Sell Your Property in South Beach
We Buy Houses & Land in South Beach, Staten Island
From the bungalow blocks near Father Capodanno Boulevard to the houses on Old Town Road and the low-lying streets of Ocean Breeze, we buy South Beach property directly, flood history and all.
- Direct buyer with a written offer
- As-is, including storm damage
- Tenants and estates welcome
- You choose the closing date
Get Your South Beach Offer
Four quick fields. We respond within one business day.
Want to share rents, units or zoning? Use the detailed form.
Quick Answers
Who Buys Property in South Beach?
Who buys property in South Beach, Staten Island?
Red Hook Development buys property throughout South Beach, including Ocean Breeze and Old Town. We buy bungalows, detached and semi-detached houses, two-family homes, small buildings, storefronts and vacant lots as a direct buyer. We make a written offer, buy as-is and keep the sale off the open market. That matters here, because many South Beach houses have flood history, partial repairs or insurance questions that make a conventional sale slow.
Where is South Beach?
South Beach sits on Staten Island’s East Shore, directly south of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Lower New York Bay forms its southeastern edge; Seaview Avenue is generally its southwestern edge, Laconia Avenue the northwest, Reid and McClean Avenues the north and Lily Pond Avenue the northeast. Ocean Breeze is its low-lying southern tip, and Old Town lies inland to the northwest, toward Concord and Dongan Hills.
Do you buy inherited homes in South Beach?
Yes. Many South Beach houses have been in one family for generations, some going back to when they were summer bungalows. We buy from executors and administrators, from siblings who share a house, and from heirs who live elsewhere. We can sign while the estate is in the Richmond County Surrogate’s Court and close once the fiduciary has authority. See our Staten Island inherited property guide.
Will you buy a South Beach house that flooded in Sandy?
Yes. Hurricane Sandy flooded much of South Beach in 2012, and many houses were repaired, partly repaired or left unfinished. We buy houses in all of those states, including ones with open permits, mold, or questions about elevation and flood insurance. We price the remaining work and the flood-zone rules honestly and do not ask you to finish anything first.
Can I sell with tenants in place?
Yes. Many South Beach two-families and small buildings are rented, and some bungalows are rented year-round. We buy with tenants in place and take over the tenancies at closing. We review leases and rent history as part of the offer, so no one has to move before the sale.
Do you buy condos or co-op units?
No. We buy whole properties: houses, multi-family homes, small buildings and land. We do not buy individual condo or co-op units. If you own a whole building or a buildable lot, we would like to see it.
What We Buy in South Beach
South Beach Properties We’re Actively Buying
Former Summer Bungalows
Small houses that started as beach-colony bungalows and were winterized and expanded over the decades. We buy them with low ceilings, odd additions, slab or crawlspace foundations and storm damage, and we price what they really are.
Detached & Semi-Detached Houses
Postwar and newer houses on the blocks between Hylan Boulevard and Father Capodanno Boulevard and around Old Town. We buy them updated or dated, occupied or vacant.
Two-Family Homes
Owner-plus-tenant two-families across South Beach and Old Town. We buy them with tenants in place and with certificate-of-occupancy questions about how the house has been used.
Flood-Damaged & Elevated Houses
Houses that took water in 2012 or later storms, houses that were raised, and houses with stalled rebuilds. We buy with open permits, mold, unfinished elevation work and insurance problems.
Vacant & Undersized Lots
Empty lots and narrow parcels, including lots left after a house was demolished. Flood-zone and lower-density rules limit many of them, and we underwrite those limits instead of guessing.
Storefronts on Sand Lane & Hylan
Small commercial and mixed-use buildings on Sand Lane, Hylan Boulevard, McClean Avenue and Old Town Road. We buy with commercial leases in place.
Housing Stock
What South Beach Is Built From
South Beach was a resort before it was a neighborhood, and its housing still shows it. The area was originally known as Graham Beach and filled with summer bungalows and tents. Many of those small houses were later winterized and expanded, and they sit beside postwar houses, newer semi-detached homes and two-families built on subdivided lots. Streets near the old rail line, Railroad Avenue among them, hint at the South Beach Branch that once ran through.
The neighborhood also has larger institutions. Staten Island University Hospital’s North Campus and the South Beach Psychiatric Center stand at its southern edge, on land that was marsh as late as the 1960s. The hospital moved here from New Brighton in 1979. The city built the South Beach Houses, a public housing development, in 1949.
