The Gotham (1538 Third Avenue)
1538 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10028
Carnegie Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1015157503 · BIN 1047961
- Year built
- 1991
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 239
- Floors
- 27
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Permitted under condominium rules
- Financing
- Up to 90 percent (10 percent minimum down payment)
- Flip tax
- Confirm any current transfer fee at offer stage
Every recorded sale at this building, 2000–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $1,630
- Listing discount
- 2.7%
- Recorded sales
- 260
- On record
- 2000–2026
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Gotham would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — reviewed personally against condition, exposures, renovation quality, and the competition actually on the market.
The Gotham is the amenity-rich Carnegie Hill condominium that sits atop a movie theater — a roughly 27-story Frank Williams-designed tower built in 1991 by William Zeckendorf Jr., with a residential address at 170 East 87th Street and a Third Avenue base occupied by the AMC Orpheum 7. Its combination of an 82-foot indoor pool, a full below-grade health club, and low-down-payment financing makes it one of the more accessible full-amenity condominiums in the neighborhood, and one with an unusually deep facilities program for its era.
The building's appeal is the amenity plant paired with condominium flexibility at a relatively attainable entry. The 82-foot indoor pool is among the longest in a residential building in the area; the health club, the residents' lounge with a grand piano and catering kitchen, the landscaped third-floor terrace with a playground, and 43 storage units give the building a full-service profile. As a condominium permitting up to 90 percent financing — a 10 percent down payment — it opens to a materially wider buyer pool than the co-ops nearby, which typically require 20 to 30 percent down and impose board thresholds.
The AMC theater at the base is the building's distinguishing quirk and the explanation for the cinema entity that shows as the commercial-lot owner of record. The multiplex opened in 1991 on the site of the demolished 1914 Loew's Orpheum, and the residential condominium sits above it with its own entrance and services — the theater and the homes operate independently.
Architecture and unit composition
Frank Williams's design is a post-modern masonry tower organized into two residential wings, which gives the plan a range of exposures and creates the corner and setback lines that carry the building's terraces. Select units include wood-burning fireplaces and private outdoor space — features that trade at a premium. The base is the AMC Orpheum multiplex, also designed by Williams, which grounds the tower on the Third Avenue retail spine.
The roughly 239 residences run from one-bedrooms through two- and three-bedroom homes, including duplexes, with the fireplace and terrace lines and the higher floors commanding the strongest premiums. Interiors carry central air conditioning and the early-1990s luxury-condominium finish standard, with many units renovated by owners. Because the two-wing plan and the mix of simplexes and duplexes create distinct comparable sets, same-line, same-configuration comparables are the correct pricing basis.
Building operations
The Gotham operates as a full-service condominium with an unusually deep amenity plant: a 24-hour doorman and concierge, the below-grade health club, the 82-foot indoor pool with sauna and lockers, the residents' lounge with grand piano and catering kitchen, a children's playroom, the landscaped third-floor terrace with playground, 43 storage units, cold storage, an on-site garage, central air conditioning, and a live-in superintendent. Common charges reflect the staffing and the pool-and-club maintenance a program this large requires. Buyers should confirm the specific unit's carry, review the reserve position and any assessment during diligence, and understand the commercial-lease relationship with the AMC base as part of the building's economics.
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available FISP filing classified the facade as Safe — no repairs were required at that inspection. Facade inspections run on a fixed five-year cycle; future inspection, repair, and any assessment decisions remain building-specific.
How to read this, and where it comes from
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. City record last verified September 2026.
Recent sales
The Gotham trades as an accessible, amenity-deep Carnegie Hill condominium where the pool, the health club, and the 90-percent-financing flexibility drive absorption. Pricing runs unit-by-unit: the fireplace and terrace lines, the duplexes, and the higher floors carry premiums, and the building's liquid market reflects its wide buyer pool. Recorded sales auto-populate from public records; unit-level history and current same-line comparables are maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence. Same-line, same-configuration comparables — not blended per-foot averages across simplexes and duplexes — are the correct analytical unit.
