We Buy Houses & Buildings in New Brighton, Staten Island

Housing Stock

What New Brighton Is Built From

New Brighton began as a planned summer resort. In the 1830s a developer laid out lots on the hills above the Kill Van Kull, and the first Greek Revival houses went up along the shore. The village of New Brighton was incorporated in 1866 and once covered the whole northeast tip of the island, from Tompkinsville to Snug Harbor, including what is now St. George.

That history still shows in the housing. Two Greek Revival houses survive on Richmond Terrace, at 272 and 404. Up the hill, the streets of Brighton Heights hold Italianate villas, Second Empire houses with mansard roofs, Gothic Revival cottages, and later Queen Anne, Shingle and Colonial Revival houses. Many are wood-frame, many sit on irregular lots that follow the slope, and many have been divided into two or more apartments over the decades.

Hamilton Park, laid out around 1851 on the hill bounded roughly by East Buchanan Street, Franklin Avenue, Prospect Avenue and York Avenue, is often called one of the country’s earliest planned suburban enclaves. Its large Civil War-era houses are among the most distinctive on Staten Island.

Lower down, closer to Jersey Street and Richmond Terrace, the stock changes. In the late 1920s New Brighton got some of the borough’s first apartment buildings and four-family dwellings, and the blocks near the waterfront mix those with two-families, semi-detached houses and newer infill. Public housing, including the Cassidy-Lafayette Houses and the Richmond Terrace Houses, is part of the neighborhood too.

Typical Property Types

• Wood-frame Victorian houses on the hillside streets of Brighton Heights and Hamilton Park
• Detached and semi-detached two-family houses between Richmond Terrace and Castleton Avenue
• Late-1920s four-families and small apartment buildings near Jersey Street
• Mixed-use buildings with stores on Jersey Street and Castleton Avenue

Zoning

Zoning Context in New Brighton

All of Staten Island is a Lower Density Growth Management Area. Those rules, adopted in the early 2000s, generally require more off-street parking, deeper rear yards and more space between houses than similar zoning districts elsewhere in the city, and they limit what can be built on private roads. For a developer, that means a lot that looks large on paper may support fewer units than the same lot would in Brooklyn.

New Brighton’s hillsides add another layer. The Special Hillsides Preservation District, created in 1987, covers steep, wooded parts of the North Shore, including areas of New Brighton, St. George, Randall Manor, West Brighton and Grymes Hill. On lots inside the district, grading, tree removal and new construction can require additional review, which affects how much a hillside parcel is really worth to a builder.

Along the waterfront, Richmond Terrace has a long industrial history. Plaster and gypsum works and other plants once lined the shore, and a road-salt storage operation still does. Waterfront parcels are often zoned for manufacturing, and low-lying blocks can fall within the flood zone. On the eastern edge, the city has selected developers to replace the former Sanitation garage at 539 Jersey Street with affordable housing, a site first identified in the 2019 Bay Street Corridor plan.

City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, adopted in December 2024, changed some rules citywide, including accessory dwelling units and parking, but several provisions apply differently on Staten Island and in flood-prone areas. Confirm the zoning, landmark and parking details for your lot with a zoning professional or attorney.

Regulated Buildings

Selling a Multifamily or Regulated Building in New Brighton

Staten Island has relatively few rent-stabilized buildings compared with Brooklyn, because most of its housing is one- to four-family homes. New Brighton is one of the exceptions. Some of its older apartment buildings near Jersey Street and Richmond Terrace have six or more units and were built before 1974, which is the general profile of a rent-stabilized building in New York City.

Since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, owners of regulated apartments have had few ways to raise rents to keep up with taxes, insurance and repairs. We buy these buildings as they are, with the current tenants and registrations, and price them from the actual rent roll and the condition of the roof, boiler, facade and systems. Our rent-stabilized building page explains how we approach them.

Most two-, three- and four-family houses are not rent-stabilized, but if you are unsure, an attorney can check the registration history. For newer buildings with 421-a benefits, see our 421-a page.

Inherited Property

Selling an Inherited House in New Brighton

New Brighton has many long-held family homes: Victorians bought generations ago, two-families where a parent lived downstairs and rented upstairs. When the owner dies, the house usually passes through the Richmond County Surrogate’s Court at 18 Richmond Terrace in St. George.

Executors, Administrators and Court Papers

If there is a will, the court generally issues letters testamentary to the named executor. If there is no will, it generally issues letters of administration to an administrator, and those letters sometimes limit what the administrator can do with real estate without further court approval. In most cases the person holding the letters is the one who signs the contract and the deed. We can inspect the house, give a written offer and agree on terms while the estate is still being opened, then close once the fiduciary has authority. Your estate attorney confirms the details for your situation.

