- Year built
- 1925
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 88
- Floors
- 14
- Landmark
- Designated
- Subletting
- Board-approval required; restrictive (typical of tier-one Carnegie Hill / Lenox Hill pre-war cooperatives)
- Flip tax
- 2% of the sale price, paid by the seller.
- Financing
- Up to 50% financeable (50% minimum down).
- Pets
- Permitted, subject to Board approval.
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, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 2BR median
- $2M
- Recent range
- $1.3M – $3.5M
- Listing discount
- 2.8%
- Recorded transfers
- 53
1040 Park Avenue is one of the relatively small number of Park Avenue luxury apartment buildings designed by Delano and Aldrich — the firm whose 1920s body of work is more closely identified with private clubs (Knickerbocker, Union, Colony), East Side townhouses (Astor Court, Whitney and Vanderbilt commissions), and institutional architecture (Brick Presbyterian, the Yale Club) than with multifamily residential. The 1040 Park commission represents Delano and Aldrich's most substantial Park Avenue apartment-house statement and reflects the firm's signature design discipline: limestone base, restrained brick body, classical detailing at the roofline, decorative ornamental iron balconies, and an emphasis on facade dignity over volumetric flourish.
The 1925 vintage places 1040 Park at the absolute peak of the pre-Depression Park Avenue luxury apartment construction era. The same approximate period produced the dense Lenox Hill Park Avenue tier-one inventory (720, 740, 770, 778 Park: 1929–1931) and the Schwartz & Gross Carnegie Hill cluster (1133, 1175, 1185 Park: 1925–1929). The block-by-block density of luxury cooperative commissions between roughly 1923 and 1931 is among the most architecturally consequential single-corridor / single-decade construction concentrations in American residential history — and 1040 Park is one of the earlier and most architecturally elegant entries.
The northwest-corner positioning at Park Avenue and East 86th Street is structurally significant. The 86th Street block is the geographic seam between Lenox Hill (extending south from approximately 86th to 60th) and Carnegie Hill (extending north from approximately 86th to 96th). 1040 Park sits at the southern Carnegie Hill anchor — with the broader Park Avenue Carnegie Hill cooperative inventory extending immediately north (1050 Park, 1060 Park, 1075 Park, 1133 Park, 1185 Park) and the Park Avenue / Lenox Hill tier-one inventory beginning two blocks south.
The cooperative conversion in April 1960 places 1040 Park among the earlier Park Avenue rental-to-cooperative conversions — pre-dating the broader 1970s–1980s conversion wave that produced most of today's Park Avenue cooperative inventory. The conversion was sponsored by Henry Goelet and Walter J. Schneider; the Goelet name carries significant weight in New York City real estate history, with the family having owned substantial Manhattan property assets through the late 19th and 20th centuries. Brett, Wyckoff, Potter, Hamilton, Inc. acted as selling and managing agent — a prestigious mid-century cooperative organization firm. The corporate entity, Park-86 Apt. Corp., remains the operating cooperative today.
The approximately 100-apartment scale places 1040 Park among the larger pre-war Carnegie Hill / Lenox Hill border cooperatives — meaningfully more institutional than the tight 18–35 unit Candela peak in Lenox Hill (740 Park: 33; 778 Park: 18; 720 Park: 31). The larger scale produces moderately greater annual transaction volume and a broader range of apartment configurations and price points.
Architecture and unit composition
The building was constructed in 1925 from plans by Delano and Aldrich, with J. H. Taylor Construction Co. as builder. The original plan called for 3 apartments on each typical floor — substantial pre-war full-floor-style configurations consistent with the era's luxury Park Avenue idiom. Over the subsequent decades, several of these original units were subdivided to create the present 100-apartment count, which spans a range from approximately 2-room studios and small one-bedroom configurations to 8-room+ multi-bath and penthouse layouts.
Architectural signatures throughout:
- Three-story limestone base with classical surround and white marble entrance trim
- Buff face brick body above with limestone or cast-stone ornamental treatment at the cornice line
- Ornamental iron balcony on each facade at the 14th floor — a distinctive Delano and Aldrich detail
- 15th-floor penthouse level with three glass-and-steel solariums plus terraced apartments (15D, 15E, 15F, 15G, 15H configurations)
- Double-hung wood "6-over-6" windows throughout
- Red promenade tile main roof, brick parapets with cast-stone copings
- 10,000-gallon wooden water tower in dedicated brick housing (integral with fire-line standpipe system)
The 15th-floor penthouse apartments are the building's most architecturally distinctive — with terraces or solariums, and views opening across Carnegie Hill toward the East 86th Street corridor and beyond. The 14th-floor balcony tier provides similar architectural distinction at a slightly lower altitude.