Typical Property Types
- Former summer bungalows, winterized and expanded
- Postwar detached houses on the blocks off Hylan Boulevard
- Semi-detached and attached houses on subdivided lots
- Two-family houses in South Beach and Old Town
- Elevated or rebuilt houses on low-lying blocks
- Storefront and mixed-use buildings on Sand Lane and Hylan Boulevard
From Happyland to the Boardwalk
By the 1880s South Beach had a boardwalk, a carousel and beer gardens. Fires repeatedly destroyed parts of the resort, and in 1906 the Happyland amusement park opened with a pier, a long boardwalk and a revolving tower. Happyland never fully recovered from a large fire in 1919, and much of the old resort was cleared in the 1930s. The Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk opened in 1937, and Beachland Amusements, the last amusement on the boardwalk, operated until 2006. Its former Sand Lane site is now a supermarket.
Father Capodanno Boulevard, originally Seaside Boulevard, runs along the beach from near the bridge toward Midland Beach. Two small islands, Hoffman and Swinburne, sit just offshore.
Micro-Neighborhoods
Ocean Breeze & Old Town
Ocean Breeze
Ocean Breeze is the southernmost part of South Beach, near Seaview Avenue and Father Capodanno Boulevard. It is low-lying and has long flooded worse than almost anywhere else on the island after heavy rain, with side streets that become impassable. The New Creek Bluebelt, the city’s natural stormwater system, runs through the area. After Hurricane Sandy, New York State made Ocean Breeze one of three Staten Island areas in its enhanced buyout program, along with Oakwood Beach and Graham Beach, and many purchased lots were returned to open space.
Ocean Breeze is also home to an 86-acre nature preserve of wetland and meadow and to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex at 625 Father Capodanno Boulevard, a large indoor track facility that opened in 2015. The houses that remain range from small bungalows to rebuilt and elevated homes. We buy here with flood history, open permits, elevation questions and insurance problems, and we price each house on its block, not on the area’s reputation.
Old Town
Old Town sits inland, northwest of the beach blocks, between South Beach, Concord and Dongan Hills. It grew around Old Town Road and the Old Town station of the Staten Island Railway, which gives residents a direct ride to the St. George ferry terminal. Old Town is mostly detached and semi-detached houses and two-families on quieter streets, with less flood exposure than the blocks near the water, though some lower streets still sit in mapped flood zones.
Old Town owners tend to sell for the same reasons as owners in Concord and Dongan Hills: an estate, a tired landlord, or a house that needs more work than the family wants to take on. We buy in Old Town on the same terms as the rest of South Beach.
Zoning & Flood Rules
Zoning and Flood Context in South Beach
Most of South Beach is zoned for low-density one- and two-family housing, with commercial overlays on parts of Hylan Boulevard, Sand Lane and McClean Avenue. Staten Island is a Lower Density Growth Management Area, so new construction generally needs more parking, larger yards and more open space than the base zoning requires. On top of that, much of South Beach is in mapped flood zones, where new and substantially improved buildings must meet flood-resistant construction standards, often meaning elevation.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ East Shore coastal storm risk project, a seawall and levee system planned from Fort Wadsworth toward Oakwood Beach, has its first work in South Beach. As of mid-2026 the Corps had ended its contract with the first contractor and had not announced a new completion date. Future flood protection may matter to values, but we price what exists today.
City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, adopted in December 2024, applies here, but most of Staten Island keeps its parking minimums, and basement and ground-floor accessory dwelling units are barred in high-risk flood areas. Flood, zoning and buildability questions are parcel-specific; confirm them with a zoning professional, architect or attorney.
Inherited Property
Selling an Inherited House in South Beach
Inherited houses in South Beach often come with extra layers: a bungalow a grandparent bought generations ago, a storm-damaged house that was never fully repaired, or a two-family with a long-time tenant. Heirs may be scattered and unsure whether the house is worth fixing.
Executors, Administrators and Letters
Estates for Staten Island property go through the Richmond County Surrogate’s Court at 18 Richmond Terrace in St. George, across from the ferry terminal. With a will, the court issues letters testamentary to the executor. Without one, it appoints an administrator and issues letters of administration. The fiduciary holding those letters generally signs the contract and deed. We can sign a contract while the estate is in process and set closing for after authority is granted. Your estate attorney should confirm what the letters permit.
Problems We Solve for Heirs
- Siblings who disagree — a written as-is offer gives every heir one real number to consider
- Out-of-state heirs — we can arrange access and handle the walkthrough so you do not have to travel
- Vacant-house costs — taxes, water, heat and flood and homeowners insurance keep running, and coverage for a vacant house can be hard to keep
- Houses that need work — storm damage, mold, old systems or a house full of belongings
- A tenant in the two-family — we buy with the tenant in place and take over the tenancy at closing
Our guide to selling inherited property on Staten Island covers each step. Get tax and estate advice from your own attorney or accountant.
