Brooklyn recording studio Rare Book Room lists for $4M

A piece of recent music history is poised to become a pricey Greenpoint sale: The building that houses the Rare Book Room, a recording studio founded by Nicolas Vernhes in 1995, recently hit the market asking just under $4 million. Some of the most acclaimed albums of the past couple of decades—including ones by Animal Collective, Spoon, Dirty Projectors, the War on Drugs, and Deerhunter—were recorded in the studio’s current iteration, located at 48 Dobbin Street since 2000.

Brown Harris Stevens’s Nadine Adamson and Kelsey Hall have the listing for the property, which is being pitched as having “every amenity and live/work configuration available to you at home.”

The 4,800-square-foot space is spread out over two floors: The first floor is where the studio is located, and while it “will be delivered vacant of all equipment,” instruments and other items are available to purchase for a separate fee. It takes up half of the space, while the other half is occupied by a garage and half bath.

The second floor has what’s being billed as a “caretaker’s studio,” which has two bedrooms (though not too many walls), a kitchen, walk-in closet, and “a newly designed infrared sauna and meditation room.” The building’s mechanicals, including the HVAC system, electricity, and pluming have all recently been updated; there’s also a huge roof deck (not yet finished) that spans the length of the building.

Vernhes confirmed the sale to Curbed, and said that there are several possibilities for the building’s future: a buyer could renovate the whole thing without a studio component, create their own studio, or—if it doesn’t end up selling—the studio may remain in place. But he confirmed that a version of the Rare Book Room will live on, even if it’s not in the Dobbin Street building.

• Listing: 48 Dobbin Street [BHS]