131 East 81st Street
131 East 81st Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues · Upper East Side
Upper East Side
BBL 1015100015 · BIN 1047559
- Year built
- 1926
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- No
Every recorded sale at this building, 2005–2025
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 2BR median
- $1.4M
- Recent range
- $1.4M – $1.6M
- Listing discount
- 3.0%
- Recorded transfers
- 18
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at 131 East 81st Street 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.
131 East 81st Street puts 16 cooperative residences in an 18-story tower between Park and Lexington Avenues. Full-floor apartments account for much of its inventory, and keyed elevator access leads directly into the homes. A duplex penthouse occupies the top two floors, with terraces on both levels and a separate private roof deck.
Architecture and unit composition
The red-brick building rises above the lower street wall. Its windows follow a regular vertical pattern, with balconies and terraces interrupting the elevation at selected homes. Higher floors have multiple exposures and open city views.
The interior inventory is wider than a single repeated floor plan. Recorded apartment areas include homes around 1,350–1,800 square feet and a much larger lower-floor residence of approximately 2,890 square feet. Two-bedroom layouts recur, but the building also contains larger configurations. Floor-through homes, an expanded lower-floor apartment and the penthouse are separate categories within the co-op.
The penthouse's outdoor space is spread over several levels; the upper terraces and roof connect to a duplex interior. Elsewhere, outdoor space includes smaller balconies and Juliet balconies. An apartment's floor plan therefore determines whether its outdoor feature is a usable terrace or a smaller opening off an interior room.
Building operations
A resident superintendent, virtual doorman and video intercom provide the building's service structure. Resident storage is available, and staff handle packages. In-unit washer/dryers appear in the apartment inventory.
Ownership is through 131 East 81st Street Owners Corp., the proprietary lessor identified in New York court records. Its small number of apartments supports an elevator tower and resident staff, so those common services are shared across only 16 residences.
Policy framework
Pets: Permitted — confirm with the managing agent. Pied-à-terre ownership: Permitted — confirm with the managing agent. Subletting: Permitted subject to co-op rules — confirm with the managing agent.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 4, 2025 | PH15 | 2 BR · 1.5 BA · 1,075 sf | $1,385,000 | $1,288/sf | -7.4% |
| Oct 12, 2023 | 10 | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,350 sf | $1,565,000 | $1,159/sf | -10.6% |
| Dec 21, 2022 | PHA | 2 BR · 2.5 BA | $2,950,000 | -15.6% | |
| Mar 4, 2022 | 9 | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,825,000 | +4.3% | |
| Oct 28, 2019 | 2A | 4 BR · 4 BA · 2,886 sf | $2,975,000 | $1,031/sf | -9.8% |
| Mar 29, 2017 | 14A | 2 BR · 1.5 BA | $1,250,000 | +2.0% | |
| Oct 23, 2014 | 10 | 2 BR | $1,579,184 | -1.0% | |
| Jun 9, 2014 | 9 | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,700,000 | -2.9% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $1,288/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 3.1% 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 1-01510-0015) 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.
Buying here? Co-op closing costs typically run 2 to 3% of the price. See NYC co-op and condo closing costs, line by line.
Keep up with 131 East 81st Street and its market
The Roebling Report, monthly: Manhattan sales data and analysis, including buildings like131 East 81st Street. Unsubscribe anytime.
We’ll use your email for The Roebling Report and note your interest in this building. See our privacy policy.
Comparable buildings
- 133 East 80th Street: A small Rosario Candela cooperative with picturesque upper stories and large apartments.
- 139 East 79th Street: A prewar cooperative with roughly one residence per floor, designed by Louis Allen Abramson.
- The Gordon: A similarly small cooperative by Rouse & Goldstone, with prewar masonry and a formal entrance.
- 157 East 81st Street: A same-block prewar cooperative with a larger apartment count and limestone base.
- 112 East 83rd Street: A red-brick prewar cooperative with classical detailing and a lower midblock profile.
More Upper East Side buildings
- 130 East 63rd Street — 1991 condop
- 130 East 75th Street — 1928 co-op by Schwartz & Gross
- 130 East 94th Street — 1923 co-op by George F. Pelham
- 131 East 93rd Street — 1923 co-op
- 132 East 72nd Street — 1925 co-op
- The Touraine (132A East 65th Street) — 2013 condominium by H. Thomas O'Hara Architects
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, 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 131 East 81st Street?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.