects
- Confidential, off-market process with no public listing
- A clear written offer and a closing on your timeline
Get Your Boerum Hill Offer
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Quick Answers
Who Buys Property in Boerum Hill?
Who buys property in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn?
Red Hook Development buys property in Boerum Hill directly from owners. We purchase brownstones, brick row houses, small multifamily walk-ups, mixed-use buildings on Atlantic Avenue and Smith Street, rent-stabilized buildings and development sites, typically all-cash and as-is. There is no listing, no open houses and no repairs required before you sell.
Because we are a Brooklyn developer rather than a retail buyer, we underwrite the things that scare off conventional buyers in Boerum Hill: landmark restrictions inside the historic district, occupied units, open DOB or HPD violations, estate and probate situations, and buildings that need a full gut renovation.
Who buys brownstones and row houses in Boerum Hill?
We do. Boerum Hill’s housing stock is mostly mid-nineteenth-century row houses, many of them brick rather than brownstone, plus a good number of brownstone-fronted Italianate houses. We buy single-family, two-family and multi-unit row houses in any condition, from move-in ready homes to houses that have been rooming houses for decades and need everything.
If the house sits inside the Boerum Hill Historic District or its 2018 extension, we factor Landmarks Preservation Commission review into our plans so you do not have to sort that out before selling.
What is my Boerum Hill building worth?
Value in Boerum Hill depends on the lot size, the zoning, whether the building is landmarked, how many units are rent-regulated, the physical condition and any unused development rights. A twenty-foot row house on Dean Street and a corner mixed-use building on Atlantic Avenue are valued in very different ways.
Send us the address and whatever you know about rents, condition and occupancy. We review the zoning, the landmark status and comparable activity in the neighborhood and come back with a written, no-obligation offer. We respond within one business day.
Can I sell a Boerum Hill building with tenants or rent-stabilized units?
Yes. We regularly look at occupied buildings, including those with rent-stabilized tenants, month-to-month occupants, family members living in a unit or long-term commercial tenants on the ground floor. You do not need to deliver the building vacant and we do not ask you to remove anyone before closing.
Rent-stabilized buildings are valued on their real, regulated income and their long-term potential, not on market rents. Our rent-stabilized building page explains how we approach these sales.
Do you buy development sites, lots and estate properties in Boerum Hill?
Yes. We buy vacant lots, parking lots, garages, one-story commercial buildings and underbuilt properties anywhere in Boerum Hill, especially along Atlantic Avenue, Third Avenue, Fourth Avenue and the blocks near the Gowanus edge. We also buy inherited houses from estates, including properties still moving through probate or administration.
For estate sales, we work alongside the executor or administrator and their attorney so the timing lines up with the court process. We can typically close on your timeline once the fiduciary has authority to sell.
What We Buy in Boerum Hill
Boerum Hill Properties We’re Actively Buying
Greek Revival & Italianate Row Houses
The heart of Boerum Hill is block after block of three- and four-story row houses built from roughly the 1840s through the 1870s on State, Pacific, Dean, Bergen and Wyckoff Streets. We buy them in any condition, single-family or multi-unit, renovated or untouched for decades, and we understand how landmark rules affect what can be done to them.
Brownstone Two- and Three-Family Homes
Many Boerum Hill houses were long ago divided into two, three or four apartments, sometimes with legal paperwork that lags behind reality. We buy these as they are, with owner units, tenant units, mismatched certificates of occupancy or old conversions, and we sort out the legal and physical issues after closing.
Walk-Up Multifamily Buildings
Boerum Hill has a meaningful number of four- to twenty-unit brick walk-ups, often on corners and avenue-adjacent blocks near Nevins Street, Third Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. We buy them occupied, including buildings with rent-stabilized units, deferred capital work and open violations, and we value them on real income.
