151 East 78th Street

The building is 56 feet 8 inches wide on a 75-foot property line, and it runs to 170 feet at the roof, with terraces stepping back at the 12th, 14th and 15th floors. Sixteen stories on that frontage produces a tall, slender masonry building that reads as a well-mannered neighbour rather than an intrusion — the effect the classical vocabulary is there to achieve.

The offering plan's Schedule A sets out the composition precisely. Unit 1A is a 523-square-foot studio. The maisonette is a six-bedroom duplex of roughly 4,493 square feet with about 862 square feet of exterior space. Floors 3 through 11 are single full-floor residences of approximately 3,966 square feet, laid out as five-bedroom homes. At the top, PHB is a simplex of roughly 3,381 square feet; PHC is a duplex of roughly 6,924 square feet with terrace; PHA is a duplex of roughly 6,975 square feet with nearly 1,958 square feet of exterior space. The residential total is 57,990 square feet — and PLUTO's building-area figure for this lot matches that number exactly, which is a useful confirmation that at least one city field here is right.

The full-floor plates are the building's core inventory and they are unusually consistent: nine near-identical homes on floors 3 through 11 means that, unusually for a boutique building, there is a real comparable set inside the building itself. Differentiation runs on floor, light and condition rather than on layout.

Two structural points a buyer should register. First, some windows are lot-line windows, and the offering plan discloses that unit owners may lose the light and air they provide if an adjoining property builds, with no compensation payable. Second, the plan records that a chimney on the neighbouring landowner's building may require extension as a consequence of this building's construction. At the time of filing the sponsor did not anticipate that the extension would be required, and expected no ongoing financial obligation of the condominium — but the sponsor took on the obligation to construct and maintain it if needed, together with a chimney access easement, and that maintenance obligation passes to the Condominium. It is contingent, it may never bite, and it should still be confirmed as part of diligence.

The offering plan's first-year budget documents the service model: a resident manager, a 24-hour, seven-day concierge, and a daytime porter, projected as a non-union staff. The cellar houses a fitness room, a private storage room for each residence, a package room and the resident manager's apartment, the latter a general common element. Published records add a resident library and a landscaped garden.

The budget also sets out what common charges actually cover. Heat and hot water are supplied by an oil-fired plant burning number 2 fuel oil, with consumption projected at roughly 21,000 gallons a year at the plan's filing — worth noting, because oil-fired heat carries fuel-price exposure and, in a fourteen-unit building, a conversion decision is a large per-unit number. Cooking gas is not separately metered to the residences and is carried as a common expense. Common-area electricity, water and sewer, repairs and maintenance, services and supplies, insurance, management, legal and audit, administration, a reserve fund line and a contingency complete the budget. Residences are separately metered for their own electricity.

The building is now roughly a decade old and its capital posture is the thing to underwrite. Its Cycle 9 façade report was filed on February 20, 2024 with a status of SWARMP — safe, with a repair and maintenance programme outstanding. Ask for the qualified inspector's report, the scope and cost of the programme, whether the work has been completed, and whether it was funded from reserves or by assessment. Ask also for the current reserve position against the plan's original reserve line, the boiler service history, and any resolution on the neighbouring chimney.

The lot is not designated, and the surrounding designations make that easy to misread.

LPC's own designated-building database, queried by tax lot, shows two clusters on Manhattan block 1413. At the western end, toward Park Avenue, the Upper East Side Historic District covers 111 through 127 East 78th Street and 885, 891 and 895 Park Avenue. At the eastern end, four individually designated houses — 157, 159, 161 and 163–165 East 78th Street, all built in 1861 — carry landmark status in their own right. Former lot 23, now condominium lot 7503, appears in neither group. The offering plan's own zoning analysis records the same conclusion, and the Department of Buildings new-building application carries landmark status "N."

The practical consequences are the usual ones: no LPC permit is required for exterior work at this building, and its own alteration path runs through DOB alone. The neighbours are a different matter. The landmarked houses immediately east are protected in perpetuity, and the lots contributing development rights to this building's zoning lot have given up the floor area that would have allowed them to grow. Both facts materially reduce the risk to the building's eastern light — which, on an interior Manhattan lot, is worth more than it sounds.

