We Buy Houses & Buildings in Stapleton, Staten Island

Housing Stock

What Stapleton Is Built From

Stapleton has two distinct halves. Down by the water, Bay Street, Canal Street, Water Street and the blocks around Tappen Park form one of the oldest commercial centers on Staten Island, with 19th-century storefront buildings, brick mixed-use buildings and small apartment houses. Up the slope, Stapleton Heights is a hillside enclave of large freestanding houses with harbor views, many of them protected as a historic district.

In between, the streets running from Bay Street up to Van Duzer Street and St. Paul’s Avenue hold frame two-families, attached houses and modest detached homes. The neighborhood also includes the Stapleton Houses, opened around 1961 and the largest NYCHA development on Staten Island, and on the waterfront, the apartment complex built on part of the former Navy Homeport site, which opened in 2016.

Breweries, the Village of Edgewater and the Homeport

Stapleton was laid out in the 1830s on land once owned by the Vanderbilt family and named for merchant William J. Staples. In the 19th century it was a busy port and brewing town; breweries operated here from the mid-1800s, and the last closed in 1963. The former Edgewater Village Hall still stands in Tappen Park, a reminder of the years when Stapleton was the seat of the village of Edgewater. After the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge opened in 1964, commerce moved inland and the neighborhood declined for decades. A planned Navy homeport on the waterfront was cancelled in the early 1990s, and the site has been redeveloped in phases since, with a further mixed-use project announced in 2025.

Zoning

Zoning Context in Stapleton

Stapleton’s waterfront and commercial core have been rezoned more than once in recent years. The Special Stapleton Waterfront District governs the former Homeport site along Front Street. The 2019 Bay Street Corridor rezoning, approved by the City Council in June 2019, covers Bay Street from St. George into Stapleton and two blocks of Canal Street under the Special Bay Street Corridor District, with Mandatory Inclusionary Housing for larger new residential buildings. The Council’s approval also included plans for waterfront open space and a new school on the Stapleton waterfront.

The residential blocks up the hill are lower-density, and the whole borough is a Lower Density Growth Management Area, which generally brings stricter parking, yard and lot-size rules than elsewhere in the city. City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, adopted in December 2024, applies here, but most of Staten Island kept its existing parking requirements, and accessory dwelling units face limits in flood zones and in some historic district situations.

Landmark Rules in Stapleton Heights

Inside the St. Paul’s Avenue-Stapleton Heights Historic District, exterior alterations, additions and new construction need Landmarks Preservation Commission approval. Several buildings, including St. Paul’s Memorial Church and Rectory, are also individual landmarks. These rules shape what a buyer can do with a house and lot, so they factor into value. Confirm details for your property with a zoning or land use attorney.

Regulated Buildings

Tenant-Occupied and Regulated Buildings

Rent-stabilized buildings are relatively uncommon on Staten Island because most of its housing is one- and two-family homes. Stapleton’s older apartment buildings near the station and along Bay Street are among the places where you may find them. Buildings with six or more units built before 1974 are generally covered unless they were deregulated or exempt; the registration history tells you for sure.

Since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, owners have had limited ways to raise regulated rents. We buy these buildings occupied, based on the real rent roll. Read more on our rent-stabilized building page.

Most often, though, Stapleton sellers have a two- or three-family with tenants. We take over existing tenancies at closing, and our guide to selling with tenants who are not paying covers the harder cases.

Where We Buy

Where We Buy in Stapleton

• Tappen Park and Bay Street: Bay Street, Canal Street, Water Street and Wright Street around the park
• The station blocks: Prospect Street, Broad Street and the side streets near the Stapleton station
• Tompkins Avenue: the frame houses and small buildings along Tompkins Avenue toward Clifton
• The waterfront edge: Front Street and the blocks near the former Homeport
• Stapleton Heights: St. Paul’s Avenue, Cebra Avenue, Marion Avenue and the hillside streets toward Van Duzer Street

Stapleton Heights

Stapleton Heights rises behind the commercial blocks along St. Paul’s Avenue, the old road that linked the villages of Tompkinsville and Stapleton. Caleb T. Ward bought a large tract here in 1826 and laid out streets and lots in 1829, and wealthy families built houses on the west side of St. Paul’s Avenue in the 1850s and 1860s to take advantage of the harbor views. The result is one of Staten Island’s most distinctive residential enclaves.

