1225 Madison Avenue

The sixteen-story facade carries the classical pre-war vocabulary of 1930: a limestone-detailed base, a brick body above, and the disciplined window rhythm of peak-era Madison Avenue construction. Ground-floor retail lines the Madison Avenue frontage, with the residential entrance and lobby addressed to the corner — a common, well-functioning arrangement for the avenue's pre-war co-ops. The corner siting at 88th Street permits dual exposures in some apartments; check the actual windows and daylight rather than infer an advantage over all mid-block buildings.

The 59 apartments skew toward larger configurations — two-, three-, and four-bedroom family layouts predominate; confirm the mix from apartment plans and the current unit schedule, rather than infer it from gross building area. Pre-war signatures are characteristic of the vintage: high ceilings in the principal rooms, formal entry galleries, separate dining rooms, library-living configurations in the larger lines, hardwood floors, and the deep closet and service-zone planning that defines 1930-era luxury apartments. Corner and upper-floor residences command the building's premium for light and openness.

1225 Madison Avenue operates as a full-service pre-war cooperative, with a full-time doorman and attended lobby, an on-site superintendent, and private resident storage. Review the actual floor and unit plans to assess apartment size and the arrangement of the 59 residences; gross building area does not establish either. The building is outside the adopted Carnegie Hill Historic District; determine the approvals any exterior work requires from the specific scope, not the neighborhood name. The ground-floor retail may generate income for the cooperative. Review ownership of the commercial interests, leases, collection records, the current budget and audited statements to establish what rent reaches the corporation and its budget contribution.

Pied-à-terre ownership is permitted and subletting is permitted with conditions; confirm the building's current financing, liquidity and occupancy requirements from its governing documents and application instructions.

Recent sales

Recent transfers 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.

Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2025): a median $1,405/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 6.2% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01500-0020). 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 on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.

The large-format scale is the defining feature. The value proposition is generous apartment footprints at a Carnegie Hill corner.

The 1930 peak-pre-war vintage is structural. Layouts, ceiling heights, and detailing reflect the mature high point of pre-war luxury design.

Convenience at the door. Retail at the base, the 4/5/6 and Q at 86th Street, and Central Park and the Museum Mile a short walk away make this one of the more walkable corners in Carnegie Hill.

Confirm the board's requirements. Pied-à-terre use is permitted; confirm the building's current financing, liquidity and occupancy requirements from its proprietary lease and application instructions.

The scale and address are the headline. Listing copy should foreground the large-format pre-war family apartments, the corner light, and the Carnegie Hill location.

Pricing requires apartment-level comparable analysis. With a small unit count and substantial footprints, each apartment is somewhat distinct; floor, exposure, configuration, and renovation history all matter.

Closing timelines are co-op standard — generally 6–10 weeks from contract signing to closing.

If you're considering 1225 Madison Avenue, also evaluate:

• 1217 Madison Avenue — 1930 pre-war Carnegie Hill co-op immediately nearby
• 35 East 85th Street — Carnegie Hill co-op near the park
• 111 East 85th Street — Carnegie Hill / Yorkville-edge co-op
• 112 East 81st Street — nearby Upper East Side co-op; confirm its construction date from primary records
• 175 East 82nd Street — Upper East Side building nearby
• 1178 Madison Avenue — 1926 pre-war Carnegie Hill co-op to the south