Park Avenue Court (120 East 87th Street)
120 East 87th Street, New York, NY 10128
Carnegie Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1015157502 · BIN 1047955
- Year built
- 1989
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 219
- Floors
- 17
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Permitted under condominium rules (confirm any weight or breed terms with the managing agent)
- Financing
- Condominium — minimum 10% down; no co-op-style financing cap
- Flip tax
- None documented as a condominium; confirm any current transfer fee at offer stage. Standard move-in/move-out deposits and fees apply per the managing agent's schedule
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $1,430
- Listing discount
- 3.2%
- Recorded sales
- 254
- On record
- 2003–2026
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at Park Avenue Court 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.
Park Avenue Court is the loft-scaled prewar-style condominium of Carnegie Hill — a 1989 SOM design, built by David Childs on the steel frame of the former Gimbel's East department store, that added set-back towers and a red-brick, limestone-trimmed façade to turn a windowless 1972 store into a full-service residential building. Robert A.M. Stern's New York 2000 praised it as a surprisingly successful early example of "prewar-style" new construction, and its combination of loft-like interior volume and neo-1920s exterior remains distinctive on the corridor.
Its position in the market is defined by that unusual pedigree: department-store bones give the apartments roughly 14-foot floor-to-floor heights and loft-like proportions — sleep lofts, mezzanines, and duplex layouts run through the building — while the SOM exterior and a two-story mahogany-and-marble rotunda lobby give it the address quality of a considered prewar building. As a condominium, it offers pied-à-terre and investment use, subletting, and financing without a co-op board's thresholds, and it carries an amenity plant — including a swimming pool — deeper than most conversions of its era.
The location is the Lexington Avenue blockfront between 86th and 87th, with a quiet mid-block residential entrance on 87th and two subway entrances built into the building at the 86th Street (4/5/6) station — one of the most transit-connected addresses in Carnegie Hill, steps from the neighborhood's retail spine, schools, churches, and Museum Mile.
Architecture and unit composition
David Childs's 1989 design reclad and extended the frame of the 1972 Gimbel's East store: the top floor was removed, six new set-back stories were added, and the building resolves into twin set-back towers in a red-brick, limestone-trimmed, neo-1920s idiom over a two-story limestone-and-glass retail base. Large mullioned, multi-pane windows and the twin-tower massing evoke Central Park West's prewar apartment towers. The two-story rotunda lobby, in mahogany and marble, is the interior signature.
The roughly 219 residences inherit the store's generous floor-to-floor heights — around 14 feet — which produce loft-like volumes, sleep lofts, mezzanines, and duplex layouts, in configurations from studios through very large multi-bedroom homes. Apartments carry in-unit washer/dryers, and many were finished to a loft standard and since renovated. Because volume, layout, and floor vary so much across the two towers, same-line and same-layout comparables — not blended per-foot averages — are the correct analytical unit.
Building operations
Park Avenue Court operates as a full-service condominium: 24-hour doorman and concierge, a fitness center with a swimming pool, a yoga/exercise room, a children's playroom, a private landscaped courtyard garden, an on-site garage, a bike room, laundry on every floor plus in-unit washer/dryers, and resident storage. Common charges reflect the staffing and the amenity plant a building of this scale requires — a pool is capital-intensive to maintain. Standard move-in/move-out deposits and fees apply per the managing agent's schedule. Buyers should confirm the specific unit's carry, and review the reserve position and any active assessment during diligence; for a conversion of this vintage over an older frame, the engineering reports and any façade or mechanical capital work are worth close review.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $112,464/yr
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $406,384/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $44 – $158
- Modeled exposure split equally across 214 units (the city tax-lot count). Not an assessed amount; co-op shareholders are typically charged by share allocation.
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 2025–30. 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
Park Avenue Court trades as a distinctive loft-scaled Carnegie Hill condominium where interior volume, layout, floor, and the amenity package drive value. Pricing runs unit-by-unit: the duplex and mezzanine layouts and the higher, better-lit lines trade on their own comparable sets, and the condominium structure widens the buyer pool relative to the neighborhood's co-ops. Recorded sales auto-populate from public records; unit-level history and current comparables are maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence. Same-line, same-layout comparables — not building averages — are the correct basis in a building this varied.
