12 West 72nd Street (The Oliver Cromwell)
12 West 72nd Street, New York, NY 10023
- Year built
- 1927
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 172
- Floors
- 30
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Pets permitted under the cooperative's house rules
- Subletting
- Permitted subject to board approval and the co-op's sublet terms — confirm at offer stage
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2025
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 1BR median
- $748K
- Recent range
- $625K – $6M
- Listing discount
- 3.9%
- Recorded transfers
- 125
The Oliver Cromwell is an Emery Roth tower — and on the Upper West Side, that is a meaningful pedigree. Roth designed many of the neighborhood's defining prewar apartment houses, and at 12 West 72nd Street, completed in 1927, he produced a slender 30-story Italian Renaissance tower steps from Central Park and directly across the street from the Dakota. The building is a contributing structure in the Upper West Side / Central Park West Historic District, and its location — the West 72nd Street corridor between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue — is among the most desirable on the West Side.
Roth's design is classic for him: a buff-brick façade rising from a rusticated three-story stone base, with terra-cotta window surrounds and a setback silhouette that gives the tower its height and grace. Originally built as an apartment hotel, the building was converted to a cooperative in 1984 and has operated as a full-service prewar co-op since. The combination of a recognizable architect, a Central Park–block location across from the Dakota, and prewar tower scale gives the building a durable identity in the market.
The apartments range across studios, one-bedrooms, and larger combined homes, with park sight lines from the upper floors. For buyers who want a Roth prewar co-op on a Central Park block at a more accessible entry point than the great Central Park West buildings, the Oliver Cromwell is a natural target.
Architecture and unit composition
The building's apartment-hotel origins shape its unit mix: a substantial number of smaller and mid-size homes alongside larger combined units, distributed across 30 stories. Published unit counts cluster around 172 apartments; buyers should treat the precise figure as one to confirm in diligence, but the building is unambiguously a large, dense prewar tower rather than a boutique building.
Roth's setback tower form means the upper floors enjoy strong light and, on the appropriate lines, Central Park views over the low-rise streetscape between the building and the park. The buff-brick-and-stone envelope is protected by the historic district. Renovation condition, floor, and exposure — particularly park sight lines — are the primary value drivers between units.
Building operations
The Oliver Cromwell runs as a full-service prewar cooperative: 24-hour doorman, live-in superintendent, central laundry, bicycle storage, and private storage rooms. As a co-op, the building is governed by a board that reviews purchasers and sets house rules and financial requirements. Buyers should expect a standard prewar UWS co-op board package and interview, and should confirm the building's financing limit, any flip tax, and the precise pied-à-terre and sublet terms with the managing agent at offer stage — these are board-set financial policies that vary by building and that we confirm on every transaction.
Recent sales
As a cooperative, the Oliver Cromwell is evaluated on price per room rather than price per square foot. The building's broad unit mix — from studios to combined multi-bedroom homes — produces a correspondingly broad pricing range, so the right comparable is always the same room count and unit type. Recent listings in the building have spanned roughly the high-three-million-dollar range for substantial mid-floor homes up to the higher single-digit millions for top-floor and combined units, with park sight lines and renovation level the dividing lines. Anchor pricing to in-building transfers of the same room count and to closely matched Central Park West–adjacent prewar co-op comparables.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 2025 | 7E | 4 BR · 3.5 BA | $3,600,000 | -4.0% | |
| Jun 12, 2025 | 10D | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,100,000 | -4.3% | |
| May 14, 2025 | 4GH | 2 BR · 2 BA | $985,000 | -1.4% | |
| Feb 24, 2025 | 2FGH | 3 BR · 3 BA · 1,700 sf | $2,325,000 | $1,368/sf | -21.2% |
| Jan 29, 2025 | 11A | 1 BR · 1 BA | $748,000 | -3.5% | |
| Apr 26, 2024 | 7H | 1 BR · 1 BA | $685,000 | -2.0% | |
| Feb 23, 2024 | 12B | 1 BR · 1 BA | $999,000 | -16.7% | |
| Jan 9, 2024 | 5C | 4 BR · 3 BA · 1,800 sf | $3,400,000 | $1,889/sf | -2.7% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $1,361/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 3.5% 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 17, 2025 | 20B | $6,000,000 |
| Dec 5, 2022 | 11C | $640,000 |
| May 6, 2022 | 17D | $1,750,000 |
| Feb 22, 2022 | 12B | $550,000 |
| Nov 8, 2021 | 11D | $2,395,000 |
| Dec 17, 2019 | 7K | $735,000 |
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 1-01124-0042) 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
You are buying a Roth co-op on a park block. The architect, the Central Park location across from the Dakota, and the prewar tower scale are the building's enduring appeal — and the reason it holds value.
Match the comparable to the unit. With a wide mix from studios to combined homes, price against same-room-count in-building and CPW-adjacent prewar co-op sales, not the building average.
Plan for the board process. Co-op purchase means a board package, financial review, and interview. Build the timeline and documentation into your plan.
Confirm the financial policy at offer stage. Financing limit, flip tax, and pied-à-terre and sublet terms are board-set; confirm them with the managing agent before committing.
Mansion tax may apply. At the building's higher price points the $1M and above mansion-tax thresholds can apply. Run pricing through the Mansion Tax Calculator.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with Roth and the park block. The architect and the across-from-the-Dakota, steps-from-Central-Park location are the headline; foreground them.
Price on rooms, floor, and views. Room count, floor, exposure, park sight lines, and renovation level drive the building's spread. Price to the relevant same-room-count comparables.
Present a board-ready buyer. Co-op sales hinge on a buyer who clears the board cleanly; qualify accordingly and plan for a co-op closing timeline.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 12 West 72nd Street, also evaluate:
- 105 West 70th Street — prewar Upper West Side co-op near Central Park
- 120 West 70th Street — full-service building in the West 70s
- 155 West 68th Street — Lincoln Square–area building near Central Park
- 10 West 86th Street — prewar co-op a park block uptown
- 165 West 66th Street — full-service building near Lincoln Center
- 50 West 66th Street — Upper West Side building near Central Park
The Roebling Team at The Oliver Cromwell
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Central Park West, the Upper West Side, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this profile because prewar co-op buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architecture, operational reality, board mechanics, and pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 12 West 72nd Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point. We'll bring the full context this page provides plus the transactional specifics your situation requires — board-package strategy, financial structuring, due diligence priorities, comparable analysis at the apartment level, and the pacing strategy that fits your timeline.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper West Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper West Side.
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.