We Buy Houses & Buildings in Arrochar, Staten Island

Housing Stock

What Arrochar Is Built From

Arrochar is mainly one- and two-family houses, with small businesses along the main roads. The side streets east of Hylan Boulevard hold a mix of early 20th-century frame houses, postwar brick houses and newer semi-detached and attached homes built on subdivided lots. Mature trees, porches and front yards give the blocks a settled feel, even though the expressway and bridge are only a few minutes away.

Two institutions anchor the neighborhood on Landis Avenue. St. Joseph Hill Academy, a Catholic school, stands on the grounds of the former MacFarland estate, and the estate house is part of its campus. Across the street is the former St. John Villa Academy, a girls’ Catholic high school that has since closed. P.S. 39 serves the neighborhood’s elementary students.

Typical Property Types

• Frame one-family houses on the side streets east of Hylan Boulevard
• Brick and frame two-family houses, many owner-occupied
• Semi-detached and attached houses from later infill
• Homes on the former South Beach Branch rail right-of-way near Major Avenue
• Storefront and mixed-use buildings on Hylan Boulevard

A Name From Scotland

Arrochar takes its name from the 1840s estate of William Wallace MacFarland, who named it after his hometown of Arrochar, Scotland, the seat of the chiefs of Clan MacFarlane. Locals pronounce it ah-ROH-sher. Long before that, the area was the site of a Lenape encampment. At the start of the 20th century, Arrochar became a fashionable gateway to the resorts at South Beach and Midland Beach, and it grew through the century into a residential neighborhood where Italian-American families became the largest group.

The neighborhood once had its own rail stop. The Arrochar station on Major Avenue was part of the Staten Island Railway’s South Beach Branch, which lost passenger service on March 31, 1953, after competition from city buses. The tracks were later removed, and houses now stand on much of the old right-of-way.

Zoning

Zoning Context in Arrochar

Arrochar is zoned mostly for low-density one- and two-family housing, with commercial overlays along parts of Hylan Boulevard. Staten Island is a Lower Density Growth Management Area, so new construction here generally has to provide more parking, deeper yards and more open space than the base zoning alone would require. That limits how much a typical lot can be built out and is one reason most Arrochar redevelopment is one house or a pair of houses at a time.

City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, adopted in December 2024, applies here, but most of Staten Island is in the parking zone where minimum parking requirements largely stay in place. Accessory dwelling units are allowed on many one- and two-family lots, with limits by district and location. Blocks closer to the shore are also affected by flood-zone rules, which restrict basement and ground-floor ADUs in high-risk areas.

Zoning, flood-zone and lot questions are specific to each parcel. Confirm the details for your property with a zoning professional or attorney before you rely on them.

Regulated Buildings

Rent-Regulated and Tax-Benefit Buildings

Most Arrochar housing is one- and two-family homes, which are not rent-stabilized. Staten Island as a whole has relatively few stabilized apartments. Older buildings with six or more units built before 1974 can still include them, and since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act owners have had very few ways to raise regulated rents while costs keep rising.

If you own a regulated building in or near Arrochar, see our rent-stabilized building page. If you own a newer rental building with a 421-a benefit, existing benefits continue on their schedules even though the program closed to new projects in 2022; our 421-a page explains how we buy them.

Inherited Property

Selling an Inherited House in Arrochar

Arrochar has a lot of long-held family houses, and many come to market after an owner dies. The heirs may be spread across Staten Island, New Jersey and other states, the house may need work, and there may be a tenant in the second unit. We buy inherited houses in that situation regularly.

How Estate Sales Work on Staten Island

Estates for Staten Island property are handled by the Richmond County Surrogate’s Court at 18 Richmond Terrace in St. George, across from the ferry terminal. When there is a will, the court issues letters testamentary to the named executor. When there is no will, it appoints an administrator and issues letters of administration. The fiduciary holding those letters is generally the person who can sign the contract and deed, and some sales need extra court approval. We can sign a contract while the estate is in process and close once authority is in place.

