139 East 94th Street

The offering plan describes a steel-and-concrete frame with brick and stone exterior, two elevators (passenger and service), three stairways, and a cellar with the superintendent's apartment, laundry and building systems. At conversion the building held 42 apartments of three to eight rooms and three stores.

Today there are 38 apartments. Floors carry up to four lines (A through D), and several of them have been combined, so a number of floors now have full-width apartments. Listing records describe the layouts: a two-bedroom (9A) with a 23-foot living room, wood-burning fireplace, windowed kitchen, butler's pantry and staff room; a four-bedroom (11C) with an enclosed windowed kitchen; and a one-bedroom (6D) with a dining alcove. Entry foyers and separate dining rooms recur across the plans in listing records.

The Lexington Avenue ground floor holds the two commercial spaces. The residential entrance is on East 94th Street under a canopy, one step up from the sidewalk.

The 2023 audited statements show a building with about $2.0 million of annual income, 18,900 shares, and maintenance billed at about $90 per share per year. Commercial rent contributed about $219,000 in 2023. Under the two current ten-year leases, one starting in 2022 and one in 2024, minimum base rent is about $252,000 in 2024 and rises each year. Both leases run into 2032–2033.

The big capital item was the Local Law 11 façade restoration. The contract, including change orders, came to about $938,000, and the work was substantially complete at the end of 2023. That year's capital spending, about $1.02 million, also covered riser valves and the water tank. The board raised maintenance 7.5 percent from January 2024 and approved a $200,000 capital assessment billed from March 2024. The corporation had about $670,000 in cash and Treasury bills at year-end 2023. Tax certiorari proceedings, which challenge the building's assessed value, were pending for the 2018/19 through 2023/24 tax years.

The statements also note that the corporation has not commissioned a reserve study. That is common in Manhattan co-ops, but it means future capital needs are funded as they come, through reserves, borrowing or assessments.

• Flip tax: 2 percent of the purchase price, paid by the buyer, per the audited financial statements.
• Financing: Up to 66.7 percent, per listing records. That is more conservative than the 75 to 80 percent many Carnegie Hill co-ops allow.
• Pets: Permitted, per listing records.
• Cooperative abatement: Available for primary residences only; units owned by LLCs or held as a sponsor's unsold shares do not qualify, per the 2023 statements.

Not documented: sublet terms, pied-à-terre use, trust and LLC purchases, and the post-closing liquidity requirement. Confirm each with the managing agent.

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01523-0014) 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.

Plan for one-third down. At a 66.7 percent financing ceiling, add the 2 percent buyer-paid flip tax to your closing cash. Run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator with both.

Ask when the mortgage matures. The loan is interest-only at 2.875 percent. The credit line matures in 2031, and the mortgage probably does too, but the statements don't say. Refinancing at current rates would raise maintenance. Ask for the maturity date and the board's plan.

Get the current assessment schedule. The 2024 maintenance increase and capital assessment followed the façade work. Ask whether either continues and what the next capital project is.

Budget for landmark review. Window replacements, through-wall air-conditioning sleeves and any exterior change need LPC approval. DOB records show a steady run of apartment renovations and through-wall HVAC work here, so it can be done, but allow time.

Lead with the completed façade work. A buyer's engineer will ask about Local Law 11. The 2022–2023 restoration is finished, and that is a selling point. Have the latest filing ready.

Present the retail income. Two signed ten-year leases with annual increases support the budget. Put the lease terms in the listing package.

Address the financing ceiling up front. Buyers used to 75 or 80 percent financing will need to know about 66.7 percent before they bid.

If you're considering 139 East 94th Street, also evaluate:

• 152 East 94th Street — Boak & Paris's 1938 Art Deco doorman cooperative diagonally across the intersection; the same architects a decade later
• 155 East 93rd Street — a late-1920s doorman cooperative on Lexington one block south, outside the historic district
• 150 East 93rd Street — a 1923 cooperative at the southeast corner of Lexington and 93rd, also outside the district
• 1435 Lexington Avenue — George & Edward Blum's 1925 cooperative on Lexington at 94th
• 125 East 93rd Street and 131 East 93rd Street — 1920s cooperatives west of Lexington, inside the district
• 1185 Park Avenue — Schwartz & Gross's 1928–29 courtyard cooperative; the Park Avenue step up
• 1199 Park Avenue — the 1961 postwar cooperative on the same tax block, on Park Avenue
• 49 East 96th Street — a Carnegie Hill prewar cooperative at the north edge of the neighborhood