- Year built
- 1929
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 75
- Floors
- 9
- Landmark
- Designated
- Amenities
- Planted roof deck with open city views, garden, elevator
- Pets
- Permitted per listing records
- Financing
- Up to 80 percent permitted per listing records — verify at offer stage
139 West 82nd Street is the Upper West Side's classic mid-block proposition executed well: a 1929 Gronenberg & Leuchtag apartment house — the same prolific firm behind a long roster of the West Side's 1920s luxury buildings, including the Clifton House on 79th Street — on a tree-lined block between Columbus and Amsterdam, inside the Upper West Side / Central Park West Historic District. At nine stories and 75 units across 125 feet of frontage, it is scaled between the boutique walk-up stock and the avenue's large full-service houses, which is precisely the format many West Side buyers are hunting: pre-war proportions and a staffed lobby without trophy-co-op pricing or trophy-co-op board posture.
The policy framework is the structural story for buyers. Listing records describe financing up to 80 percent, pied-à-terre ownership permitted, and a comparatively flexible sublet policy — a materially more open stack than the neighborhood's stricter co-ops, where 50–75 percent financing caps and primary-residence-only postures are standard. Paired with a 1979-era conversion per brokerage records and decades of co-op operation since, the building functions as one of the corridor's more accessible pre-war entries. As always, current terms should be verified with the managing agent at offer stage — board policies move.
The setting completes the case. West 82nd between Columbus and Amsterdam sits in the museum blocks' quiet interior: Central Park a block and a half east, Theodore Roosevelt Park and the Museum of Natural History two blocks south, the 1 train at Broadway and the B/C at Central Park West bracketing the block. The building's planted roof deck — with open views over the low historic-district rooflines — is the kind of amenity this stock rarely offers.
Architecture and unit composition
Gronenberg & Leuchtag gave the building a Renaissance-inspired brick facade and an interior sequence that survives: a lobby with coffered ceiling and stained glass per brokerage records, leading to a 75-unit mix that runs from studios and one-bedrooms through combined family-scale homes. The wide 125-foot plan produces a high count of light-bearing lines for a mid-block building, and the 9-story height keeps the house under the surrounding R8B-scaled streetwall — upper floors and the roof deck clear the brownstone rooflines to open sky. Apartments carry standard pre-war vocabulary: defined foyers, high ceilings, and detail that renovates well. Condition varies unit to unit, and pricing tracks it.
Building operations
The building runs a near-full-service model: doorman coverage from roughly 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. per listing records rather than a 24-hour post, plus a live-in resident manager and staff. The trade-off is deliberate — service through the hours that matter against lower payroll in maintenance. The roof deck and garden are the shared-amenity program; there is no garage or fitness room documented. Building financials and current policy terms should be obtained from the managing agent during diligence; The Roebling Research Library's document file for the building is growing and we verify terms transaction by transaction.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $5,393/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $6
Recent sales
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Recent transfers at this building, sourced from NYC Department of Finance records. Apartment-level detail (line, condition, asking-price context) verified upon consultation request.
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 28, 2025 | 8B | $905,000 |
| Jan 24, 2025 | 3F | $1,695,000 |
| Sep 6, 2024 | 5C | $1,500,000 |
| May 16, 2024 | 3GH | $2,100,000 |
| Nov 14, 2023 | 1B | $740,000 |
| Apr 11, 2023 | 4D | $891,000 |
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 1-01213-0009) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
The policy stack is the value. Eighty percent financing, pied-à-terre permission, and a flexible sublet posture per listing records make this one of the more open boards in the museum blocks. If your profile is thin on liquidity or you need flexibility, this framework matters more than finishes — but verify every term with the managing agent before offering, and run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator first.
Calibrate the door coverage. An 8 a.m.–2 a.m. door is not a 24-hour door. For most owners the difference is invisible; for late-arrival lifestyles and heavy package flow it is worth thinking through honestly.
The historic district shapes alterations. Interior renovations run through the board; anything touching windows or the facade also runs through the city's historic-district review. Budget timeline accordingly and review the alteration agreement during diligence.
Confirm the conversion-era documents. The 1979 conversion date is carried in brokerage records; the offering plan and amendments should be reviewed by your attorney to settle share allocation, sublet mechanics, and any flip tax.
Roof deck views are part of the price. The planted deck's open outlook over the district's protected rooflines is functionally permanent — low-rise zoning and the historic district sit between the building and most future development. It is a real amenity; weigh it.
What to know if you’re selling
Sell the framework alongside the apartment. The financing and flexibility posture widens your buyer pool relative to stricter neighboring co-ops — make sure the listing states it plainly, because buyers' agents screen on these terms.
Condition honesty wins. The spread between renovated and estate condition in this stock is wide and known. Anchor to same-line and same-condition history; run the Renovation Cost Calculator against your asking strategy if the unit needs work.
Lead with the block and the light. Tree-lined mid-block quiet, museum-park geography, and the wide floor plate's light are the buyer's first impressions. Market the roof deck with the apartment — it photographs as the building's signature.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 139 West 82nd Street, also evaluate:
- 127 West 79th Street — the Clifton House; the same architects at larger, full-service scale three blocks south
- 145 West 79th Street — pre-war co-op in the same Columbus-Amsterdam pocket
- 170 West 76th Street — comparable mid-block pre-war co-op south of the museum
- 215 West 84th Street — the like-for-like pre-war co-op two blocks north
- 35 West 90th Street — pre-war co-op in the park blocks further north
- The Bolivar — Central Park West post-war alternative at the museum
- The Belnord — the full-block condominium at 86th Street; the condo step-up
- The Apthorp — the corridor's trophy full-block conversion; the prestige tier
The Roebling Team at 139 West 82nd Street
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Upper West Side museum blocks — the 76th-through-86th Street mid-blocks between Central Park West and Broadway — as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because West 82nd Street buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — policy framework, historic-district mechanics, and block-level comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 139 West 82nd Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.