Recent closings at this building, from The Roebling Research Library. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 2026 | R10F | 2 BR · 2 BA · 997 sf | $1,940,000 | $1,946/sf | off-mkt |
| Aug 4, 2026 | R14J | 1 BA · 485 sf | $665,000 | $1,371/sf | -1.5% |
| Jul 27, 2026 | R14K | 1 BA · 500 sf | $675,000 | $1,350/sf | +0.0% |
| Jan 15, 2026 | P14G | 1 BR · 1 BA · 605 sf | $900,000 | $1,488/sf | +0.0% |
| Oct 16, 2025 | R18B | 1 BR · 826 sf | $3,250,000 | $3,935/sf | off-mkt |
| Jun 12, 2025 | R20J | 1 BA · 525 sf | $665,000 | $1,267/sf | -4.9% |
| Apr 28, 2025 | R16G | 3 BR · 2 BA · 2,203 sf | $3,100,000 | $1,407/sf | +0.0% |
| Apr 15, 2025 | R26D | 3 BR · 3.5 BA · 1,832 sf | $3,100,000 | $1,692/sf | -20.5% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,430/sf (recorded) across 4 sales. Median listing discount 3.2% 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.
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 1-01515-7502). Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified in The Roebling Research Library. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price; square footage from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.
Closed rents at Park Avenue Court, last 36 months
| Size | Leases | Median / month |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 6 | $3,350 |
| 1 bedroom | 3 | $4,800 |
| 2 bedroom | 3 | $9,400 |
| 3 bedroom | 2 | $15,250 |
| 5 bedroom+ | 2 | $50,000 |
16 closed leases, October 2023 to September 2026. Most recent lease August 2026. Sizes with fewer than 2 leases are not shown. Compiled by The Roebling Team at Compass from closed leases.
At the recent median sale of $900K (10 sales since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $33,209 to close, or 3.7% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $0
- Mortgage recording tax: $12,994
- Title insurance: $4,050
- Attorneys, lender, building fees, reserves and filings: $16,165
Assumes a resale (the seller pays transfer taxes), a $4,500 attorney fee and a mortgage on the rest.
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What to know if you’re buying
Buy the volume and the layout. The 14-foot floor-to-floor heights and loft-like proportions are the value — duplexes, mezzanines, and double-height spaces run through the building. Price the specific layout, not a per-foot average.
Condo flexibility is real. Pied-à-terre and investment use, subletting, and financing without a co-op board's thresholds are available; minimum down payment is 10%, and the building is pet-friendly. In-unit washer/dryers are standard.
Weigh the amenity carry. The swimming pool and full-service staffing carry cost. Confirm the common charge on the specific unit, the reserve position, and any assessment, and factor the move-in/move-out fees. Run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator.
Diligence the conversion. Because the building rises on an older department-store frame, review the engineering reports, board minutes, reserve study, and any façade or mechanical capital program with particular care.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the lofts and the history. The department-store bones, the 14-foot ceilings, the duplex and mezzanine layouts, and the SOM prewar-style exterior are the marketing story — a building unlike anything else in Carnegie Hill.
Price by layout and volume. Interior volume, floor, and configuration segment the market. Comparable analysis is layout-specific.
Sell the transit and the pool. Two subway entrances into the building at 86th Street and a swimming pool are a rare pairing on the corridor.
Closing timelines are condo-fast. 30–45 days from contract to closing; foreign and investor buyers are welcome under the declaration.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering Park Avenue Court, also evaluate:
- 45 East 89th Street — the tall full-service Carnegie Hill tower nearby; the high-rise alternative
- Carnegie Hill Tower (1327 Madison) — modern view-capable condominium in upper Carnegie Hill; the tower alternative
- 245 East 93rd Street — full-service condominium to the northeast; a value-oriented peer
- 200 East 94th Street — full-service condominium nearby; the amenity-tower alternative
- 1080 Fifth Avenue — the Fifth Avenue Park-front building at the edge of Carnegie Hill; the Park-facing alternative
- Trump Palace (200 East 69th) — tall view-driven Upper East Side condominium; the height alternative to the south
More Upper East Side buildings
- 120 East 85th Street — 1920 co-op
- 120 East 86th Street — 1920 co-op
- George Whitney House, 120 East 80th Street — 1929
- Trafalgar House (120 East 90th Street) — 1962 condominium
- 122 East 82nd Street — 1912 co-op
- 124 East 79th Street (The Belgravia) — 1985 condominium by Gruzen Samton Steinglass
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, transit, and pricing across Upper East Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper East Side.
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.
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