The original Delano and Aldrich plan placed the most substantial apartments on the upper floors and the building's primary frontages (Park Avenue west exposure and East 86th Street south exposure). Park Avenue-facing apartments look across the Park Avenue median plantings to the west-side buildings of Park. East 86th Street-facing apartments have cross-street exposures with the buildings on the south side of 86th.
Building operations
1040 Park Avenue operates as a full-service pre-war cooperative under the corporate entity Park-86 Apt. Corp. The 1960 staffing baseline was 18 employees (superintendent, handyman, 3 doormen, 4 passenger elevator operators, 2 service elevator operators, 3 porters, 4 relief operators); modern operations have evolved with the conversion to automatic passenger elevators (the west passenger elevator was automated as early as 1958, prior to the cooperative conversion).
Current amenities include: full-time doorman, attended elevators, on-site superintendent, private storage cubicles (43 in basement; tenants typically share), shared coin-operated laundry, and eight private laundry cubicles.
Operational policy framework (per current House Rules):
- Strict access protocols: visitors must be announced; keys left with doorman require sealed envelope and signed authorization (the rule explicitly notes the building does not accept emailed authorizations — only signed/faxed)
- Passenger elevators reserved for residents/guests only — no deliveries, no trades, no bicycles or scooters
- Service elevator operations 8:00 AM – 11:00 PM
- 75% floor-area carpeting required (typical pre-war Park Avenue standard, designed to reduce inter-floor noise transmission)
- Music practice capped at 2 hours per day; no vocal or instrumental instruction permitted at any time
- Pets permitted on elevators only on leash or carried
- Moves restricted to weekdays 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM with 2-day advance notice and superintendent oversight
- Terrace planters: maximum 150 lbs, no gas or charcoal grills, plant height capped at 48"
Board governance and financials: The Park-86 Apt. Corp. board posture follows tier-one Carnegie Hill pre-war norms. Specific policy details — current financing posture, flip tax structure (if any), current sublet policy specifics, pied-à-terre allowance — should be confirmed directly with property management during due diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $17,694/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $17
Recent sales
1040 Park Avenue's Delano & Aldrich Georgian co-op has traded in a tight, predictable band across 2022–2026 — a hallmark of the building's stable Carnegie Hill positioning and the modest appreciation profile typical of full-block-deep prewar inventory. Two-bedroom comps cluster tightly: 9D at $2.2M (June 2025, essentially at ask), 5D at $1.745M (-2.8%), and 5E at $2M (February 2026, +14.3% above the $1.75M ask — a rare positive-discount Carnegie Hill comp this cycle, reflecting tight inventory in the mid-floor two-bedroom band). Larger inventory shows greater discount pressure: 12E ($3.475M, -8.6%), 10E ($1.86M, -13.5%), and 5J ($1.995M, -7.2%) all closed 7–14% under ask. The September 2024 closing of the four-bedroom 6F at $2.75M illustrates the building's typical PSF cluster for larger-floorplate stock. The variance between near-ask two-bedrooms and discount-tax larger-floorplates is the most useful signal for sellers calibrating expectations on this building.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 13, 2026 | 5E | 2 BR · 3 BA Closed February 4, 2026 at $2M — 14.3% above the $1.75M ask. A rare positive-discount Carnegie Hill comp this cycle, reflecting tight inventory in the building's mid-floor two-bedroom band. | $2,000,000 | +14.3% | |
| Jun 20, 2025 | 9D | 2 BR · 2.5 BA Closed June 16, 2025 at $2.2M — essentially at the $2.25M ask. Establishes a tight 2025 two-bedroom comp band. | $2,200,000 | -2.2% | |
| May 22, 2025 | 5J | 3 BR · 2.5 BA Closed May 14, 2025 at $1.3M — recorded transfer; no public listing on record. 5J had previously traded at $1.995M in June 2022, so this 2025 close represents either a different layout configuration or a meaningful intra-line repricing. | $1,300,000 | off-mkt | |
| May 14, 2025 | 5D | 2 BR · 2 BA Closed February 25, 2025 at $1.745M — 2.8% under the $1.795M ask. Baseline two-bedroom comp for the lower-floor band. | $1,745,000 | -2.8% | |
| Sep 24, 2024 | 6F | 4 BR · 4 BA Closed September 10, 2024 at $2.75M. Four-bedroom layout in the Delano & Aldrich Georgian — typical Carnegie Hill prewar co-op PPSF cluster. | $2,750,000 | off-mkt | |
| Dec 13, 2023 | 12E | 4 BR · 4 BA Closed December 5, 2023 at $3.475M — 8.6% under ask. High-floor 4-bedroom; the building's recent benchmark for larger-floorplate stock. | $3,475,000 | -8.6% | |
| Oct 18, 2022 | 10E | 3 BR · 2.5 BA | $1,860,000 | -9.3% | |
| Jul 19, 2022 | 12G1 | 1 BR · 600 sf | $700,000 | $1,167/sf | off-mkt |
