We Buy Houses & Buildings in Tompkinsville, Staten Island

Housing Stock

What Tompkinsville Is Built From

Tompkinsville is a compact, hilly neighborhood with a commercial waterfront edge and residential streets stacked up the slope behind it. Bay Street and the first blocks of Victory Boulevard carry the commercial buildings: storefronts with apartments above, garages, small offices and a handful of larger brick buildings. Behind them, the side streets hold a mix of frame two-families, older detached houses, attached rows and small walk-ups.

Unlike most North Shore neighborhoods, Tompkinsville has no NYCHA development, so almost all of its housing is privately owned, much of it by long-time owners who bought decades ago. A large share of residents rent, which means many of the houses here are two- and three-family homes with at least one tenant in place.

The Watering Place and the Quarantine

In colonial times this shoreline was known as the Watering Place, where ships stopped for fresh water. New York State opened a marine hospital and quarantine station here in 1799, and local residents burned it down in 1858 in what became known as the Staten Island Quarantine War. The village took its modern name from Daniel D. Tompkins, the governor and later vice president, who established a ferry landing here in 1817. During World War I the waterfront hosted a U.S. Navy base. That long history is why some lots here have unusual shapes, old easements or title questions that take extra time to sort out.

Zoning

Zoning Context in Tompkinsville

The biggest zoning change on the North Shore in a generation ran right through Tompkinsville. The Bay Street Corridor rezoning, approved by the City Council on June 26, 2019, rezoned roughly 14 blocks of Bay Street and two blocks of Canal Street to connect St. George, Tompkinsville and Stapleton with a mixed-use corridor. It created the Special Bay Street Corridor District and applied Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, which requires affordable units in new residential buildings above a certain size. The plan was controversial locally, and the city followed it with its North Shore Action Plan in 2023.

Up the slope, the residential streets are subject to different rules. Parts of Tompkinsville are inside the Special Hillsides Preservation District, created in 1987 for the steep North Shore hills, and the whole borough is a Lower Density Growth Management Area, which generally means stricter parking, yard and lot rules in lower-density districts than elsewhere in the city.

City of Yes in Tompkinsville

City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, adopted in December 2024, applies on Staten Island, but most of the borough kept its existing parking minimums, and accessory dwelling units face restrictions in flood zones. Whether a backyard or basement unit is possible on your lot depends on the zoning district, flood mapping and lot size. Confirm specifics with a zoning professional or attorney.

Regulated Buildings

Tenant-Occupied and Regulated Buildings

Staten Island has relatively few rent-stabilized buildings compared with the rest of the city, because so much of its housing is one- and two-family homes. Tompkinsville’s small brick apartment buildings and walk-ups are among the exceptions. Buildings with six or more units built before 1974 are generally covered by rent stabilization unless deregulated or exempt, so if you own one, the registration history matters to any buyer.

Since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, regulated rents have been hard to raise while expenses climb. We buy these buildings occupied and underwrite from the real rent roll. See our rent-stabilized building page.

The more common Tompkinsville situation is a two-family with a tenant who has been there for years, or one who has stopped paying. We take over existing tenancies at closing. If rent has stopped, our guide to selling with tenants who are not paying lays out the options.

Where We Buy

Where We Buy in Tompkinsville

Tompkinsville is small, but its blocks are distinct. Here is how we think about them.

The Bay Street Corridor

Bay Street is Tompkinsville’s front edge, lined with storefront buildings, auto shops, garages and a few larger commercial properties, with the railway running alongside. Since the 2019 rezoning, lots here are evaluated as much for what they could become as for what they are. We buy operating buildings, vacant storefronts and sites ready for redevelopment.

Lower Victory Boulevard

Victory Boulevard starts at Bay Street and climbs west. Its first blocks are Tompkinsville’s main shopping street, known for one of the largest Sri Lankan communities in the United States and its restaurants and groceries. The Lyons Pool recreation center, opened in 1936 as a WPA project, sits here too. Mixed-use buildings with a store and one or two apartments above are the typical property, and we buy them with leases in place.

The Station Blocks

The streets around the Tompkinsville station on the Staten Island Railway hold small apartment buildings, attached houses and two-families that rent easily to ferry commuters. These are often the properties with long-term tenants and deferred maintenance.

