Ely Building

The Ely Building has about 67,000 square feet of floor area in total, including 45,000 square feet of office, 13,000 square feet of retail and 9,000 square feet of industrial and storage space, according to NYC PLUTO 26v2. These are the city's estimates for the whole building, not space that is available.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission's building records date the Ely Building to 1896-1897, designed by Mortimer C. Merritt (architect), Sam Acker (builder). The building is 10 floors tall.

Mortimer C. Merritt (architect), Sam Acker (builder), according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission's building records, which list the style as neo-Renaissance and its original use as store and lofts.

The Ely Building is at 37 East 18th Street in Union Square, Manhattan. City records list 37-41 East 18th Street on the same tax lot (BBL 1008470029). A space listed on Leasemark at any of these addresses shows up on this page.

37 East 18th Street is in ZIP code 10003, according to the city's tax lot records (NYC PLUTO 26v2) and the Department of Finance's assessment roll. The Ely Building is at 37 East 18th Street, New York, NY 10003, in Union Square.

The lot is in the M1-5M zoning district. PLUTO lists a built floor area ratio (FAR) of 9.72 and a maximum commercial FAR of 5 for this lot. It is inside the Ladies' Mile Historic District, so exterior changes go through the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The closest subway station to the Ely Building is 14 St-Union Sq (the 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R and W trains), about 800 feet away in a straight line, roughly 3 minutes on foot. The MTA lists it as an accessible station. Also nearby: 23 St-Baruch College (the 6 train), 4 min walk; 23 St (the R and W trains), 5 min walk. Walking times are straight-line estimates; the street route is longer.

The NYC Department of Finance's 2026/27 assessment roll lists EAST 18TH STREET LLC as the owner of record of the Ely Building (BBL 1008470029). Big buildings are usually held through a company set up for that one property, so the name on the roll can differ from the landlord's brand or the managing agent. Deeds and mortgages for the lot are public in ACRIS, the city's property records system.

The Ely Building last sold in August 2024 for $27 million, according to the deed recorded with the city. 37-41 EAST 18TH STREET REALTY CO., LLC, ANI ERIC COLE, LLC and others sold it to EAST 18TH STREET LLC. That comes to about $403 per square foot of floor area. The deed is ACRIS document 2024083000178001 (BBL 1008470029) in the city's property records. A sale of the company that owns a building is not recorded as a deed, so it would not show there.

The Ely Building reported an ENERGY STAR score of 98 for calendar year 2023 in its Local Law 84 benchmarking filing. Under Local Law 33, as amended by Local Law 95 of 2019, a score of 85 or higher earns an A, 70 to 84 a B, 55 to 69 a C and under 55 a D, so 98 earns an A. The Department of Buildings assigns the grade a building posts, so the posted label can differ if a filing was corrected. Its site energy use came to 27.9 kBtu per square foot, less than half the national median of 89.8 for a similar property. Its greenhouse gas emissions were about 182 metric tons of CO2e (2.5 kg per square foot).

At its 2023 energy use, the Ely Building comes to about 159 metric tons of CO2e a year under Local Law 97's coefficients, against a limit of 544 tons for 2024 to 2029 (29% of the limit), so it would owe no penalty. From 2030 the limit drops to 190 tons and the same energy use counts as about 118 tons, still under the limit. This is an estimate from the owner's 2023 benchmarking filing using the coefficients and per-use limits in the law and the Department of Buildings rule, at $268 per ton over. It is not the building's Local Law 97 report, which can count credits and deductions this estimate cannot.

The Department of Buildings issued no permits for new jobs at the Ely Building in the 12 months to October 2026; the last one was first permitted in July 2025. In the last two years, interior work was permitted on 10 floors (floors 1 to 10). The newest build-out, on floors 1 to 10, the open space and the roof, was first permitted in February 2025 (construction, mechanical, plumbing, sprinklers, structural; filed cost estimate $2.8 million). A sidewalk shed permit here is active until December 29, 2026. These are the Department of Buildings' DOB NOW work permits for tax lot 1008470029. A permit is approval to do the work; it does not say who the work is for or whether it is finished.

The Department of Finance's 2026/27 assessment roll lists a taxable value of $11 million for the Ely Building. At the Class 4 rate of 10.848% (tax year 2025/26, the latest rate the Department of Finance lists), that is about $1.19 million a year, roughly $17.76 per square foot of floor area, before abatements such as ICAP. The city's property tax records for BBL 1008470029 show the actual bill.

For tax year 2026/27, the NYC Department of Finance puts the market value of the Ely Building at $26.4 million ($2.65 million of it land) and its assessed value at $11.9 million, the 45% of market value the city assesses for Class 4 property. The city's market value rose 24% from 2022/23 ($21.3 million) to 2026/27.

Owners registered one storefront at the Ely Building for December 31, 2024, the newest annual filing the city has published, and it was not vacant that day. These are the owners' filings with the Department of Finance under Local Law 157, so a storefront may have come free since. Owners and brokers can list a storefront on Leasemark for free.

No space at 37 East 18th Street is listed on Leasemark right now. Owners and brokers can list space here for free, and tenants can post a requirement to be matched when space opens up.