134 East 93rd Street (The Royal Carnegie)

The site is a corner lot of 5,539 square feet — 55 feet on East 93rd Street and roughly 101 feet along Lexington Avenue — with recorded floor area of 8.68 times the lot area against the C1-8X maximum FAR of 9.00. That simple comparison does not establish legal zoning floor area or permitted future work. The corner geometry is the building's principal architectural asset: unlike an interior Carnegie Hill lot, this one has two protected street frontages and light on both.

The base is commercial. Three commercial condominium units occupy roughly 8,339 square feet at and below grade, addressed to Lexington Avenue, and they are separately owned — one of them was sold out of the sponsorship in July 1992 and has traded independently since. Residential floors begin at the third and run to the fifteenth, with the elevation carrying red brick above a limestone-detailed base and a canopied entrance set on the quieter East 93rd Street side rather than on the avenue.

The residential plate holds two or three homes per floor, which is a small enough count that the corner exposures are shared across most of the inventory rather than concentrated in one line. The top of the building carries duplex and full-floor layouts — PH14, PH15A and PH15B in the recorded schedule, with a duplex arrangement across the fourteenth and fifteenth floors. Combinations reach the middle of the building as well: a 2018 alteration permit was filed to merge apartments 5A and 5B, and 7A and 8A are a recorded duplex. The practical consequence is that the published unit count is a weak guide to what actually exists. Confirm the room count, the exposures and the ceiling height against the current floor plan for the specific residence.

The Royal Carnegie runs as a full-service condominium: attended lobby, full-time doorman and concierge coverage, a fitness room, a private garden, a bicycle room and basement storage units. That service program serves thirty recorded residences, but the count and staffing alone do not establish higher common charges per square foot than a larger building; compare actual charges, allocation percentages and reliable apartment areas. Evaluate common charges against the operating budget and the specific unit rather than against the amenity list.

The building has maintained its exterior on a regular cycle: façade and terrace restoration work was filed and signed off in 2005–06 and again in 2011–12, with associated sidewalk sheds, scaffolding and debris chutes. Because the lot is not landmarked, that work proceeded without Landmarks Preservation Commission review, removing that approval step; actual cost and schedule comparisons still depend on work scope, bids and other approvals. Ask for the most recent façade-inspection filing status, the current reserve position, and whether any assessment is live or recently concluded.

Ownership form: Condominium. Purchases close through the board's right of first refusal rather than a cooperative-style approval, but the building does run a substantive application through management — the fee schedule and document requirements below are closer to a co-op package than to a minimal condominium waiver.

Pets: Permitted with conditions per management-sourced records. A dog requires the city license and current veterinary records with the application, and the pet must be current on required vaccinations. Confirm any weight or breed limits in the house rules.

Subletting: Permitted. Management runs a formal lease-application process carrying the same fee schedule as a purchase, so a landlord should budget the application, credit-report and move-in costs into every tenancy.

Pied-à-terre, LLC, trust and foreign ownership: Not documented; confirm in the declaration, bylaws and house rules.

Working capital contribution: Per management-sourced records, a purchaser pays a contribution equal to one month's common charges at application. No flip tax is documented; confirm with the managing agent before pricing a sale.

Application and move fees: $800 purchase application processing fee, $200 credit and background report per applicant and adult occupant, $750 move-in fee with a $1,500 refundable deposit, and $750 move-out fee with a $1,500 refundable deposit on the seller's side.

Real estate taxes: The exemption roll shows no exemption on the residential unit lots; abatements apply on the bill, so check the specific unit's tax bill and run True Monthly Carrying Cost analysis against it.

Recent sales

Recent closings 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. Most recent trades (2026 to date) cleared a median $1,240/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 2.7% 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 1-01521-7501; each condominium apartment is its own tax lot). 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 from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.

The lot is not landmarked, and that cuts both ways. The absence of LPC designation removes that review step for condominium exterior work, including an owner’s window replacement; it does not by itself establish a faster or cheaper completed project. It also means the building has none of the district protection that keeps the block around it stable, and neither does anything else on this lot line.

Do not trust the published unit count. Thirty residential lots were recorded; some may since have been combined. City data reports 27, 30 and 33 at different dates. Verify what exists on the floor you are buying on.

Underwrite the current tax bill. The available Department of Finance exemption record shows no 421-a, no J-51 and no exemption in any year; check the unit's bill for any bill-level abatement. There is no benefit expiration ahead, but future bills still change with assessments and rates.

The application is heavier than a typical condominium's. Management runs a full package with an $800 processing fee, per-applicant credit reports, move deposits and a working capital contribution equal to a month's common charges. Budget the closing costs and the timeline accordingly.

Understand the commercial units. Three separately owned commercial condominium units occupy the base, addressed to Lexington Avenue. Ask how they are governed under the declaration, what their common-charge share is, and what use restrictions apply.

Lead with the corner and the light. Two protected street frontages on a Carnegie Hill lot is a scarce condition, and it is the physical advantage that no amount of renovation at a mid-block competitor can replicate.

Correct the landmark assumption early. Buyers and their attorneys frequently assume any Carnegie Hill address sits inside the historic district. This lot does not, and for a buyer planning window or terrace work that is a positive, not a negative — but only if you tell them.

Price against condominiums, not co-ops. The prewar cooperatives on the surrounding blocks have entirely different economics, policies and buyer pools. The right comparable set is the small group of late-twentieth-century and newer Upper East Side condominiums.

Be direct about the tax posture. With no exemption on the roll there is no benefit step-up ahead, but the bill still changes with assessments and rates, and total cost against an abated competitor depends on each unit's charges and taxes. Present it up front with the True Monthly Carrying Cost analysis rather than letting it surface in diligence.

If you're considering The Royal Carnegie, also evaluate:

• 245 East 93rd Street — Astor Terrace, the SOM-designed 1985 Carnegie Hill condominium with a private gated park; the closest peer by vintage and type
• 1289 Lexington Avenue — The Hayworth, a 2019 HOK-designed Carnegie Hill condominium with SheltonMindel interiors; the newer full-service alternative on the same avenue
• 180 East 88th Street — DDG's 50-story hand-laid brick condominium; the new-development alternative a few blocks south
• 126 East 86th Street — ARLOPARC, a 28-residence 2024 condominium; the closest current-vintage boutique comparable, and also unabated
• 324 East 93rd Street — The Marx, a six-residence 2020 condominium on the same street in Yorkville; a different block and a much smaller building
• 125 East 93rd Street — a 1924 George F. Pelham cooperative directly across the street; the prewar co-op alternative
• 131 East 93rd Street — Frank Braun's 1923 cooperative on the same block; prewar scale and co-op economics
• 115 East 86th Street — a 1928 building converted to cooperative ownership in 1982; the larger prewar co-op option nearby
• 345 East 93rd Street — Mill Rock Plaza, a 32-story Yorkville co-op converted in the mid-1980s; the large-building alternative further east
• 340 East 93rd Street — Plymouth Tower, a 367-unit full-blockfront Yorkville cooperative with a rooftop pool; an amenity-heavy alternative; compare actual costs per unit and included services