1254 Madison Avenue
1254 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10128
Carnegie Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1015020017
- Year built
- 1927
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark status
- Requires confirmation
- City records and our profile differ. Confirm with building management.
- Pied-à-terre
- Permitted
- Pets
- Pets permitted with conditions; species not stated
- Doorman
- Full-time doorman
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 2BR median, 2026
- $2.6M
- 2 qualifying sales
- Recent range
- $1.7M – $6.2M
- Listing discount
- 0.0%
- Recorded transfers
- 49
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at 1254 Madison Avenue 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.
1254 Madison Avenue — known to residents by its quieter side-street entrance at 21 East 90th Street — is a 1927 George F. Pelham cooperative on one of Carnegie Hill's most coveted park blocks. The corner sits steps from the grand 90th Street entrance to Central Park and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, a block from the Cooper Hewitt and the Museum Mile cultural spine, on the residential heart of the Upper East Side where almost everything is a prewar co-op with a board.
What sets the building apart is its intimacy and its prewar craft. Pelham designed it with just two apartments per landing across two elevator banks with keyed access, and every residence has a wood-burning fireplace — a rare amenity even by Carnegie Hill standards. The facade reads in the building's own register: beige brick detailed with the Art Deco and medieval-Gothic flourishes Pelham favored in the late 1920s, a canopied entrance, and landscaped sidewalk planting that signals the white-glove operation behind the door.
Architecture and unit composition
The building belongs to the moment when the apartment house had matured into a genuine alternative to the townhouse for established families. Its fourteen stories carry classic six-, seven-, and eight-room layouts with grand foyers, graceful room-to-room flow, soaring ceilings, crown moldings, herringbone floors, and oversized windows — and the wood-burning fireplaces that give nearly every home a working hearth. Upper-floor apartments capture Central Park and reservoir views to the west; the two-per-landing plan limits the number of neighboring entrances, but privacy and noise depend on the specific apartment, construction and activity.
With 50 residences across the full building, the cooperative is deliberately small. Pelham, one of the era's most productive apartment-house architects, gave it the solidity and proportion that have kept it desirable for nearly a century.
Building operations
1254 Madison is a full-service white-glove cooperative: full-time door staff, a live-in resident manager, two keyed-access elevator banks, central laundry, private caged storage, and a bike room, with Madison Avenue retail at the base. The cooperative is pet-friendly and welcomes pied-à-terre purchasers. Financing is permitted to 50% of the purchase price; confirm the current maximum and liquidity requirements with the managing agent. A transfer fee may apply at closing under house policy.
Sublet and pied-à-terre policy
A condominium owner leasing a unit and a co-op shareholder subletting are different rules, and a building-wide rule is different from a restriction on one apartment. This is the building's rule; confirm it for the specific apartment.
- Subletting by shareholders
- Not verified
- Pied-à-terre ownership
- PermittedSource: The Roebling Team's building profile
Considering an apartment here? Send Corey the listing to discuss the sublet and pied-à-terre rules for that apartment.
Own an apartment here? Request an apartment-specific pricing review.
Pets and in-unit washer/dryer
- Pets
- Pets permitted with conditions; species not statedThe cooperative is pet-friendly and welcomes pied-à-terre purchasers. The upside is rare: a fireplace-equipped prewar home on a Central Park block, in a small building that welcomes both pied-à-terre buyers and pets.Source: The Roebling Team's building profile
- In-unit washer/dryer
- Not verified
Considering an apartment here? Send Corey the listing to confirm the pet and washer/dryer rules for that apartment.
Monthly carrying charges in recent sales
- Maintenance, per room
- $774 per room a monthMedian of 5 recorded sales since October 2023Source: recorded sales, refreshed October 2026
- Maintenance, per square foot
- $2.72 per square foot a monthMedian of 3 recorded sales since October 2023Source: recorded sales, refreshed October 2026
Maintenance as recorded with each sale. A co-op's maintenance already covers the building's real estate taxes and the building's own mortgage, if it has one; add your own loan payment for the monthly outlay. A summary of recorded sales, not a current bill; charges change.
