1 Sutton Place South
1 Sutton Place South, New York, NY 10022
- Year built
- 1927
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 38
- Floors
- 13
- Landmark
- Designated
- Financing
- Up to 50% financeable (50% minimum down).
- Subletting
- Not permitted — an owner-occupancy building.
Compiled by The Roebling Research Desk from building documents and current market data. Board policies can change by amendment — confirm at the offer stage. As of 2026.
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2025
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 2BR median
- $3.1M
- Recent range
- $2.5M – $10M
- Listing discount
- 15.4%
- Recorded transfers
- 45
1 Sutton Place South is the architectural and cultural anchor of the Sutton Place enclave — the small Midtown East waterfront neighborhood that has functioned for nearly a century as a quieter alternative to the more publicly visible Park Avenue / Fifth Avenue trophy corridors. The Cross & Cross 1927 commission preceded the firm's collaboration with Rosario Candela on 740 Park Avenue by three years; for buyers tracing the firm's work, 1 Sutton Place South is among the earliest mature expressions of the Cross & Cross apartment-building vocabulary that would shape their subsequent Manhattan portfolio.
The defining feature of the building is the private waterfront garden — a substantial outdoor space extending from the base of the building south toward the East River, designed concurrent with the building's construction and operating as a private amenity for residents across nearly a century. The garden is among the most distinctive private outdoor spaces attached to any Manhattan apartment building; few Park Avenue or Fifth Avenue tier-one cooperatives offer comparable direct outdoor space. The waterfront positioning produces sight lines south toward the East River, the Queensboro Bridge, and across to Queens.
The 1927 vintage places 1 Sutton Place South near the start of the pre-WWI / inter-war Manhattan luxury apartment boom — slightly earlier than the Candela tier-one Park Avenue inventory (740 Park: 1930; 778 Park: 1931; 1040 Park: 1925; 1185 Park: 1929) and contemporaneous with the more substantial pre-war Fifth Avenue tier (944 Fifth: 1925; 998 Fifth: 1912; 907 Fifth: 1916). The architectural sophistication and the integrated waterfront garden made 1 Sutton Place South an immediate prestige address; the residential roster across the decades has included industrialists, financiers, and senior figures in the diplomatic corps, consistent with the Sutton Place tradition of residents who prized discretion.
The Sutton Place neighborhood's defining characteristic — the low-rise enclave at the East River — produces a unique architectural and social posture relative to the rest of Midtown East. Where 432 Park, 53W53, and the broader Billionaires' Row corridor execute the modern supertall vocabulary three to five blocks west, Sutton Place retains a residential intimacy. The contrast is one of the city's more interesting micro-neighborhood juxtapositions.
For buyers, 1 Sutton Place South represents a particular tier of Manhattan trophy inventory: pre-war Cross & Cross architectural pedigree, direct East River waterfront with private garden access, low-rise residential intimacy, and a 38-unit scale that produces moderate annual turnover. Pricing typically trades at materially more accessible levels than the Park Avenue / Fifth Avenue Candela peak, reflecting the geographic premium that the Park-and-Fifth corridor commands.
Architecture and unit composition
The 38 apartments span configurations from approximately 2,000 sf 2–3 BRs to substantially larger 4–5 BR configurations, with several duplex apartments distributed across the 13 floors. The building's most architecturally distinctive apartments are the lower-floor residences with direct garden access and the upper-floor residences with river views.
Cross & Cross's pre-war signatures throughout: 10–11 foot ceilings in primary rooms, formal entry galleries, library-living room combinations, primary suites with substantial closet infrastructure, service wings characteristic of 1927-era luxury apartment design. The neo-Georgian / Federal Revival interior detailing — millwork, fireplaces, hardware — is consistent with the firm's broader Manhattan portfolio.
River-facing apartments on the eastern flank command direct East River views with sight lines south toward the Queensboro Bridge and across to Queens. The waterfront positioning is structurally permanent — the East River is permanent and the surrounding low-rise enclave is preserved by zoning and neighborhood character.
Building operations
1 Sutton Place South operates as a full-service pre-war cooperative with full-time doorman, attended elevator, on-site superintendent, private storage, and the integrated waterfront garden amenity. The 38-apartment scale produces an institutional density characteristic of mid-tier pre-war cooperative inventory.