Mixed-Use Buildings on Atlantic Avenue & Smith Street
Retail below and apartments above is the classic Boerum Hill commercial building. We buy mixed-use properties along Atlantic Avenue, Smith Street, Court Street’s edge and Hoyt Street with existing storefront leases, vacant retail, tired residential floors or anything in between, and we can underwrite long-term commercial tenants in place.
Development Sites & Underbuilt Lots
Garages, one-story taxpayers, parking lots and low-rise industrial buildings near Third and Fourth Avenues and the Gowanus border can carry significant unused floor area. We buy vacant land and underbuilt sites, including those affected by the 2021 Gowanus rezoning nearby and the citywide City of Yes for Housing Opportunity changes.
Estate, Distressed & Problem Properties
Inherited houses, buildings with HPD or DOB violations, fire-damaged shells, vacate orders, partnership disputes and properties with title complications are all things we review. If a Boerum Hill property has been hard to sell, refinance or even insure, it is still worth a conversation with a developer that buys as-is.
Housing stock
Boerum Hill’s Row Houses: What We Buy and Why It Matters
Boerum Hill is one of Brooklyn’s oldest row-house neighborhoods. Most of its houses were built between about the 1840s and the 1870s, when the area was developing as a residential district just south of downtown Brooklyn. The name itself is newer, coined in the 1960s after the colonial-era Boerum family farm, but the buildings are the real thing: Greek Revival and Italianate row houses, many in red brick with brownstone trim, others fully brownstone-fronted, typically three or four stories on lots around twenty to twenty-five feet wide.
That mix shapes how we buy. A brick Greek Revival house on State Street with original details is a different project from an Italianate brownstone on Bergen Street that was cut into five units in the 1950s. Both are worth buying; they simply need different plans.
What we commonly see
- Single-family and two-family row houses with original stoops, cornices and interior details
- Former rooming houses with many small units and old, inconsistent paperwork
- Houses with structural issues behind the facade: settled floors, failing rear walls, old roofs
- Row houses held in a family for generations with little updating
We buy every one of these as-is. You do not need to restore a parlor floor, legalize a basement unit or clear out a lifetime of belongings before selling to us.
Landmarks
The Boerum Hill Historic District and Its 2018 Extension
A large share of Boerum Hill is landmarked. The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the original Boerum Hill Historic District in 1973, and in 2018 it designated a substantial extension that roughly doubled the number of protected buildings in the neighborhood, covering additional blocks of Pacific, Dean and Bergen Streets and nearby frontages.
Landmark status changes what an owner, or a buyer, can do. Facade changes, rooftop additions, rear-yard extensions and window replacements generally require LPC review and a permit, and visible rooftop or rear additions can take time to approve. Many retail buyers do not want to deal with that process. Many developers avoid it entirely.
We take a different view. Landmarked row houses in Boerum Hill are some of the most desirable homes in Brooklyn once they are properly restored, and we are comfortable planning work that respects LPC guidelines. That means we can make a real offer on a landmarked house that needs a full renovation, including houses with unpermitted work, failing facades or non-compliant windows that would need correction.
If you are not sure whether your building is inside the historic district, send us the address. We will check the designation, explain what it means for the property and factor it into our offer. For specific questions about your rights as a landmarked owner, an attorney or the LPC itself is the right source.
Zoning
Zoning, Rezonings and Development Potential in Boerum Hill
Zoning in Boerum Hill is varied. Much of the row-house core is mapped for low-rise, contextual residential development that matches the existing scale, while the edges along Atlantic Avenue, Fourth Avenue and the area near downtown allow larger buildings and commercial uses. The 2004 Downtown Brooklyn rezoning raised density just to the north, and the 2021 Gowanus Neighborhood Plan rezoned large areas to the south and east, putting several Boerum Hill-adjacent blocks next to new, much higher-density districts.
