- Year built
- 1917
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- Designated
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 3BR median
- $2.4M
- Recent range
- $1.3M – $2.5M
- Listing discount
- 3.8%
- Recorded transfers
- 37
120 West 70th Street is a handsome Neo-Georgian cooperative built in 1917, one block from Central Park on a quiet, tree-lined Lincoln Square block. It is exactly the kind of building the Upper West Side does so well: a dignified, mid-rise pre-war apartment house — brick with stone and terra-cotta detailing — built for family living and run, a century later, as a well-managed residential co-op. At nine stories and 38 apartments it is intimate without being tiny, and its position inside the Upper West Side / Central Park West Historic District means the streetscape around it has been protected from change.
The case for the building is practical and lifestyle-driven. It sits within a short walk of Central Park's Strawberry Fields, the Lake, and Bethesda Terrace; Lincoln Center is a few blocks south; and the surrounding blocks hold the neighborhood's deep bench of food and retail — Citarella, Trader Joe's, and the Broadway and Columbus restaurant rows — with the B, C, and 1/2/3 subways all close at hand. For a buyer who wants a real pre-war home next to the park without the price of a Central Park West frontage, 120 West 70th is squarely on point.
Architecture and unit composition
The building wears the Neo-Georgian vocabulary cleanly: a brick façade with stone and terra-cotta accents, balanced fenestration, and a grand entry lobby. Nine stories and 38 apartments produce the comfortable pre-war scale buyers seek — gracious layouts, separate dining rooms, real entry foyers, and the high ceilings and solid construction of 1917. The unit mix runs from well-proportioned one- and two-bedrooms to larger family homes, with the upper floors capturing good light over the low-rise side street and, in the better lines, glimpses toward the park.
Building operations
120 West 70th is a full-service cooperative. A superintendent and porter staff the building, the grand lobby is attended, and residents have a central laundry, a children's playroom, a bike room, storage, and a landscaped courtyard — a genuinely family-friendly amenity package for a building of this size. The cooperative is pet-friendly. The board permits financing of up to 70% of the purchase price, a relatively accommodating posture that widens the buyer pool. As at any co-op, purchasers clear a board package and interview, and the building's location inside the historic district means visible exterior work is subject to Landmarks review. We help buyers confirm the building's current flip-tax and sublet terms against its governing documents before they bid.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The facade passed its last inspection with no required repairs — nothing to budget for here, and no facade assessment on the horizon for roughly five years.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 4, 2026 | 1D | 3 BR · 2 BA | $2,400,000 | -3.8% | |
| May 21, 2025 | 3A | 4 BR · 3 BA | $2,150,000 | -2.1% | |
| Feb 3, 2025 | 9A | 3 BR · 3 BA | $1,303,000 | +0.2% | |
| Feb 22, 2024 | 5C | 3 BR · 2 BA | $1,999,000 | -7.0% | |
| Aug 3, 2023 | 2B | 3 BR · 2 BA | $2,550,000 | -3.8% | |
| Dec 8, 2022 | 1B | 1 BR · 1 BA | $599,000 | -7.7% | |
| Nov 2, 2022 | 8A | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,558 sf | $2,047,500 | $1,314/sf | -6.7% |
| Jul 29, 2022 | 1A | 2 BR · 1 BA | $925,000 | -2.1% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2022) cleared a median $1,314/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 3.8% 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 21, 2022 | 4A | $1,755,000 |
| Jun 21, 2018 | PHA/B | $2,375,000 |
| Sep 1, 2015 | 5B | $2,875,000 |
| Jul 22, 2015 | 3D | $2,900,000 |
| Jul 21, 2015 | 3C | $2,900,000 |
| Mar 1, 2006 | 8B | $570,000 |
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 1-01141-0039) 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
This is an approachable pre-war co-op to underwrite: the 70% financing cap and pet-friendly policy are more accommodating than at many neighbors, and the playroom and courtyard make it a genuine option for families. Plan your financing to the building's cap, budget for closing costs and any flip tax, and expect a board package and interview. The reward is a gracious pre-war home a block from Central Park, in one of the city's best-served neighborhoods for transit and retail. We help buyers read the financials, gauge the board's posture, and benchmark pricing line-by-line.
What to know if you’re selling
The lifestyle story sells the apartment: one block from Central Park, full pre-war scale, a playroom and courtyard for families, and a pet-friendly, 70%-financing board that keeps the buyer pool wide. The right strategy is to price the specific home to its true line comparables, present the pre-war detail and light correctly, and lead with the location and family amenities that distinguish this building from the broader Upper West Side pool. We build that plan around the building's amenity package and accommodating posture.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 120 West 70th Street, also evaluate these nearby Upper West Side cooperatives:
- 105 West 70th Street — pre-war cooperative on the same block
- 155 West 68th Street — full-service Lincoln Square co-op nearby
- 44 West 62nd Street — Lincoln Center–area cooperative
- 30 West 60th Street — full-service co-op to the south
- 165 West 66th Street — Lincoln Square cooperative nearby
The Roebling Team at 120 West 70th Street
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper West Side, Lincoln Square, and the pre-war cooperative market. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers evaluating a family-friendly pre-war co-op like 120 West 70th deserve building-specific intelligence — the architecture, the amenity package, the board's financing and pet posture, and where pricing sits against the right comparables.
If you're considering a purchase or sale here, a 30-minute consultation is the right place to start.
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.