160 Seventh Avenue (Kensington House)
160 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10011
BBL 1007697503 · BIN 1068149
- Year built
- 1938
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 196
- Floors
- 15
- Landmark
- In a historic district
- Pets
- Permitted with board approval
- Subletting
- Permitted after three years of owner occupancy, with board approval
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- Studio median
- $515K
- Recent range
- $400K – $1.2M
- Listing discount
- 2.9%
- Recorded transfers
- 174
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A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at Kensington House 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.
160 Seventh Avenue — known as Kensington House and primarily marketed as 200 West 20th Street — is an Emery Roth Art Deco cooperative on the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and West 20th Street in Chelsea. Roth, the architect of The San Remo and The Beresford on Central Park West, designed it in 1937, and it was completed in 1938 as a rental before converting to a cooperative in 1987. The building carries genuine architectural distinction: it was among the first New York apartment houses built with a welded rather than riveted steel frame, and The New York Times covered its 1938 construction as a "House of Welded Steel," noting that the work proceeded in near silence because there was no riveting.
For buyers, the practical point is that this is a Chelsea cooperative, not a condominium, notwithstanding some of the confused municipal and portal tagging attached to the address. Every brokerage and the managing agent treat units as co-op share sales, and the building trades as a liquid, entry-to-mid-price Chelsea co-op weighted toward studios and one-bedrooms. It is properly read on a co-op, price-per-room basis.
What sets Kensington House apart from the neighborhood's stricter pre-war co-ops is its more accommodating policy framework — it operates with some condo-like flexibility — combined with a well-preserved Art Deco pedigree and a full-service staff. It sits several blocks east of the Chelsea Historic District, so it is not landmark-constrained, but it retains its 1938 Art Deco detailing: octagonal metal marquee, gilded rustication at the lower floors, and terra-cotta friezes.
Architecture and unit composition
The building is a 15-story Art Deco tower with cube-like massing given verticality by full-height window arrangements. Roth's original program produced roughly 200 two- and three-room apartments over six ground-floor shops; over time some units have been combined, leaving approximately 196 residences today. Many apartments retain pre-war Art Deco details — sunken living rooms, dining galleries, and dressing areas among them.
The mix skews to studios and one-bedrooms, with some two-bedroom layouts. Because listings frequently transfer without a stated square footage, apartments here are best read on a price-per-room basis, with renovation condition and floor as the primary pricing variables.
Building operations
Kensington House operates as a full-service cooperative: 24-hour doorman, live-in superintendent, modernized elevator, central laundry, basement storage, bicycle room, and a landscaped, furnished roof deck with skyline views that include the Empire State Building. The Art Deco lobby has been renovated.
Financing is permitted up to 80 percent, and the cooperative carries a flip tax of 5 percent of net profit paid by the seller. The building has a reputation for solid financials. Buyers should confirm the current maintenance schedule, any assessments, the reserve position, and the sublet and move-in fee structure during due diligence — the cooperative maintains a defined set of house rules, including restrictions on certain purchase structures.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $39,345/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $17
- Modeled exposure split equally across 196 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 filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair, with repairs due by the deadline stated in the filing. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials for you.
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
- Yes
- Sublet policy
- Allowed
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
- Notable fees
- Min Down Payment: 20%
Recent sales
Because apartments transfer as cooperative shares, the building is best read on a price-per-room basis rather than strictly per square foot. It trades as an entry-to-mid-price Chelsea cooperative, heavy in studios and one-bedrooms, with reliable and consistent volume. Pricing is driven by floor, exposure, and renovation condition. The Art Deco pedigree and the prime Seventh Avenue Chelsea location support demand, while the studio-and-one-bedroom-heavy mix keeps the building in the neighborhood's accessible tier rather than its trophy tier.
Recent transfers 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 18, 2026 | 215 | $447,500 | -10.3% | ||
| Jul 16, 2026 | 909 | 1 BA | $550,000 | +0.9% | |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 1110 | 1 BR · 1 BA | $535,000 | +1.9% | |
| Apr 8, 2026 | 206 | 1 BA | $440,000 | -2.0% | |
| Dec 11, 2025 | 1215 | 1 BA | $500,000 | -3.7% | |
| Oct 31, 2025 | 1002 | 1 BA | $510,000 | -2.9% | |
| Oct 9, 2025 | 1208 | 1 BR · 1 BA | $850,000 | -5.5% | |
| Jul 31, 2025 | 1003 | 1 BA · 527 sf | $540,000 | $1,025/sf | -1.8% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2025): a median $935/sf (recorded) across 2 sales. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 2.0% 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.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 19, 2017 | 1415 | $590,000 |
| Dec 10, 2009 | 403 | $235,000 |
| Dec 7, 2009 | 1007 | $389,000 |
| Sep 22, 2003 | 1514 | $220,000 |
| Jun 17, 2003 | 814 | $199,000 |
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 1-00769-7503). 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 on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.
Closed rents at Kensington House, last 36 months
| Size | Leases | Median / month |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 4 | $3,837 |
5 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 $520K (12 transfers since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $10,500 to close, or 2.0% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $0
- No mortgage recording tax or title insurance on a co-op purchase
- Attorneys, lender, building fees and filings: $10,500
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 co-op, not a condo. Despite any conflicting address tagging, this is a cooperative, and you are buying shares. Value the apartment against Chelsea co-op comparables on a price-per-room basis, not against condominium square-foot pricing.
The policy framework is more flexible than most pre-war co-ops, but has rules. Financing up to 80 percent is permitted, pieds-à-terre are allowed with conditions, and subletting is permitted after three years of owner occupancy with board approval. The cooperative restricts certain purchase structures — confirm co-purchasing, guarantor, and entity-purchase rules at offer stage.
Confirm carrying costs, reserves, and the flip tax. The building carries a 5 percent seller-paid flip tax on net profit. Review the maintenance schedule, any assessments, the reserve position, and recent capital projects, and model the full monthly carry.
The Art Deco detail is a genuine asset. The Emery Roth pedigree and original pre-war detailing are part of what you are buying. Confirm the condition of any retained original features.
Run the numbers on transfer costs. Run pricing through the Mansion Tax Calculator where applicable.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the pedigree and the flexibility. The Emery Roth Art Deco identity and the more accommodating policy framework — day-to-day flexibility relative to stricter neighboring co-ops — are the building's differentiators. Marketing should foreground both.
Condition is your leverage. Because renovation quality drives pricing spread, presentation and staging materially affect outcome in the building's studio-and-one-bedroom inventory.
Price per room against the right comps. Comparable analysis should weight floor, exposure, and condition, and benchmark against Chelsea's other pre-war cooperatives.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 160 Seventh Avenue, also evaluate:
- The San Remo — Emery Roth's landmark twin-tower cooperative on Central Park West
- The Beresford — Emery Roth's Central Park West cooperative trophy
- 252 Seventh Avenue — full-service Chelsea condominium on Seventh Avenue
- 212 West 18th Street (Walker Tower) — Ralph Walker Art Deco conversion condominium in Chelsea
- Chelsea — the broader corridor's mix of pre-war co-ops and modern condominiums
More Chelsea buildings
- The Chelsea Warren, 155 West 20th Street — 1938 co-op by Horace Ginsbern & Associates
- The Flynn, 155 West 18th Street — 2016 condominium
- 159 West 24th Street — 1900 condominium
- 161 West 16th Street — 1930
- 162 Ninth Avenue — 1834 co-op
- 162 West 22nd Street (The Henry) — 1950 co-op
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, transit, and pricing across Chelsea — read The Roebling Team Guide to Chelsea.
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
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.
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