The Hillside Streets

West of Bay Street, the land rises quickly toward Ward Hill and Grymes Hill. Streets such as St. Paul’s Avenue and Van Duzer Street run along the slope, and the sharp cliff face of Ward Hill looms over Victory Boulevard. Houses up here are mostly detached frame houses and two-families, some with harbor views, some with retaining wall and drainage issues that come with steep lots. We buy them as-is.

Inherited Property

Inherited and Estate Properties in Tompkinsville

Many Tompkinsville houses have been in one family for decades. When the owner passes, the house often goes to several children, some of whom have left Staten Island, and the property sits while the estate is sorted out. Vacant houses here face the same carrying costs as anywhere in the city: taxes, insurance, water and sewer charges, and the risk of break-ins or weather damage on an empty building.

Estates on Staten Island go through the Richmond County Surrogate’s Court at 18 Richmond Terrace in St. George. With a will, the executor receives letters testamentary; without one, the court appoints an administrator and issues letters of administration. Those letters give the representative the authority to sign a contract and deed. Some administration letters are restricted and need court permission for a real estate sale, so check with the estate’s attorney.

• We buy from executors and administrators once letters are issued, and can talk with families earlier to plan
• Siblings who disagree can get one written number to evaluate together
• Out-of-state heirs do not need to travel; we arrange access for inspections
• Houses full of belongings or needing major repairs are fine as-is
• Two-families with a tenant upstairs: we take over the tenancy

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

Why Owners Sell

Why Tompkinsville Owners Sell to Us

• A mixed-use building with a vacant storefront or a struggling commercial tenant
• A two-family with a long-term tenant the owner does not want to displace
• Open HPD or DOB violations, or work done without permits
• Old easements, irregular lot lines or title questions that slow a retail sale
• A hillside house with retaining wall or drainage problems
• A Bay Street lot whose value has shifted since the rezoning
• Owners who have moved off the island and want a simple, private sale

For buildings with violations, see our guide to selling a building with violations; HPD and DOB enforce the same rules on Staten Island.

Potential

Redevelopment Potential

Tompkinsville sits between St. George, with its outlet mall, ballpark and new waterfront housing, and Stapleton, where the former Navy Homeport site has been redeveloped with apartments. The 2019 rezoning was meant to fill in the corridor between them with mixed-use buildings and affordable housing. Progress has been uneven, which means many older Bay Street properties are still in their original use, and some are now worth more as sites than as buildings.

We look at every Tompkinsville property both ways: as it operates today and as land. If the land value is higher, we price that in. See our vacant lot page and our development site value guide for how a developer approaches it.

Your Options

Your Options for Selling in Tompkinsville

List It on the Open Market

A renovated, vacant two-family near the station or a clean house with a view can sell well on the open market, and listing may net you more. Expect showings, inspection requests, appraisal and financing contingencies, and some uncertainty about timing.

Build or Renovate Yourself

Developing a Bay Street lot under the new zoning or renovating a frame house can add value if you have the capital and experience. Affordable housing requirements, contractor costs and approvals all add risk.

Sell Directly to Red Hook Development

We are a fit when the property has tenants, commercial leases, violations, estate complications or deferred repairs, or when you want privacy and a fixed timeline. Our off-market sale guide compares the choices honestly.

How It Works

How a Sale to Us Works

• Reach out. Submit the form or call. We reply within one business day.
• We look at the property. Lot, zoning, leases, condition and title, with an in-person visit we can arrange even if you live elsewhere.
• Written offer. A clear number in writing, with no obligation.
• Attorney-run contract. Your attorney reviews everything before you sign.
• Your closing date. We close when it works for you, your family or the estate.

Start at Sell Your Property or see what we buy.

Market Context

The Tompkinsville Market

Tompkinsville is one of the most transit-connected neighborhoods on Staten Island: the railway station, the ferry a stop away and buses along Bay Street and Victory Boulevard. That keeps rental demand steady. At the same time, its housing is older, its commercial strip is mixed, and its regulatory picture changed with the 2019 rezoning, so values vary a great deal from one lot to the next.

We do not publish price claims or sales statistics. We will tell you what we would pay, in writing, after reviewing your property. For more on the region, see our North Shore overview.