Housing

The Oldest Building in America Where You Can Rent an Apartment

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: October 28, 2021 10:30 am

Look at most major skylines in America. There are scores of residential buildings recently completed or in the process of being finished. In some cities, like New York, they have become among the tallest buildings of any kind. These buildings offer smart apartments that have features like remote temperature controls, broadband wiring, energy-efficient lights and appliances, and security built around motion directors and cameras. For the most part, they are cheaper to heat and cool. Their large windows offer sweeping views of the places they are located, and sometimes beyond them.

Residential districts in many American cities still have many old buildings. Some are over 100 years old but continue to be infrastructurally sound and still make their owners money. They may be more expensive to maintain than newer buildings, but their construction was paid for decades ago.

RentCafe recently issued results of a study on the oldest apartment buildings in the United States that are still occupied by renters.

Longevity of buildings depends in part on the original construction. Kurt Walker, a real estate investor and real estate agent for Cream City Home Buyers, commented:

A building’s endurance and durability can be attributed to the materials used back in the day. Raw materials used to cost a fraction of what they do today. Materials can make a building last more, but they can also cause a structure to whither.

The RentCafe study found that the 20 oldest rental buildings in the country are at least 135 years old. The authors also looked at the average age of old buildings by city. These were defined as rental buildings opened before 1950. The city with the oldest average age was Boston, followed by Minneapolis, Springfield, Cincinnati, San Francisco and Manhattan.

The oldest building overall is The Pendleton in Cincinnati. It was built in 1850. It has only 78 apartments and covers about 55,000 square feet.

These are the 20 oldest apartment buildings in America:

Click here to see which cities have the oldest homes.