In December 2024 the City Council adopted City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, the citywide zoning overhaul. It eliminated parking mandates for new housing in much of Brooklyn, added a Universal Affordability Preference that allows extra floor area when affordable units are included in medium- and high-density districts, and loosened rules on conversions and accessory dwelling units. For some Boerum Hill lots, especially on wider streets and avenues, those changes increase what can be built.
Properties with the most upside
- Underbuilt lots on Atlantic, Third and Fourth Avenues
- Corner buildings with unused floor area
- Garages and one-story commercial buildings near Nevins Street and the Gowanus edge
- Larger assemblages that combine adjacent lots
We run the zoning on every property we review, including floor area ratio, height limits, landmark constraints and any applicable bonuses, so our offer reflects what the site can actually become.
Regulated housing
Selling a Rent-Stabilized or 421-a Building in Boerum Hill
Boerum Hill’s walk-ups and older multi-unit row houses frequently include rent-stabilized apartments. Since the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, owners of these buildings have had far fewer ways to raise rents to cover rising taxes, insurance and repairs. Many landlords who bought or inherited stabilized buildings years ago now find the numbers no longer work.
We buy rent-stabilized buildings in Boerum Hill with tenants in place. We underwrite actual registered rents, actual expenses and the real cost of bringing the building up to standard, and we do not ask you to deliver vacancies. Our page on selling a rent-stabilized building walks through how we approach these properties.
The neighborhood also has newer buildings that were developed with the 421-a tax exemption. The 421-a program expired for new projects in 2022 and was succeeded by 485-x in 2024, but existing 421-a buildings still carry their regulatory agreements, affordability requirements and benefit schedules. If you own one and want to sell, we review the remaining benefit period and obligations. See our 421-a building page for more.
Regulated-building sales can raise tax and legal questions, so we always recommend involving your attorney and tax advisor early.
Where we buy
Streets and Pockets of Boerum Hill We Focus On
Boerum Hill sits between Downtown Brooklyn to the north, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens to the west, Gowanus to the south and Park Slope and Fort Greene across Fourth and Flatbush Avenues. We buy across all of it.
- Residential row-house blocks: State, Schermerhorn, Pacific, Dean, Bergen and Wyckoff Streets
- North-south streets: Smith, Hoyt, Bond, Nevins and Third Avenue
- Commercial corridors: Atlantic Avenue’s antique-and-boutique strip and the Smith Street restaurant row
- Avenue and edge sites: Fourth Avenue, Flatbush Avenue’s southern frontage and the blocks approaching the Gowanus Canal
Transit is a large part of Boerum Hill’s appeal. The F and G stop at Bergen Street, the A, C and G stop at Hoyt-Schermerhorn, the 2, 3, 4 and 5 stop at Nevins Street, and the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center hub is a short walk east. Proximity to those stations matters for valuing both houses and development sites, and we account for it.
Why owners sell
Common Reasons Boerum Hill Owners Sell to a Developer
Every sale is personal, but certain situations come up again and again in Boerum Hill:
- An inherited row house that siblings want to sell rather than co-own
- A long-held rental building where rising costs now exceed regulated rents
- Deferred maintenance: roofs, facades, boilers, rear walls and sidewalks that need major money
- Open DOB or HPD violations, stop-work orders or unfinished renovation permits
- A partnership or family split where one side wants out
- An owner who simply wants to sell quietly without a year of showings
In each case, the appeal of selling to a developer is the same: certainty. We buy as-is, so there is no repair list. We do not depend on a mortgage appraisal of a building that needs work. And because the process is confidential, your tenants, neighbors and the rest of the market do not need to know the property is for sale.
Selling to us is not the right answer for every owner. A fully renovated, vacant, non-landmarked single-family house may do well on the open market. We will tell you honestly if we think that is the better route.
Options
Selling to a Developer vs. Listing vs. Developing Yourself
Owners of Boerum Hill property generally have three options, and each has trade-offs.
