12 West 72nd Street (The Oliver Cromwell)
12 West 72nd Street, New York, NY 10023
Lincoln Square, Upper West Side
BBL 1011240042 · BIN 1028619
- 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, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 1BR median
- $742K
- Recent range
- $350K – $6M
- Listing discount
- 3.7%
- Recorded transfers
- 186
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Oliver Cromwell would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — reviewed personally against condition, exposures, renovation quality, and the competition actually on the market.
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.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $68,619/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $38
Source: NYC LL84 benchmarking and PLUTO · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
See full Local Law 97 analysis — emissions history, scenarios, methodology →Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available FISP filing classified the facade as Safe — no repairs were required at that inspection. Facade inspections run on a fixed five-year cycle; future inspection, repair, and any assessment decisions remain building-specific.
How to read this, and where it comes from
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent).
Penalties shown are amounts DOB assessed against filings on record across 2005–10 to 2020–25. The FISP dataset does not record whether they were paid, contested or remain open, so treat the figure as history rather than a current balance and confirm the building’s standing with the managing agent.
Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
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. Prices are the transfer amounts recorded with the NYC Department of Finance; apartment-level detail is checked against the building’s own file in The Roebling Research Library before publishing.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2026 | 14ABC | 4 BR · 4 BA | $4,150,000 | -1.1% | |
| Jul 9, 2026 | 14ABC | 4 BR · 4 BA | $4,250,000 | +1.3% | |
| 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% | |
| Jan 17, 2025 | 20B | 3 BR · 3 BA | $6,000,000 | +0.0% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2025): a median $1,205/sf across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 3.0% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 22, 2022 | 12B | $550,000 |
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 neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper West Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper West Side.
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
How to read the facts on this page. Items attributed to an offering plan describe the building as it was offered at that filing — unit mix, square footage, the amenity program as planned. They are not a statement about how the building operates today. Tax and compliance figures are sourced separately to current City records and carry their own dates. House rules, staffing and fee policy can change by board resolution without any public filing: treat every policy line here as a starting point for diligence and confirm it with the managing agent. Where this page compares one building or neighborhood to another, that is our analysis of the recorded record — it names the measure, the period and the sample it rests on, and it is an observation about medians rather than a prediction about any particular apartment.
Considering a move at The Oliver Cromwell?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.