Where We Buy
Where We Buy in South Beach
We buy throughout South Beach, Ocean Breeze and Old Town. These are the areas we hear about most:
- Boardwalk blocks — the streets between Father Capodanno Boulevard and Hylan Boulevard, near the FDR Boardwalk
- Sand Lane & McClean Avenue — houses and storefronts near the old Beachland site and the McClean Avenue firehouse
- Robin Road & the old rail line — houses near the Robin Road Trestle and the filled-in South Beach Branch
- Ocean Breeze — low-lying blocks off Seaview Avenue near the hospital and the athletic complex
- Old Town — the blocks around Old Town Road and the Old Town SIR station
- Lily Pond Avenue edge — the northeastern blocks toward Fort Wadsworth and Arrochar
Why Owners Sell
Why South Beach Owners Sell to Us
- Flood insurance and repairs — rising premiums, past storm damage or a rebuild that stalled
- Estates — heirs settling a family bungalow or two-family
- Open permits and violations — unfinished work from post-storm repairs, DOB or ECB issues
- Tired landlords — owners renting a second unit who want to stop
- Small or odd lots — parcels that are hard to finance or build on
- Moving on — owners relocating who want a firm price and date
Each of these narrows the pool of financed buyers. Selling directly means one buyer, a written price and a closing date you choose.
Potential
Where the Value Is in South Beach
South Beach has the boardwalk and beach, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge minutes away, express buses to Manhattan on Hylan Boulevard and Father Capodanno Boulevard, and the Old Town SIR station inland. Updated and elevated houses attract buyers who want to be near the water.
Value often lies in rebuilding or renovating houses that are dated or storm-damaged, in two-families near Old Town, and in some lots that can support a compliant new house. Flood rules and lower-density requirements cap what many lots can hold, so we price development potential carefully.
Your Options
Your Options for Selling South Beach Property
List With a Broker
An updated, elevated or inland house with clean permits can sell well on the market. Listing usually means repairs, showings, a buyer’s mortgage, a flood insurance quote and several months. If your house is in good shape, listing may net more, and we will tell you.
Repair or Rebuild Yourself
Finishing repairs, elevating or rebuilding can add value if you have capital and time. Flood-resistant construction standards, permits and carrying costs add real risk.
Sell Directly to Red Hook Development
We buy as-is, with storm damage, tenants, estates and violations, off-market. 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, condition, flood history, tenants
- We respond within one business day — and review flood maps, zoning, permits, tax records and violations
- Walkthrough — one visit on your schedule; we can arrange access for out-of-state owners
- Written offer — as-is, clear terms, no repair requests
- Close with your attorney — on the date you choose, once title is clear
Market Context
The South Beach Market
South Beach sells to two different groups: buyers who want an updated house near the water or the bridge, and a smaller group willing to take on flood risk, storm repairs, open permits or tenants. The second group is where most hard-to-sell houses end up, and it is the part of the market we focus on.
We also buy across the Mid-Island, including Midland Beach, Arrochar and Grant City.
FAQ
South Beach Seller Questions
Was my block part of the Sandy buyout?
The state’s enhanced buyout covered Ocean Breeze, Oakwood Beach and Graham Beach on Staten Island; the program has not been adding neighborhoods. Whether a particular lot was bought, and what the remaining houses on a block face, varies. City and state records and your attorney can confirm.
Does the seawall project change what my house is worth?
It may in the long run, but the East Shore seawall has faced delays and, as of mid-2026, has no announced completion date. We price based on current flood maps and conditions, not on promised protection.
Do you buy houses with open permits from storm repairs?
Yes. Many South Beach houses have open or expired permits from post-storm work. We buy as-is and handle closing out or refiling permits after the sale.
What ZIP code is South Beach in?
South Beach is in ZIP code 10305. Parts of Old Town and Ocean Breeze share it, though ZIP lines do not match neighborhood lines exactly.
Can you buy a vacant lot where a house was demolished?
Yes. We buy vacant and undersized lots, including those left after demolition. Flood-zone rules and Staten Island’s lower-density requirements decide what can be built, and we price with those limits in mind.
Do I pay a commission if I sell to you?
No. We are the buyer, so there is no commission to us. You will have your own attorney and normal seller closing costs, and we go over those so you know your net before you sign.
Other Neighborhoods
We Also Buy Nearby
We also buy houses, two-families and land in the East Shore neighborhoods around South Beach.
Own Property in South Beach?
Find out what a developer will pay — privately, with no obligation. Call 718-500-3423 or email bklyn@redhookdevelopment.com.