Listing with a broker
A traditional listing can reach the widest pool of buyers and works best for renovated, vacant, easily financed homes. It also means public exposure, showings, inspection negotiations and the risk that a buyer’s financing or appraisal falls through, which is common with buildings that need work or carry regulated tenants.
Developing it yourself
Owners of development sites sometimes consider building on their own. That path requires architects, expediters, LPC or DOB approvals, construction financing, contractors and years of carrying costs. It can be rewarding, but it is a business in itself.
Selling directly to Red Hook Development
A direct sale trades some of that upside for simplicity: no repairs, no showings, no financing contingency and a closing on your timeline. You can learn more on our sell your property page or see the full range of buildings on what we buy.
Process
How Selling Your Boerum Hill Property to Us Works
Our process is designed to be simple and private.
- Contact us. Share the address and any basics: unit count, occupancy, rents, condition and your goals.
- We review. We check zoning, landmark status, building records, violations and comparable activity in Boerum Hill.
- We visit if needed. A walkthrough is scheduled around your tenants and your calendar.
- Written offer. You receive a clear written offer with terms, typically all-cash and as-is.
- Close on your timeline. Your attorney and ours handle the contract, and we can typically close on your timeline.
We respond within one business day. There is no obligation, and everything you share stays confidential.
Market context
Boerum Hill: A Neighborhood Between Brownstone Brooklyn and Downtown
Few Brooklyn neighborhoods sit at such a useful crossroads. Boerum Hill keeps the quiet, tree-lined row-house character of classic brownstone Brooklyn, while Atlantic Avenue, Smith Street and the nearby downtown towers give it shops, restaurants and transit that rival anywhere in the borough. The arrival of new residential buildings along Fourth Avenue, the growth of Downtown Brooklyn and the rezoning of Gowanus have all added pressure and interest at the neighborhood’s edges.
For owners, that means demand from a wide range of buyers, from families seeking a single-family brownstone to developers looking for sites. It also means more complexity: landmark rules, rent regulation and shifting zoning all affect value. We handle that complexity on our side so selling stays straightforward on yours. If you own anywhere in Boerum Hill, or nearby in the Columbia Street Waterfront District or Clinton Hill, we would be glad to take a look.
FAQ
Boerum Hill Seller Questions
How fast can you close on a Boerum Hill property?
We set the closing date around your needs. Once we agree on terms and attorneys exchange contracts, the main variables are title work and any estate or entity paperwork. We can typically close on your timeline, whether you need to move quickly or want several months to plan.
Do I need to make repairs before selling my Boerum Hill house?
No. We buy as-is, including houses with leaking roofs, failing facades, old wiring, open violations or unfinished renovations. You do not need to clean out the property either. Our offer already accounts for the work the building needs.
Will you buy a landmarked house in the Boerum Hill Historic District?
Yes. Landmarked houses are a large part of the neighborhood and we are comfortable planning renovations that follow Landmarks Preservation Commission guidelines. Landmark status is factored into our review and offer rather than treated as a deal breaker.
Is my information kept confidential?
Yes. We do not list or advertise the properties we review. Your tenants, neighbors and the broader market do not need to know you are considering a sale, and we only share details with our attorneys and advisors as needed to complete the transaction.
Do you pay broker commissions?
When you sell directly to us there is no listing agreement, so you are not paying a listing commission on a direct sale. If you already work with a broker, we are happy to work with them too. Your attorney can explain the closing costs that apply to your specific situation.
Do you buy outside Boerum Hill?
Yes. We buy throughout Brooklyn, including Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Downtown Brooklyn. Visit our neighborhoods page to see all of the areas where we are actively buying.
Other Neighborhoods
We Also Buy Nearby
Boerum Hill borders some of Brooklyn’s most sought-after neighborhoods, and we buy brownstones, buildings and sites in all of them.
Own Property in Boerum Hill?
Find out what a developer will pay — privately, with no obligation. Call 718-500-3423 or email bklyn@redhookdevelopment.com.