Common Situations We Help With

• Siblings who disagree — one heir wants to keep the house and others want to sell; a clear written offer gives everyone the same number to discuss
• Heirs who live out of state — we arrange access, walk-throughs and clean-out so you do not have to fly in
• Vacant houses — an empty Victorian still carries taxes, insurance, water and heat, and older frame houses can deteriorate quickly when nobody is checking on them
• Houses that need work — original kitchens, old wiring, roof leaks or porches that need rebuilding; we buy as-is
• Two-families with tenants — we take over the tenancies at closing, so the estate does not have to deal with leases or vacancies

Our guide to selling inherited property on Staten Island walks through probate, administration and timing in more detail. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

Where We Buy

Where We Buy in New Brighton

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

• Brighton Heights and Hamilton Park — the hillside streets around Franklin Avenue, Prospect Avenue, York Avenue and East Buchanan Street, with the largest Victorian houses
• Pendleton Place and the western slope — the streets near Lafayette Avenue and the Snug Harbor grounds, including the Pendleton houses
• Jersey Street corridor — the eastern edge, with mixed-use buildings, four-families and small apartment buildings
• Richmond Terrace waterfront — older houses, lots and light-industrial parcels along the Kill Van Kull, near North Shore Esplanade Park
• Castleton and Brighton Avenues — the southern edge, where New Brighton meets Tompkinsville and Randall Manor, with two-families and semi-detached houses

Why Owners Sell

Why New Brighton Owners Sell to Us

• Old houses with big repair lists — a 19th-century frame house can need a roof, porch, siding, wiring and heating work all at once
• Long-term tenants — owners who are tired of managing a two-family or four-family but do not want to displace anyone
• Inherited homes — family houses left to heirs who live elsewhere, sometimes in several states
• Hillside and waterfront complications — slope, flood-zone, insurance or zoning questions that make buyers with mortgages hesitate
• Violations and unpermitted work — basement units, enclosed porches or old conversions that were never fully legalized
• Owners who have moved away — we buy from out-of-state owners and can arrange access to the property

Each of these makes a public listing slower and less certain. A direct sale means one buyer, a written offer and a closing date you choose.

Potential

Where the Value Is in New Brighton

New Brighton’s biggest advantage is its location. The St. George Ferry Terminal is close by, so many blocks are within walking distance or a short bus ride of a free ferry to Lower Manhattan. Snug Harbor’s gardens, museums and performance spaces sit on the western edge, and the hilltop streets have views across the Kill Van Kull and the harbor.

There is no train in New Brighton today. The North Shore Branch of the Staten Island Railway had a New Brighton station until passenger service ended in 1953, and reviving transit on the old right-of-way has been studied for years without being built.

For a developer, value tends to sit in larger houses that can be restored or reconfigured, underbuilt lots on flat ground, corner sites on Jersey Street and Castleton Avenue, and buildings where deferred work has held the price down.

Your Options

Your Options for Selling New Brighton Property

List With a Broker

A restored Victorian or a renovated, vacant two-family can do well on the open market, and listing may net you more if the house is in good shape and you have time. It also means preparation, showings, a buyer’s mortgage contingency and a commission. Frame houses with old systems often run into appraisal or insurance problems.

Renovate or Develop Yourself

If you have capital and patience, restoring an old house or building on an underused lot can add value. It also means architects, Department of Buildings permits, possible hillside or landmark review, contractors and carrying costs, and working around tenants if the house is occupied.

Sell Directly to Red Hook Development

We buy as-is, with tenants, violations, estates and deferred maintenance. The process is private, there is no obligation, and you choose the closing date. You are welcome to compare our written offer with what a broker suggests. Read more on how selling to us works or see everything we buy.

How It Works

How Selling to Us Works

• Tell us about the property — address, number of units, tenants and condition, by form, phone or email
• We respond within one business day — and review zoning, lot size, hillside or landmark status and the rent roll if there is one
• We see the property — one visit; if you live out of state, we can arrange access
• You get a written offer — with no obligation to accept it
• Attorneys handle the contract — yours and ours, as is standard in New York
• You choose the closing date — and we take over any tenancies at closing

Market Context

The New Brighton Market

New Brighton draws buyers who want older houses with character near the ferry. It also has a large rental market and many owners who have held their properties for decades, which is why we see so many estate sales, tenant-occupied two-families and houses that need substantial work.

Those are the properties we focus on. We also buy across the North Shore, including St. George, Tompkinsville, Randall Manor and West Brighton. See our North Shore overview for the whole region.