157 East 74th Street
157 East 74th Street, New York, NY 10021
BBL 1014097501 · BIN 1082906
- Year built
- 1985
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 19
- Floors
- 11
- Landmark
- In a historic district
- Pets
- Confirm current rules at offer stage
- Subletting
- Permitted under the condominium declaration
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf (floor-adjusted)
- $1,506
- Listing discount
- 5.4%
- Recorded sales
- 27
- On record
- 2003–2026
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at 157 East 74th Street 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.
157 East 74th Street — Saga House — is a full-service boutique condominium in the heart of Lenox Hill, mid-block between Lexington and Third Avenues. Built new in 1985–1986, it is a compact 11-story building of just 19 residences with the service package buyers want on these blocks: a 24-hour doorman and a live-in superintendent.
The appeal is straightforward. For the buyer who wants a doorman condominium — with the flexibility that condo ownership brings — on a quiet Upper East Side side street, without the board process of a cooperative and without a trophy-tier price, Saga House is a sensible, well-located choice. Several apartments carry private terraces or balconies and wood-burning fireplaces, features that trade at a premium in the neighborhood.
Architecture and unit composition
The building was completed in 1985–1986 as a ground-up condominium — contemporary infill rather than a pre-war conversion. It holds 19 residences across 11 floors, roughly one to two apartments per floor, with ground-floor commercial space beneath. Layouts are practical and light-filled; balconies and terraces on several lines, in-unit laundry, and wood-burning fireplaces in some units distinguish the inventory. (The architect is not documented in the public record.)
Building operations
157 East 74th operates as a full-service condominium: a 24-hour doorman, a live-in superintendent, an elevator, central laundry with in-unit washer/dryers, and the private outdoor space many units enjoy. As a condominium, ownership is by deed: purchases do not require board approval, financing is a matter between buyer and lender, and pied-à-terre, investment, and subletting uses are permitted under the declaration. Confirm the current pet policy and any building rules at offer stage.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $6,827/yr
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $50,618/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $30 – $222
- Modeled exposure split equally across 19 units (the city tax-lot count). Not an assessed amount; co-op shareholders are typically charged by share allocation.
Source: NYC LL84 benchmarking and PLUTO · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
See full Local Law 97 analysis — emissions history, scenarios, methodology →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.
Management & transfer contacts
- Flip tax
- None (Buyer transfer fee 1% of gross purchase price to building)
- Sublet policy
- Condo leasing; see condo lease fees
- Notable fees
- App processing $700; credit $150/applicant; move deposits $1,000; closing doc prep $300; lease processing $550
Recent sales
Condominium pricing is read on a per-square-foot basis, and 157 East 74th trades as a full-service boutique Lenox Hill condo priced below the trophy tier. With only 19 residences, resale volume is thin. When underwriting a purchase or a list price, capture the floor, the exposure, private-outdoor-space, fireplace, and renovation condition rather than relying on a neighborhood average. Genuinely variable figures should be confirmed at offer stage.
Unit-level transaction history is maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2026 | 9B | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 851 sf | $1,225,000 | $1,439/sf | -12.2% |
| Nov 1, 2024 | 4C | 2 BR · 2.5 BA · 1,277 sf | $2,500,000 | $1,958/sf | -2.0% |
| Oct 31, 2024 | 4B | 851 sf | $1,500,000 | $1,763/sf | off-mkt |
| Apr 26, 2024 | 5BC | 3 BR · 3 BA · 2,200 sf | $4,025,000 | $1,830/sf | -5.3% |
| Aug 6, 2021 | 3A | 2 BR · 2.5 BA · 1,298 sf | $2,400,000 | $1,849/sf | -7.7% |
| Jun 25, 2018 | 3B | 1 BR · 856 sf | $1,850,000 | $2,161/sf | +32.1% |
| Aug 30, 2017 | 3C | 2 BR · 1,277 sf | $2,550,000 | $1,997/sf | off-mkt |
| Mar 7, 2017 | 8A | 2 BR · 1,430 sf | $2,800,000 | $1,958/sf | -1.8% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,506/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. Floor-adjusted means each sale is restated to a constant mix of floors, so the figure can differ from the plain median of the sales listed above. Median listing discount 5.4% 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 1-01409-7501). 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.
At the recent median sale of $1.5M (3 sales since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $63,981 to close, or 4.3% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $15,000
- Mortgage recording tax: $21,656
- Title insurance: $6,750
- Attorneys, lender, building fees, reserves and filings: $20,575
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
This is a condominium, so the path is a straightforward purchase by deed — no board package or interview, financing set by your lender, and a right to use the apartment as a pied-à-terre, an investment, or a primary home. The reasons to buy are the service level and the flexibility: a 24-hour-doorman building with a live-in super, private outdoor space on several lines, on a quiet Lenox Hill block near Lexington and Third and the Q at 72nd. Review the condominium's financials, reserve, and any planned capital work given the building's age.
What to know if you’re selling
The story is full service at a boutique scale, plus the flexibility of condo ownership. The 24-hour doorman, the live-in super, the terraces and fireplaces, and the quiet Lenox Hill location are the differentiators — and they sell to a buyer who wants doorman service and condo freedom without a trophy budget. Pricing is an apartment-specific exercise: floor, light, outdoor space, and condition drive the number more than any block average. We position the building's service and flexibility, and benchmark against the right comparable tier of boutique Upper East Side condominiums.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 157 East 74th Street, also look at these nearby Upper East Side buildings:
- 359 East 68th Street — full-service boutique Upper East Side condominium
- 188 East 75th Street — boutique Upper East Side building nearby
- 145 East 76th Street — boutique Upper East Side building nearby
- 168 East 74th Street — Upper East Side building on the same street
More Upper East Side buildings
- 155 East 79th Street — 2013 condop by BKSK Architects
- 155 East 93rd Street — 1928 co-op
- 156 East 79th Street — 1917 co-op by Schwartz & Gross
- 157 East 75th Street — 1881 co-op
- 158 East 72nd Street — 1928 co-op
- 160 East 65th Street (The Phoenix) — 1968 co-op by Emery Roth & Sons
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 157 East 74th Street?
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