What We Can Take Off Your Plate

• Disagreeing siblings — a written, as-is offer gives every heir the same number to weigh against keeping or listing
• Heirs who live far away — we can arrange access, handle the walkthrough and work with your attorney remotely
• Vacant-house costs — property taxes, water, insurance, heat and winterizing all continue while the house sits empty
• Houses that need work — dated systems, roof leaks, water damage or a house full of belongings
• Tenants in a two-family — we buy with the tenant in place and take over the tenancy at closing

For the full process, read our guide to selling inherited property on Staten Island, and get tax and estate advice from your own attorney or accountant.

Where We Buy

Where We Buy in Arrochar

We buy on every block of Arrochar. These are the parts of the neighborhood we hear about most often:

• Hylan Boulevard — storefronts, mixed-use buildings and houses along the neighborhood’s western edge
• Landis Avenue blocks — the streets around St. Joseph Hill Academy and the former St. John Villa Academy
• Major Avenue and the old rail line — houses near the former Arrochar station and along the filled-in South Beach Branch right-of-way
• Expressway edge — blocks just south of the Staten Island Expressway and the Verrazzano approach
• Fort Wadsworth side — the blocks closest to Fort Wadsworth and the Rosebank line, linking toward Rosebank and Shore Acres
• South Beach border — the blocks running down toward McClean Avenue and South Beach, where the two neighborhoods overlap

Why Owners Sell

Why Arrochar Owners Sell to Us

• Estates — heirs settling a family house who want one clean sale
• Tired landlords — two-family owners who no longer want to manage a tenant
• Flood and insurance worries — owners on lower blocks facing rising flood insurance costs or past storm damage
• Deferred repairs — roofs, boilers, oil tanks, foundations or mold that would trouble a financed buyer
• Legal-use problems — basement apartments or extra units not on the certificate of occupancy
• Moving on — retirees and families relocating who want a firm date and a firm price

These are the situations that make a public listing slow and uncertain. Selling directly means one buyer, a written price and a closing date you pick.

Potential

Where the Value Is in Arrochar

Arrochar’s biggest asset is access. It is about as close to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge as a Staten Island neighborhood gets, with express buses to Manhattan along Hylan Boulevard and local buses to Brooklyn over the bridge. That pulls in buyers who work in Brooklyn and want a house with a yard, and it supports rents for well-kept two-families.

The opportunity is usually in houses that have not been updated in decades, in two-families that can be renovated unit by unit, and in larger or double lots. Staten Island’s parking and yard rules cap what most lots can hold, so we price development potential conservatively.

Your Options

Your Options for Selling Arrochar Property

List With a Broker

A renovated, vacant Arrochar house can sell well on the open market. Listing typically means repairs, showings, an appraisal and a buyer’s mortgage, plus months before closing. If your house is in good shape and you are not in a hurry, listing may net more, and we will say so.

Renovate or Develop Yourself

Renovating or adding a legal unit can increase value if you have the money and time. Permits, contractors, carrying costs and flood-zone rules all add steps and risk.

Sell Directly to Red Hook Development

We buy as-is, with tenants, estates and violations, off-market and confidentially. There is no commission to us, and you choose the closing date. See what we buy or submit your property.

How It Works

How Selling to Us Works

• Tell us about the property — address, units, rents and condition, by form, phone or email
• We respond within one business day — and review zoning, flood maps, tax records and violations
• Walkthrough — one visit around your schedule and your tenants’; we can arrange access if you live out of state
• Written offer — as-is, with clear terms and no repair requests
• Close with your attorney — on the date you choose, once title is clear

Market Context

The Arrochar Market

Arrochar draws buyers who want a quiet, tree-lined block near the bridge. Updated, vacant houses get the most attention. Occupied two-families, estate houses with deferred work, houses on low-lying blocks with flood questions and buildings with violations sell to a much smaller group of buyers.

Those are the properties we focus on. We also buy across the Mid-Island, including Concord, Dongan Hills and Midland Beach.