Purchaser approval. There is none. The plan states expressly that the Condominium Board has no right to approve or disapprove potential purchasers, and that the Board cannot therefore limit the number of units bought for investment or resale. This is the ordinary condominium bargain and it is the building's principal structural difference from the prewar cooperatives around it.

Right of first refusal. The by-laws give the Board a right of first refusal to lease or purchase a unit. During the sponsor's initial control period the Board required the sponsor's written consent to exercise it. That control period ran, on the plan's terms, until the latest of ninety-five per cent of units closing, three years after the final temporary certificate of occupancy, and issuance of the final certificate of occupancy — which places its expiry in 2019. Confirm current practice, notice periods and documentation requirements with the managing agent before signing a lease or a contract.

Pets. Dogs, caged birds, cats, small reptiles and fish are permitted under the by-laws subject to written permission, with no more than two pets in a residence without Board or sponsor consent, a pet agreement indemnifying the condominium, and a requirement that animals use designated elevators rather than the public portions of the building.

Leasing, flip tax and house rules. Not established by the plan sections reviewed for this page. Confirm with the managing agent.

Alterations. The plan requires unit owners undertaking construction to work under a form Construction Agreement annexed to the plan. Any buyer planning a renovation should read that agreement before contract, not after.

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 (2023) cleared a median $3,326/sf (recorded) across 1 sale. Median listing discount -1.8% over ask.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01413-7503; 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 assessment roll shows no exemption. Zero exemption in every assessment roll since FY2016/17. That does not rule out a bill-level abatement; check the apartment's tax bill, and underwrite the monthly number, not the price.

The façade programme is live. The Cycle 9 filing carries a SWARMP status as of February 2024. Establish the scope, the cost, whether it is complete, and how it was funded before you commit.

Ask about the chimney. The zoning lot agreement contemplates a possible chimney extension on the neighbour's building whose maintenance obligation would fall to the condominium. It may be moot. Confirm that it is.

The zoning lot is bigger than the tax lot. That is why the building is the size it is. Whether it limits what the eastern neighbours can build depends on the zoning lot development agreement and any light-and-air easements; ask counsel to review both as part of title.

Lot-line windows carry risk. The plan discloses that light and air from lot-line windows can be lost without compensation. Identify which windows in the specific residence are lot-line windows.

Read the Construction Agreement before you plan a renovation. Alteration work at this building is governed by a form agreement annexed to the offering plan.

Mansion tax applies at $1 million or more. Run pricing through the Mansion Tax Calculator and the full carry through the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator.

Lead with the architecture, and lead with the award. The Stanford White Award is an outside verdict from a body with no commercial interest in the building. Describe the award accurately alongside the building’s design and construction history.

Then lead with the plate. Roughly 3,966 square feet on a single full floor, five bedrooms, private elevator landing, in a new building on a Lenox Hill mid-block. That specification competes directly with prewar cooperative classic sixes and sevens and wins on systems, ceiling condition and the absence of a board interview.

Explain the light. The landmarked houses to the east and the exhausted development rights on the contributing lots mean the eastern exposure is unusually secure. That is a documented argument, not a sales line.

Get the capital picture straight before listing. A SWARMP façade status is a normal condition of a ten-year-old building, but a buyer who discovers it in diligence reads it as a surprise. Present it with the scope and the funding plan attached.

Closings follow the condominium process. No co-op board interview; purchases run through the condominium's application and right-of-first-refusal process. Confirm its requirements and timing in the declaration and bylaws.

If you're considering 151 East 78th Street, also evaluate:

• 155 East 79th Street — BKSK Architects for Anbau, 2016; seven duplexes one block north; a comparison for scale, vintage and tax treatment
• The Benson (1045 Madison Avenue) — Peter Pennoyer Architects for Naftali Group, 2022; the same architect; compare dated sales and apartment features
• 260 East 72nd Street — Peter Pennoyer Architects design; boutique Upper East Side condominium
• 167 East 78th Street — immediate neighbour on the same block front
• 170 East 78th Street — building directly across the street; verify tenure and policies
• 135 East 79th Street — 2012 boutique condominium one block north
• 109 East 79th Street — nearby condominium; confirm completion dates before comparing vintage
• 126 East 86th Street (ARLOPARC) — 2024 contemporary-traditional condominium, also unabated
• 175 East 74th Street — established Lenox Hill alternative a few blocks south
• 124 East 79th Street (The Belgravia) — larger full-service condominium nearby