Two Boutique Condos in a Restored 1893 Building at 196 Saint Marks Avenue
Welcome to 196 Saint Marks Avenue, a boutique two-residence condominium set inside a restored 1893 building on one of Prospect Heights' prettiest blocks, just steps from Grand Army Plaza and the northwest corner of Prospect Park. Disclaimer: this address is dangerously close to Little Cupcake Bakeshop and Ample Hills!
Where Things Stand
196 Saint Marks Avenue was submitted to the New York State Attorney General on January 5, 2026, and accepted on May 1, 2026, which took about four months, faster than the six to twelve months these usually take. Acceptance is the moment pricing becomes public, and the sponsor can legally sign contracts.
Sales have not formally started, and neither unit is listed anywhere yet. The sponsor is targeting substantial completion of the renovation by January 1, 2027 (per the offering plan), with the first closing expected on or about that date. So this is the window: the plan is public, the prices are set, and nobody is standing in line yet.
The Numbers So Far
This is a true micro-building: just two residences, both two-bedroom homes, inside roughly 5,500 square feet across four floors. With only two units, expect generous, floor-through-style layouts. Based on the approved offering plan, here is a preview of the estimated list price and unit description.
| Unit 1 | Unit 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4,800,000 | $4,250,000 |
| Layout | 4 bed, 3 full and 2 half baths | 4 bed, 4 full baths |
| Floors | Cellar, 1st and 2nd | 3rd, 4th and penthouse |
| Interior | 3,197 sq ft, including a 1,010 sq ft cellar | 2,563 sq ft |
| Outdoor | 491 sq ft rear yard | 1,082 sq ft roof terrace, plus 84 sq ft cellar storage |
| Monthly carrying | About $1,845 | About $1,845 |
The Closest Comp: 189 Prospect Place
If you want to know what a building like this actually does, look one block over at 189 Prospect Place, between Carlton and Vanderbilt. It ran the same play, start to finish.
A 20-foot-wide landmarked Prospect Heights townhouse sold there in August 2021 for $3,200,000, above its $3,000,000 ask, after 20 days on the market. The buyer converted it into exactly two condominium units, the same structure as 196 Saint Marks: a larger lower home with the yard, a smaller upper home with outdoor space, no elevator, and no shared amenities to speak of.
Both units listed in December 2023 and both closed in mid-2024:
- Unit 1, the garden home, 3,376 sq ft, 3 bed and 3.5 bath with a rare 60-foot-deep backyard. Asked $4,250,000, trimmed to $4,199,000, closed at $4,000,000 in July 2024. That is $1,185 a square foot, after 158 days on the market.
- Unit 2, the upper home, 1,896 sq ft, 3 bed and 2.5 bath with a terrace. Asked $3,500,000, closed at $3,450,000 in June 2024. That is $1,820 a square foot, after 66 days.
Two things in that record are worth carrying into 196 Saint Marks.
First, on stated square footage 189 Prospect Place achieved roughly $1,413 a foot across its two homes. 196 Saint Marks is asking $9,050,000 on 5,760 square feet, or about $1,571, roughly eleven percent higher two years later, with four bedrooms in each home instead of three. That is a defensible ask. It is still an ask above the last comparable trade on this exact kind of building, and worth remembering that 196's figure includes a 1,010 square foot cellar its own offering plan says cannot be used as a bedroom or a living room. Strip that out and the gap widens considerably.
Second, and more useful if you are the one buying: at 189 Prospect Place the big garden unit was the harder sell. It took a price cut and 158 days to trade, while the smaller upper home was gone in 66. At 196 Saint Marks the garden home is again the more expensive of the two, $4,800,000 against $4,250,000 upstairs. If the pattern repeats, the negotiating room on this project is downstairs.
Curious About the Process to Buy in a New Development?
Read my blog post all about new development.
A Boutique Condo Experience
At only two Residences, 196 Saint Marks Avenue is about as intimate as a condo building gets. It is a careful conversion of an 1893 building, preserving its historic character while giving the systems and layouts a full modern reset. The developer is Ascenterra Development, with Paul Christakos Architecture handling the renovation. This is a classic brownstone-scale walk-up. It’s all of the charm with modern infrastructure and brand new finishes and fixtures.
The Heart of Prospect Heights
Prospect Heights is the most central piece of brownstone Brooklyn, adjacent to Park Slope, Crown Heights, Fort Greene, and Clinton Hill all at once, with Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Public Library all within a few blocks. The combination of brownstone blocks, prewar buildings, and the cultural anchors at Grand Army Plaza is hard to replicate anywhere else in the borough.
The B and Q at Seventh Avenue are about a 4-minute walk.
The 2, 3, and 4 at Grand Army Plaza are about 5 minutes.
The A and C at Clinton-Washington Avenues are about 7 minutes.
The full Atlantic Avenue and Barclays Center hub is about 11 to 12 minutes.
District 13 zoned options typically include P.S. 9 Sarah Smith Garnet.
Walkable to the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Grand Army Plaza, and the restaurants and cafes along Vanderbilt and Washington Avenues.
Designed for Modern Brooklyn Living
A two-unit conversion on a prime Prospect Heights block, steps from Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum, is a rare and quiet kind of opportunity. For a buyer who wants a brand-new home with the character of a historic building and almost no shared building to manage, 196 Saint Marks Avenue is worth knowing about early.
Discover Other Similar Projects
If you like the scale and timing of 196 Saint Marks Avenue, take a look at 273 Park Place, 139 Saint Marks Avenue and 82 Sterling Place all boutique condo projects in Prospect Heights. (Okay, 82 Sterling Place is technically in Park Slope.)
Your next Brooklyn home may be closer than you think. Give me a call at 804-389-8451 if you want to be one of the first to know when reservations open.