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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 23, 2026 | W17H | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,100 sf | $1,500,000 | $1,364/sf | -1.6% |
| Aug 31, 2026 | E10A | 3 BR · 3 BA · 1,762 sf | $3,050,000 | $1,731/sf | +1.7% |
| Mar 30, 2026 | E17C | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,457 sf | $2,375,000 | $1,630/sf | -4.8% |
| Mar 24, 2026 | W7C | 3 BR · 3 BA · 1,706 sf | $2,910,000 | $1,706/sf | -9.1% |
| Jan 27, 2026 | E9GH | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,634 sf | $1,595,000 | $976/sf | -2.4% |
| Jan 27, 2026 | E9H | 1 BR · 645 sf | $1,595,000 | $2,473/sf | off-mkt |
| Jan 26, 2026 | W7H | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,046 sf | $1,399,000 | $1,337/sf | +0.0% |
| Dec 23, 2025 | E8D | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 875 sf | $975,000 | $1,114/sf | -2.0% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,630/sf (recorded) across 7 sales. Median listing discount 2.7% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
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 1-01515-7503). 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.
Closed rents at The Gotham, last 36 months
| Size | Leases | Median / month |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 2 | $3,750 |
| 1 bedroom | 6 | $4,750 |
| 2 bedroom | 3 | $8,000 |
| 3 bedroom | 3 | $13,000 |
| 4 bedroom | 3 | $20,000 |
17 closed leases, October 2023 to September 2026. Most recent lease June 2026. Sizes with fewer than 2 leases are not shown. Compiled by The Roebling Team at Compass from closed leases.
At the recent median sale of $1.65M (21 sales since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $69,237 to close, or 4.2% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $16,500
- Mortgage recording tax: $23,822
- Title insurance: $7,425
- Attorneys, lender, building fees, reserves and filings: $21,490
Assumes a resale (the seller pays transfer taxes), a $4,500 attorney fee and a mortgage on the rest.
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What to know if you’re buying
The financing flexibility is a real advantage. Up to 90 percent financing — a 10 percent down payment — opens the building to buyers the co-ops nearby exclude. Confirm the current maximum in writing.
Buy the amenity plant deliberately. The 82-foot pool, the health club, and the residents' lounge are the reason to be here, and they carry cost. Confirm the current common charge, the reserve position, and any assessment on the specific unit. Run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator.
Fireplaces and terraces trade at a premium. The wood-burning-fireplace and terrace lines are the building's most distinctive. Use same-line comparables.
Understand the AMC base. The theater and the residences operate independently; the cinema entity on the commercial lot is the retail owner, not the residential sponsor. Review the commercial-lease posture as part of diligence.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the pool and the financing. The 82-foot indoor pool and the 90-percent-financing flexibility are the marketing headlines that reach the widest buyer pool. Use them.
Price the fireplace and terrace lines on their own set. The duplexes and outdoor-space units trade on a distinct comparable universe. Don't blend them into the building average.
Position the location and the amenity depth. Carnegie Hill / Yorkville at Third and 87th, with an amenity plant deeper than most peers — a combination worth stating plainly.
Closing timelines are condo-fast. 30–45 days from contract to closing; foreign and investor buyers are welcome under the declaration.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Gotham, also evaluate:
- The Lucida (151 East 85th) — full-service Carnegie Hill condominium nearby; comparable amenity depth
- Astor Terrace (245 East 93rd) — SOM-designed condominium with a private park; the northern peer
- Carnegie Park (200 East 94th) — Related condominium with a private park and pool; the amenity-condominium alternative
- 180 East 88th Street — the slim new-development condominium tower nearby; the new-construction alternative
- Carnegie Tower (115 East 87th) — full-service co-op one block over; the ownership-structure alternative
- 1250 Third Avenue — full-service Third Avenue condominium; the corridor peer
More Upper East Side buildings
- York Towers (1498 York Avenue) — 1960 co-op
- Continental Towers (1522 Second Avenue) — 1974 condominium by Philip Birnbaum & Associates
- 1523 Second Avenue — 1957 co-op
- 1562 York Avenue — 1965 co-op
- 1628 Second Avenue — 1915 condominium
- 1632 Second Avenue (The America) — 1987 condop
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, transit, and pricing across Upper East Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper East Side.
How to read the facts on this page. Items attributed to an offering plan describe the building as it was offered at that filing — unit mix, square footage, the amenity program as planned. They are not a statement about how the building operates today. Tax and compliance figures are sourced separately to current City records and carry their own dates. House rules, staffing and fee policy can change by board resolution without any public filing: treat every policy line here as a starting point for diligence and confirm it with the managing agent. Where this page compares one building or neighborhood to another, that is our analysis of the recorded record — it names the measure, the period and the sample it rests on, and it is an observation about medians rather than a prediction about any particular apartment.
Considering a move at The Gotham?
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