The St. Paul’s Avenue-Stapleton Heights Historic District, designated in 2004, includes about 92 freestanding houses plus several churches. It ranges from Greek Revival houses of the 1830s and the Italianate villas known as Captain’s Row to Second Empire, Stick, Queen Anne and Shingle Style houses of the late 1800s and a large group of neo-Colonial and Arts and Crafts houses from 1906 to 1930. St. Paul’s Memorial Church and Trinity Lutheran Church anchor the avenue.

For sellers, Stapleton Heights houses are big, old and expensive to maintain. Roofs, porches, wood siding, windows, heating systems and hillside retaining walls are the common issues, and landmark review adds a step to exterior repairs. We buy these houses as-is, whether they have been lovingly kept or left untouched for decades.

Inherited Property

Inherited and Estate Homes in Stapleton

Stapleton has many long-held family homes, from Bay Street two-families to Stapleton Heights villas. When they pass to the next generation, the heirs are often spread out, some on Staten Island, some in New Jersey or farther away, and nobody wants to manage a large old house or a tenant from a distance.

How the Estate Process Works Here

Staten Island estates are handled by the Richmond County Surrogate’s Court, 18 Richmond Terrace, St. George. If there is a will, the executor applies for letters testamentary. If not, a family member typically applies for letters of administration. The letters give the representative authority to sign a contract and deed. Some letters of administration are restricted and require court permission to sell real estate, so ask the estate’s attorney before signing.

• Siblings who disagree get one written offer they can all review
• Out-of-state heirs: we arrange access for inspections without you traveling
• Vacant houses with rising taxes, insurance and utility bills
• Landmarked houses needing restoration the family cannot fund
• Two-families with a tenant on one floor: we take over the tenancy

Our guide to selling inherited property on Staten Island covers the full process. This is general information, not legal advice.

Why Owners Sell

Why Stapleton Owners Sell to Us

• A large Stapleton Heights house with a restoration budget the owner does not want to take on
• Landmark review that makes retail buyers nervous
• A mixed-use building near Tappen Park with a vacant or struggling storefront
• Tenants in place, long-term or not paying
• Open violations, expired permits or unfinished work
• Hillside drainage, foundation or retaining wall problems
• Low-lying waterfront blocks where flood insurance and flood rules complicate a sale

If violations are the obstacle, our guide to selling a building with violations explains how they are handled at closing. HPD and DOB rules are the same on Staten Island.

Potential

Development Potential in Stapleton

Stapleton has more active development than most of Staten Island: the redeveloped Homeport waterfront, the Bay Street Corridor rezoning and city investment in waterfront open space. That gives some Bay Street, Canal Street and Front Street properties value as sites, not just as buildings. Up the hill, the historic district limits redevelopment but rewards careful restoration.

We look at your property both as it stands and as land, and we price whichever is higher. Our vacant lot page and guide to development site value explain how a developer approaches it.

Your Options

Your Options for Selling in Stapleton

Listing With a Broker

A well-maintained Stapleton Heights house or a renovated, vacant two-family near the station may bring more on the open market, from buyers who want the views and the commute. Expect showings, inspections, appraisal and financing contingencies, and some uncertainty about timing.

Restoring or Building Yourself

Restoring a landmarked house or developing a Bay Street lot can add real value, but it takes capital, approvals and tolerance for contractor and market risk.

Selling to Red Hook Development

We fit best when the property has tenants, violations, estate issues, landmark complications or deferred repairs, or when you want a private sale on your schedule. Our off-market sale guide lays out the trade-offs.

How It Works

How Selling to Us Works

• Contact us. Fill out the form or call; we respond within one business day.
• Review. We study the lot, zoning, landmark status, leases and condition, and arrange a visit, including access for owners who live elsewhere.
• Written offer. You receive a clear number in writing, with no obligation.
• Contract through attorneys. Your attorney reviews every document before you sign.
• You set the closing date. We work around your family, your tenants or the estate.

Start at Sell Your Property or see what we buy.

Market Context

The Stapleton Market

Stapleton combines things that rarely sit together on Staten Island: a historic commercial center, landmarked hilltop houses, public housing, new waterfront apartments and a railway station a few stops from the ferry. That variety makes values highly specific to the block and the building. A house on St. Paul’s Avenue and a mixed-use building on Bay Street are almost different markets.

We do not publish price claims or sales statistics. After we review your property, we will tell you in writing what we would pay. For the wider area, see our North Shore overview.