Summary: New condo doesn't have to mean doorman tower. A growing share of NYC's new condos are small walk-up buildings, mostly in Brooklyn. We looked at the elevator data in the offering plans to see what buyers trade, and what they save.
Every offering plan says whether the building has an elevator. We checked 2,037 of them. 42% of NYC condo plans filed since 2023 have no elevator, up from 15% before 2016.
Share of NYC condo plans with no elevator, by year filed
15%Before 2016
23%2016–2019
39%2020–2022
42%2023 or later
Of 2,037 plans whose elevator information we could read: 425 before 2016, 334 in 2016–2019, 551 in 2020–2022, 727 in 2023 or later.
What's driving it is the rise of the small condo. Developers are building small buildings of a few apartments on single lots, and at that size an elevator is a big expense spread over very few owners. Since 2020, the neighborhoods with the most new walk-up condo plans are Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Park Slope, Williamsburg and Carroll Gardens.
The neighborhoods with the most new walk-up condos Walk-up condo plans since 2020
Plans with no elevator filed from 2020 on, in the neighborhoods with the most of them. Outlines from locality.nyc.
Where Walk-Ups Are
Walk-ups are overwhelmingly in Brooklyn: 90% of the 661 walk-up plans. Among the 568 buildings with under 10 apartments filed since 2022, 64% are walk-ups, and the share is highest in Brooklyn.
Buildings under 10 apartments with no elevator, filed since 2022
Brooklyn
69% of 482
Queens
53% of 34
Manhattan
24% of 49
Queens' share rests on only 34 plans. Small Manhattan condos usually have an elevator, partly because buyers at Manhattan prices expect one.
Once a building reaches 10 to 29 apartments, only 13% are walk-ups. At 30 or more, virtually every building has an elevator: 1% of 145 are walk-ups.
Elevators are expensive to maintain, inspect and insure, and those costs are split among very few owners in a small building. We compared the projected first-year budgets in offering plans filed since 2020 for buildings with 4 to 9 apartments:
Building type
Median budget per apartment, per year
Walk-up
about $5,590 188 budgets
Elevator building
about $7,220 99 budgets
First-year budgets (Schedule B) of buildings with 4 to 9 apartments in plans filed since 2020: the homes' share of the budget per apartment per year, rounded to the nearest $10.
That's the total building budget divided by apartments, not any one owner's common charges, which depend on the unit's size. But it gives a sense of the difference: roughly $1,630 per unit a year.
The Trade-Offs
Top-floor stairs. Four flights is a workout with groceries, a stroller or a couch. Top floors often come with roof decks, which helps.
Resale. Some buyers rule out walk-ups entirely, which can narrow your pool when you sell.
Accessibility. A walk-up won't work for everyone, and some owners may eventually need to move.
Duplexes. Some small walk-ups stack two duplexes: a garden duplex and a penthouse duplex. Stairs inside the apartment are part of the deal.
If a building has no elevator, the offering plan will often say so plainly, e.g. "The building will not contain an elevator." Search for that phrase, and check the floor your apartment is on in Schedule A.
Yes, and a lot of them. 42% of NYC condo offering plans filed since 2023 are for buildings with no elevator, mostly small buildings in Brooklyn.
Are walk-up condos cheaper to own?
Their operating budgets are lower. Among buildings with 4 to 9 apartments filed since 2020, walk-ups budget a median of about $5,590 per unit a year, versus about $7,220 for elevator buildings.
How many apartments does a building need to have an elevator?
There's no fixed number, but in our data almost every condo with 30 or more apartments has one, while most with fewer than 10 do not.
Where do these figures come from?
From the elevator information in 2,037 NYC condo offering plans, and the projected first-year budgets (Schedule B) of 287 buildings with 4 to 9 apartments filed since 2020. Budgets are developers' first-year projections. Updated October 2026.