Specific policy details (financing posture, flip tax structure, sublet policy specifics, pied-à-terre allowance) should be confirmed directly with property management during due diligence. The board posture follows tier-one pre-war Sutton Place norms — rigorous financial review, strong personal references, primary-residence intent the working assumption.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $10,224/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $20
Facade safety — Local Law 11
Safe to live in today — but the last inspection flagged repairs that are due on a deadline, so facade work and its cost are coming. Whether that’s a real concern depends on the scope, the timing, and how the building plans to pay for it — reserves or an assessment — which is exactly what we’d dig into for you.
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent). Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library.
See the full facade history →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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2025 | 6D | 2 BR · 2.5 BA | $2,500,000 | -16.6% | |
| May 28, 2025 | 2C | 6 BR · 4 BA · 5,405 sf | $5,500,000 | $1,018/sf | -8.3% |
| Nov 13, 2024 | GRC | 3 BR · 3 BA · 3,000 sf | $4,950,000 | $1,650/sf | -0.9% |
| Oct 12, 2023 | 6A | 5 BR · 6.5 BA | $9,999,999 | -25.9% | |
| Jun 26, 2023 | 5C | 2 BR · 2.5 BA · 3,175 sf | $4,650,000 | $1,465/sf | -15.4% |
| May 19, 2023 | 2B | 2 BR · 2.5 BA · private outdoor | $3,125,000 | -6.7% | |
| Dec 23, 2021 | 6-B | 2 BR · 2.5 BA | $2,850,000 | -12.3% | |
| Aug 3, 2021 | GRFLC | 3 BR · 3.5 BA | $5,175,000 | -10.8% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $1,018/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 8.0% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 2024 | 5D | $2,850,000 |
| Jan 24, 2017 | 9CD | $9,495,000 |
| Aug 26, 2016 | 4B | $3,600,000 |
| Jun 10, 2016 | 12B | $4,000,000 |
| Mar 9, 2016 | POGFA | $1,572,150 |
| Apr 22, 2014 | 11D | $2,500,000 |
Full closing history with price-per-square-foot over time, the complete retrade record, and every line that has traded.
Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01372-0002) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
The waterfront garden is a structural amenity advantage. Buyers attentive to private outdoor space, river views, and a low-rise residential setting find 1 Sutton Place South differentiating among Manhattan tier-one cooperatives.
The Cross & Cross architectural pedigree is real. Listing context should reference the firm's broader Manhattan portfolio (740 Park, the GE Building, the Tiffany flagship) and the 1927 commission's significance within the firm's evolution.
Pricing is more accessible than Park-and-Fifth peers. 1 Sutton Place South's Sutton Place positioning produces materially more accessible per-square-foot pricing than equivalent pre-war Park Avenue or Fifth Avenue inventory. This is structural and worth modeling carefully.
Confirm specific policies directly with management. Financing posture, flip tax structure, sublet specifics, and pied-à-terre allowance should be obtained directly during the contract review process.
Board approval follows Sutton Place pre-war norms. Strong financial profile, professional accomplishment, primary-residence intent.
View permanence is excellent. The East River is permanent; the Sutton Place enclave's low-rise character is preserved by neighborhood pattern and zoning.
What to know if you’re selling
The architectural pedigree and the waterfront garden are marketing assets. Listing copy should reference Cross & Cross's authorship, the firm's place in the broader Manhattan pre-war apartment canon, and the building's integrated garden amenity.
Pricing requires apartment-level comparable analysis. Floor altitude, river exposure, garden access, configuration, and renovation history all matter substantially.
Closing timelines are co-op standard. 6–10 weeks from contract signing to closing.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 1 Sutton Place South, also evaluate:
- River House (435 East 52nd Street) — Bottomley, Wagner & White 1931; East River trophy cooperative
- 25 Sutton Place South — Rosario Candela 1936; immediate neighbor
- 2 Sutton Place South — across the small intersection
- 740 Park Avenue — Cross & Cross / Rosario Candela 1930; same firm three years later
- 1040 Park Avenue — Delano & Aldrich 1925; comparable vintage
- 944 Fifth Avenue — J.E.R. Carpenter 1925; comparable vintage
The Roebling Team at 1 Sutton Place South
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Central Park West, the Upper East Side, and the broader Park-facing and waterfront-trophy Manhattan market. We publish this building profile because Sutton Place buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architecture, board culture, transactional mechanics, and pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 1 Sutton Place South, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Get the full picture on this building.
Current availability including off-market, the full comp set, and the board & financials read most listings don't show.