How to find out who owns a building in NYC

Tenants who want to deal with a landlord directly, brokers looking for owners with space to fill, buyers sizing up a property and neighbors with a complaint all ask the same question: who owns this building? In New York City the answer is almost always in public records. The catch is that the name you find first is often a company set up just to hold that one property, so it can take a few steps to reach a person you can call.

This guide walks through those records in the order that usually works best. They cover Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens fully online; Staten Island deeds sit with the Richmond County Clerk instead of the city's online register.

Step 1: find the tax lot

Every property in the city is a tax lot with a borough, block and lot number, known as the BBL. Most city records are filed by BBL, so finding it first saves time. The city's zoning map (ZoLa) and the Department of Finance's property tax search both turn an address into a BBL.

Large buildings can sit on one lot with several addresses, and a condo building has one lot for each unit plus a lot for the building as a whole. If a search by street address comes up empty, try another address on the same block front or search by BBL.

Step 2: the tax roll names the owner of record

The Department of Finance's assessment roll lists an owner for every tax lot. You can see it on the property's Notice of Property Value and tax bills in Finance's online property tax records, and the whole roll is published as open data. The city's PLUTO land use file carries the same owner name.

What you find there falls into a few patterns:

• A company named after the address. Large buildings are usually held by a company created for that one property. The roll lists the Chrysler Building's owner as 405 LEXINGTON, L.L.C., not the investors behind it.
• A public body. Government agencies and authorities own many large buildings. The owner of record at 117 Duane Street is the New York State Insurance Fund, which is why the roll shows it fully exempt from property tax.
• A condo. Each condo unit has its own owner. At 30 Rockefeller Plaza the roll lists more than a hundred unit lots, and one company owns the units that make up about half of the building's market value.

The same Finance records show the property's market value and tax bill. Our guide to NYC commercial property tax explains how to read them, including why a building with a private owner can show no tax at all.

The roll is a yearly snapshot, so a recent sale may not show yet. That is what the deed records are for.

Step 3: read the deed and mortgage in ACRIS

ACRIS, the city's online property register, holds deeds, mortgages, leases and other recorded documents for Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens from 1966 to the present. Search by BBL or address and sort by date.

• The latest deed shows who bought the property, when and from whom, and ACRIS lists the price for most sales. It also shows an address for the buyer, which is often the owner's office or its lawyer.
• The latest mortgage is signed on behalf of the owner. The signature page often names a principal or officer of the owning company, with their title, which is frequently the first real person in the trail.
• A memorandum of lease is recorded when a long lease is in place, such as a ground lease. On a ground-leased site the company holding the building may not own the land under it, and the memorandum tells you who does.

Step 4: look behind the company

When the owner of record is an LLC, these records help connect it to the people running it:

• New York's business entity database (Department of State) shows when the company was formed, whether it is active and the address where it accepts legal papers. It does not list an LLC's members, but the address often points to the owner's office or law firm.
• Department of Buildings filings for permits and alterations list the owner of the property for each job, often with a business name and contact.
• HPD registrations cover residential buildings with three or more units: owners must register every year and name the owner and contacts for the building, often an officer and a managing agent. The registrations are public through HPD's online records and the city's open data, which makes them the best source for mixed-use buildings with apartments upstairs.
• The managing agent. Tax bills and HPD records often go "in care of" a management company. The managing agent can usually pass a message to ownership even when the owner's name leads nowhere.

If you just want to rent space there

Tenants rarely need the owner's name at all. Look for the leasing company on a "for lease" sign, the building's own website or the lobby directory: in most large buildings, the owner's leasing agent is the door to every vacant space, and calling them is faster than any records search. You can also post a requirement describing the space you need, so owners and brokers with a match can come to you.

A shortcut for large commercial buildings

For the large office, retail and industrial buildings we track, Leasemark's building pages put these records in one place: the owner of record from the latest tax roll (for a condo, the company whose units make up half or more of its value, where one does), the last sale recorded in ACRIS (naming the buyer and seller when they are companies), the estimated property tax, the energy grade and Local Law 97 estimate where the building has filed, recent permits and the nearest subway. Type any address or building name into the building lookup to find its page, or the nearest buildings we track. We show company and institution names only, never individuals.

Use it responsibly

Ownership records are public so that tenants, buyers, lenders and neighbors can deal with property owners. Use them for that: a business inquiry, a lease question, a complaint to the right party. Do not use them to harass anyone, and treat any personal names you come across with care.

Next steps

• Looking for space: post what you need and get matched with spaces as owners and brokers list them.
• Own or represent a building: list your space free so tenants searching your neighborhood can find it.
• Brokers: see how Leasemark works for brokers, including free listings and tenant requirements in your submarket.