Building staffing and amenities
- Doorman
- Full-time doormanSource: The Roebling Team's building profile
- Live-in superintendent
- YesSource: The Roebling Team's building profile
- Elevator
- YesSource: NYC Department of City Planning records (PLUTO)
- Amenities noted
- Bike storage, laundry roomSource: The Roebling Team's building profile
Staffing and amenities as our building profile and recent listing records describe them. A feature not listed is not confirmed absent. Outdoor space, parking and some facilities can belong to particular apartments or to a separate owner; confirm access for the specific apartment.
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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 2026 | 3B | 2 BR · 2 BA | $2,650,000 | +0.0% | |
| Jul 9, 2026 | 3C | 2 BR · 2 BA | $2,500,000 | +8.9% | |
| Apr 3, 2026 | 2D | 3 BR · 2 BA · 1,600 sf | $1,700,000 | $1,063/sf | +3.0% |
| Jul 2, 2025 | 3A | 3 BR · 3.5 BA · 2,248 sf | $2,500,000 | $1,112/sf | -24.1% |
| Mar 28, 2024 | 12D | 3 BR · 2 BA | $2,575,000 | +29.1% | |
| Jan 30, 2024 | 11B | 3 BR · 3 BA · 1,800 sf | $2,351,027 | $1,306/sf | — |
| Dec 15, 2023 | 14AB | 4 BR · 4.5 BA | $6,195,000 | +0.0% | |
| Mar 23, 2023 | 5A | 3 BR · 3 BA | $3,220,000 | -14.1% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026 to date) cleared a median $1,136/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. Floor-adjusted means each sale is restated to a constant mix of floors, so the figure can differ from the plain median of the sales listed above. Median listing discount 0.0% from the last ask.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 8, 2005 | 5D | $1,665,000 |
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 1-01502-0017). 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.
What would your apartment rent for?
Enter your apartment and I'll send you what it would rent for, from comparable closed leases at 1254 Madison Avenue and nearby.
At the recent median sale of $2.5M (4 transfers in the past 24 months, since October 31, 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $45,800 to close, or 1.8% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $31,250
- No mortgage recording tax or title insurance on a co-op purchase
- Attorneys, lender, building fees and filings: $14,550
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
This is a board-approval cooperative. Underwrite to the 50% financing cap and confirm the board's post-closing liquidity requirement before you submit the package and sit for the interview. The upside is rare: a fireplace-equipped prewar home on a Central Park block, in a small building that welcomes both pied-à-terre buyers and pets. Budget for any transfer fee in your closing math, and let us pressure-test your package against what this board expects before you submit.
What to know if you’re selling
The marketing case writes itself: a George F. Pelham cooperative on a park block, a wood-burning fireplace in the home, two apartments per landing, and Central Park and reservoir steps away. Assess current competing inventory and recent Carnegie Hill prewar closings of similar size, floor and condition; preparation and a limited unit count do not establish scarcity or a qualified buyer response. Because the building's financing cap narrows the buyer field, packaging the apartment to the all-cash and well-capitalized buyer is part of the strategy. The Roebling Team builds the board-package narrative alongside the listing so the package reaches the board complete and well documented.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 1254 Madison Avenue, also evaluate these nearby Carnegie Hill and Upper East Side cooperatives:
- 1115 Madison Avenue — Madison Avenue cooperative to the south; confirm its construction date from primary records
- 1178 Madison Avenue — Madison Avenue cooperative nearby
- 1217 Madison Avenue — Carnegie Hill cooperative peer
- 1225 Madison Avenue — Madison Avenue cooperative nearby
- 35 East 85th Street — Carnegie Hill cooperative a few blocks south; confirm its construction date from primary records
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 1254 Madison Avenue?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.
646.939.7375 · c.cohen@compass.com