- Year built
- 1899
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 19
- Floors
- 12
- Landmark
- Designated
- Pets
- Confirm specifics with the board at offer stage
- Subletting
- Permitted after an initial ownership period; specific terms set by the board — confirm at offer stage
140 Fifth Avenue is a pre-war loft cooperative in the former Corn Exchange Bank Building, a turn-of-the-century commercial structure designed by Robert Maynicke around 1899 and converted to residential lofts in 1977. Standing twelve stories at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 19th Street, in the heart of the Ladies' Mile Historic District, it holds just 19 loft residences behind a facade of cornices, carved stone, and terra-cotta detail. It is one of the district's early residential loft conversions — an intimate co-op in a building with genuine architectural provenance.
The appeal is authentic Flatiron loft living at rare boutique scale. With only 19 homes, high ceilings, oversized casement windows, and no two floor plans quite alike, the building offers the volume and character that draw buyers to the district, in a well-managed cooperative on one of Fifth Avenue's most storied stretches. For a buyer who values pre-war provenance, a landmark setting, and the stability of a small, established co-op, 140 Fifth Avenue is a distinctive fit.
Building operations
140 Fifth Avenue operates as a professionally managed cooperative with a full-time superintendent and part-time porter, three elevators (including a passenger elevator upgraded in 2025), and basement and bicycle storage. As a cooperative, ownership is through shares in the Fifth Avenue Loft Corporation with a proprietary lease, and purchases are subject to the board's approval process — a board package and an in-person interview. Financing is subject to the board's maximum, and pied-à-terre use is considered case by case, subject to board approval. Subletting is generally permitted after an initial ownership period, with specific terms set by the board. The financing maximum, any flip tax, and exact sublet terms should be confirmed at offer stage.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $5,628/yr
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $41,827/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $22 – $166
Facade safety — Local Law 11
Safe to live in today — but the last inspection flagged repairs that are due on a deadline, so facade work and its cost are coming. Whether that’s a real concern depends on the scope, the timing, and how the building plans to pay for it — reserves or an assessment — which is exactly what we’d dig into for you.
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent). Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library.
See the full facade history →What to know if you’re buying
The buying path is a cooperative path. You'll assemble a board package documenting finances, employment, and references, and you should expect a board interview; the board reviews and approves the purchase. Financing is subject to the co-op's maximum, so plan your down payment against that cap, and expect the board to focus on post-closing liquidity and debt-to-income as much as purchase price. Diligence centers on the building's financial statements and reserves, the proprietary lease and house rules, any assessments or capital plans, and — given the building's age and 1977 conversion — the condition of the systems and the maintenance history.
The reasons to buy are authentic pre-war loft character, a landmark Ladies' Mile setting, and the stability of a small, well-managed, long-established cooperative on one of Flatiron's most desirable corners.
What to know if you’re selling
The story is provenance and scarcity: a pre-war loft co-op in Robert Maynicke's former Corn Exchange Bank Building, one of the Ladies' Mile District's early conversions, with only 19 unique homes. Pricing is apartment-specific and read on a per-room basis, so the right approach is to position the individual home's narrative — its volume, light, and character — and benchmark it against the correct comparable tier of pre-war Flatiron loft co-ops, rather than the broad neighborhood number. With so few homes, comparable supply is limited, which favors a well-prepared seller.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 140 Fifth Avenue, also look at these Flatiron and Fifth Avenue buildings:
- 141 Fifth Avenue — pre-war Fifth Avenue building nearby
- 129 Fifth Avenue — Flatiron loft building for comparison
- 105 Fifth Avenue — Fifth Avenue building near Union Square
- 108 Fifth Avenue — Flatiron loft building nearby
- 45 Fifth Avenue — pre-war Fifth Avenue co-op for comparison
- 40 Fifth Avenue — pre-war Fifth Avenue co-op nearby
The Roebling Team at Formerly the Corn Exchange Bank Building
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Flatiron, the Ladies' Mile district, and the broader Manhattan pre-war cooperative market. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers evaluating a boutique loft co-op deserve building-specific intelligence — the architecture, the landmark setting, the cooperative structure, and where pricing sits against the surrounding loft inventory. If you're weighing a purchase or sale at 140 Fifth Avenue, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Flatiron — read The Roebling Team Guide to Flatiron.
Get the full picture on this building.
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Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A broker’s honest answer to three questions — what your apartment would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — for your apartment at Formerly the Corn Exchange Bank Building, in this market. Put together by a person, not an algorithm.