1 Lexington Avenue (49 Gramercy Park North)

Lucas's design is a careful exercise in early-twentieth-century classicism. A two-story stone base anchors the building; above it, deep red-brown brick is laid in Flemish bond, with voluted stone keystones over the windows and carved fruit garlands above a colonnaded, balustraded Tuscan portico. Cast-iron balconies ride on stone console brackets, and a high cast-iron perimeter fence completes the composition at street level. The whole reads as a townhouse-scaled apartment house — the architecture of a private home, multiplied.

Inside, the apartments reflect the building's reconfiguration history. The original twelve apartments were exceptionally large; the present twenty-seven include many duplexes and layouts that retain prewar bones — high ceilings, wood-burning fireplaces, separate service areas, and windowed kitchens. Park-facing residences look directly onto Gramercy's planes and London plane trees; rear and side exposures gain quiet and light over the protected low-rise blocks of the historic district.

The cooperative runs as a full-service building: a full-time doorman and concierge, an attended wood-paneled elevator with an operator, a marble lobby, a live-in resident manager, central laundry, and bicycle storage. The board permits financing up to 65% of the purchase price and applies a 2% flip tax to shareholders who sell within five years of acquiring their apartment. Pets are welcome and in-unit washer/dryers are permitted; pieds-à-terre are not allowed, consistent with the building's primary-residence character. The building's location inside the Gramercy Park Historic District means exterior work is subject to Landmarks review, which protects the facade and the streetwall but adds process to any visible alteration.

Recent sales

Recent transfers at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. Apartment-level facts are independently verified before publishing; sale prices reflect the recorded transfer amount at the NYC Department of Finance.

Market read. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $2,250/sf across 2 sales. Median listing discount 6.1% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-00877-0022) and verified listing data. Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified by The Roebling Team research desk. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.

The park key is the asset. A key to Gramercy Park accompanies ownership, and it is the single feature that separates this building from otherwise comparable prewar co-ops a few blocks away. Value it accordingly.

Underwrite to a primary-residence board. Financing is capped at 65%, pieds-à-terre are not permitted, and the building is plainly oriented toward owners who will live there. Investors and part-time buyers should look elsewhere; primary-residence buyers will find a cooperative that protects exactly that profile.

Budget the flip tax if you may sell early. A 2% flip tax applies to sales within five years of purchase. If your horizon is short, model that cost into your return.

Expect prewar individuality. Layouts vary widely because the building was reconfigured from twelve apartments to twenty-seven. Walk each unit on its own terms — duplexes, fireplaces, and windowed kitchens are common, but no two homes are identical.

Plan around Landmarks. Visible exterior changes require LPC review. The protection is a feature, but it shapes timelines for any work touching the facade or windows.

Lead with the key and the architecture. The marketing story is the park, the Herbert Lucas facade, and the historic-district setting. These are durable, defensible selling points that do not depend on market timing.

Comp at the apartment level. With twenty-seven heterogeneous units, generic neighborhood averages mislead. Pricing should be built from the building's own recent trades and the closest park-fronting peers, adjusted for floor, exposure, and condition.

Pace for a discerning buyer pool. The natural buyer is a primary-residence purchaser who specifically wants a Gramercy Park key. That pool is smaller but committed; a focused, patient marketing strategy serves the larger duplexes best.

If you're considering 1 Lexington Avenue, also evaluate these park-fronting and Gramercy prewar cooperatives:

• 32 Gramercy Park South (Gramercy Towers) — large prewar park-fronting co-op with a key
• 34 Gramercy Park East (The Gramercy) — NYC's oldest continuously operating co-op, with the park key
• 36 Gramercy Park East — Gothic-detailed prewar park-fronting co-op
• 44 Gramercy Park North — 1929 Neo-Gothic co-op on the park's north side
• 50 Gramercy Park North — modern park-fronting building with full amenities
• 60 Gramercy Park North — Emery Roth prewar cooperative near the park

The Roebling Team at Compass works the Gramercy Park perimeter and the broader park-facing Manhattan market closely. We publish this profile because the park-fronting co-ops trade on factors generic market commentary misses — the key, the architecture, the board's primary-residence posture, and the apartment-level idiosyncrasies of a reconfigured prewar building.

If you're considering a purchase or sale at 1 Lexington Avenue, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point. We'll bring the building-specific context this page provides plus the transactional specifics your situation requires — board strategy, comparable analysis, and pacing.