Tower East (1230 Third Avenue)
1230 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10021
Lenox Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1014060041 · BIN 1042818
- Year built
- 1962
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 125
- Landmark
- No
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 3BR median
- $999K
- Recent range
- $510K – $3.2M
- Listing discount
- 3.8%
- Recorded transfers
- 120
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at Tower East 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.
Tower East at 1230 Third Avenue is one of the more architecturally credible mid-century buildings on the Upper East Side — a 1962 cooperative by Emery Roth & Sons that rose at the northeast corner of Third Avenue and East 71st Street in the years after the Third Avenue El came down, when the corridor was transforming from elevated-rail shadow into a modern residential and commercial spine. The building runs the full block from 71st to 72nd Street, with Richard Roth Jr. having worked closely with the Tishman organization on its design.
The pedigree is real. Emery Roth & Sons — successor to the architect of the Beresford, the San Remo, and the Eldorado — was among the most prolific designers of New York's postwar towers, and Tower East is one of its notable mid-century residential efforts: a slim slab set on a low base in the clean modern manner of its day. At 34 stories it stands taller than most of its neighborhood contemporaries, and that height gives its upper floors the open exposures and light that define its most desirable apartments.
What sets the building apart for buyers is the combination of that architecture with a genuinely flexible, amenity-rich operation. Tower East carries a full-time doorman and concierge, a gym, a children's playroom, on-site parking, a bike room, and storage — and its board permits both pets and pieds-à-terre, a flexibility many Lenox Hill cooperatives do not offer. At roughly 125 apartments, the shareholder base is intimate for a building of this height, with the steady turnover of a well-established address — all at a Third Avenue value basis well below the prewar Fifth, Park, and Madison tiers a few blocks west.
Architecture and unit composition
Tower East is a mid-century modern composition: a slender residential slab rising from a low commercial base, in the vertical idiom Emery Roth & Sons brought to many of the city's postwar towers. The design favors light, height, and efficiency over prewar ceremony, with apartments organized for livability and the open exposures a 34-story tower delivers, particularly on the upper floors.
The roughly 125 apartments span one-bedrooms suited to couples through larger two-, three-, and combined multi-bedroom layouts — recent listings have included four- and six-bedroom combinations, a reflection of the larger floor plates available higher in the tower. Higher floors gain open city outlooks over the surrounding lower-rise streetscape; corner lines benefit from dual exposures. As in any mid-century tower, layouts, square footages, and renovation histories vary line by line and reward apartment-by-apartment review.
Building operations
Tower East operates as a full-service mid-century cooperative. Staffing centers on a full-time doorman and concierge with on-site management, and the amenity program is deep for a building of its size: a gym, a children's playroom, on-site parking, a bike room, central laundry, common outdoor space, and storage. The board permits pets — both cats and dogs — and allows pieds-à-terre, giving the building unusual flexibility for the corridor. The mid-sized shareholder base of roughly 125 apartments supports that full-service operation while keeping the community on a more intimate scale than the largest postwar towers.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $59,904/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $40
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 filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair before the next inspection cycle. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials for you.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 15, 2026 | 14D | 4 BR · 3 BA | $1,800,000 | -5.0% | |
| Jun 26, 2025 | 35B | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,204 sf | $610,000 | $507/sf | -12.2% |
| Jan 30, 2025 | 19A | 3 BR · 2.5 BA | $1,200,000 | -11.1% | |
| Sep 16, 2024 | 35A | 3 BR · 3 BA | $975,000 | -2.0% | |
| Jul 17, 2024 | 23C | 6 BR · 8.5 BA · 6,000 sf | $3,200,000 | $533/sf | -3.0% |
| May 9, 2024 | 27B | 2 BR · 2 BA | $725,000 | +0.0% | |
| Mar 7, 2024 | 29B | 2 BR · 1 BA | $510,000 | -14.3% | |
| Dec 12, 2023 | 26C | 3 BR · 3 BA | $950,000 | -4.5% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2025): a median $538/sf across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 4.2% 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.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 2017 | 33C | $1,800,000 |
| Sep 27, 2005 | 5B | $890,000 |
| Oct 2, 2003 | 32D | $2,285,000 |
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 1-01406-0041) 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
The architecture is a genuine asset. An Emery Roth & Sons mid-century tower carries design credibility most of the surrounding postwar stock lacks.
Height drives the views. At 34 stories, the upper floors are the building's prize — open exposures and light set them apart.
The board is flexible by Lenox Hill standards. Pets are permitted and pieds-à-terre are allowed — meaningful for buyers who value latitude.
The amenity package is deep. A gym, playroom, on-site parking, and bike room give Tower East a fuller service profile than many of its mid-century peers.
Evaluate floor and exposure carefully. Value within the building turns on altitude and orientation more than on averages.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the Emery Roth & Sons pedigree and the views. The mid-century design authorship and the high-floor exposures are the marketing differentiators.
Highlight the flexible board and the amenities. Pied-à-terre and pet flexibility plus the gym, playroom, and parking widen the buyer pool against stricter neighbors.
Price by floor and exposure. Altitude and orientation drive value far more than building-wide averages in a 34-story tower.
Closing timelines are co-op standard. Plan for roughly 6–10 weeks from contract signing to closing, with board approval the gating step.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering Tower East, also evaluate:
- 1250 Third Avenue — large postwar Lenox Hill co-op two blocks north
- Manhattan House — landmark mid-century East 66th Street building, the era's design benchmark
- 175 East 77th Street — postwar Lenox Hill co-op nearby
- 1218 Third Avenue — postwar Third Avenue co-op nearby
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper East Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper East 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 Tower East?
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