Market read. Most recent trades (2022) cleared a median $1,167/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 4.8% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 26, 2018 | 8G1 | $710,000 |
| Aug 18, 2017 | 4G-1 | $550,000 |
| Mar 22, 2016 | 2 E | $2,733,400 |
| Oct 16, 2014 | 9HJ | $3,200,000 |
| Jan 7, 2014 | 10J | $3,395,000 |
| Sep 6, 2013 | 7G-2 | $4,825,000 |
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 1-01498-0033) 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
Architectural pedigree is real and underused. Delano and Aldrich are firmly canonical in NYC architectural history but less commercially marketed than the Candela / Cross & Cross / Carpenter tier. The 1925 vintage and Delano and Aldrich authorship places 1040 Park among the earliest and most architecturally elegant Park Avenue cooperatives. Buyers attentive to architectural credentialing should view this as a meaningfully underpriced asset relative to comparably-positioned buildings.
Original unit configurations vary substantially. The 1925 plan called for 3 apartments per typical floor, several of which have been subdivided. Apartment-level due diligence on layout, ceiling heights, exposure, and renovation history is essential.
The 86th Street corner produces a specific neighborhood character. Heavy cross-town traffic on 86th Street is a factor; the corner positioning provides good light access but means proximity to the 86th Street commercial activity (banks, drugstores, restaurants, the 86th Street Lexington Avenue subway station two blocks east).
Confirm specific policies directly with management. Financing posture, flip tax structure, sublet specifics, pied-à-terre allowance, and current board priorities should be obtained directly during the contract review process. The Alteration Agreement framework — which was updated as recently as 2015 — should be reviewed if renovation is contemplated.
Board approval follows tier-one Carnegie Hill norms. Strong financial profile, professional accomplishment, primary-residence intent, and the established Park Avenue board package standard.
Renovation is constrained by historic district status and pre-war character. The building's position in the Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District means LPC oversight on any exterior work. Interior renovations require Alteration Agreement and board review.
What to know if you’re selling
The Delano and Aldrich credential and 1925 vintage are the primary marketing assets. Listing copy should reference the architect by name (rare-on-Park-Avenue credentialing), the 1925 build, the early-1960 cooperative conversion under Goelet sponsorship, and the building's position as the southern Carnegie Hill anchor at the seam with Lenox Hill.
Pricing requires apartment-level comparable analysis. The 100-unit scale produces meaningful variation; floor altitude, exposure, original-vs-subdivided configuration, and renovation history all matter substantially.
The 15th-floor penthouse inventory commands a distinct pricing tier. The terraces, solariums, and views differentiate these apartments materially from typical mid-floor configurations.
Closing timelines are co-op standard. 6–10 weeks from contract signing to closing, with the standard Park Avenue board package and reference requirements.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 1040 Park Avenue, also evaluate:
- 1050 Park Avenue — immediate neighbor north; pre-war Carnegie Hill peer
- 1060 Park Avenue — Carnegie Hill peer
- 1075 Park Avenue — Blum brothers 1929; Carnegie Hill peer
- 1133 Park Avenue — Schwartz & Gross 1928; Carnegie Hill peer
- 1185 Park Avenue — Schwartz & Gross 1929; Carnegie Hill courtyard plan, distinctive Park Avenue trophy
- 1000 Park Avenue — Emery Roth 1916; nearby pre-WWI peer at the Park / 84th seam
- 825 Park Avenue — pre-war Lenox Hill peer
- 1 Sutton Place South — Delano and Aldrich peer commission (different geography, same architectural pedigree)
The Roebling Team at 1040 Park Avenue
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Central Park West, the Upper East Side, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this building profile because Park Avenue Carnegie Hill buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architecture, board culture, transactional mechanics, conversion history, and pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
We hold first-party documentation on 1040 Park Avenue, including the 1960 Plan of Cooperative Organization, the building's House Rules, the Proprietary Lease, the 2015 Alteration Agreement framework, and recent financial statements. This level of building-level documentation depth allows us to advise buyers and sellers with substantially greater accuracy than building-name-recognition alone permits.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 1040 Park, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.