165 West End Avenue (Lincoln Towers)
165 West End Avenue, New York, NY 10023
- Year built
- 1959
- Type
- Cooperative — apartments trade as co-op shares with proprietary leases and full board approval
- Units
- 403
- Floors
- 28
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Cats and dogs allowed with board approval — verify current house rules
- Financing
- Up to roughly 75% (25% minimum down) — confirm current policy with the managing agent
165 West End Avenue is a central Lincoln Towers building — the complex's largest Webb & Knapp residential structure by some counts, and now roughly 95% owner-occupied. Lincoln Towers is the Upper West Side's great post-war value engine, built in the early 1960s by William Zeckendorf's Webb & Knapp as the residential component of Robert Moses' Lincoln Square Urban Renewal Project — the same vast clearance that produced Lincoln Center. The site was the San Juan Hill neighborhood (the blocks that stood in for the film version of West Side Story); I.M. Pei's early concept for the parcel gave way, on economics, to S.J. Kessler & Sons' standardized slabs.
What buyers have figured out is what the critics dismissed: the complex's private, professionally maintained open space cannot be reproduced anywhere in the Lincoln Center orbit, and the apartments behind the plain facades are large, light, and efficiently planned, many with cantilevered balconies and flexible, combinable layouts. As Lincoln Square gentrified and the Riverside South towers rose across Freedom Place, the complex's position shifted from urban-renewal artifact to structurally underpriced full-service housing near Lincoln Center and Riverside Park.
The ownership history is its own New York story. For years the complex was owned by the MacArthur Foundation, which sold in 1984 ahead of the May 1, 1987 conversion, when all eight buildings became cooperatives simultaneously. Insiders bought at a deep discount to market, and the wave of profitable insider flips that followed — involving hundreds of tenants — drew press attention. As with every Lincoln Towers address, buyers should understand that apartments here trade as co-op shares within the condop wrapper, not as condominium units.
Architecture and unit composition
The building rises 28 floors in beige/tan brick with aluminum-sash windows and cantilevered balconies on many lines, set on the complex's landscaped superblock. The apartments — roughly 403 residential units by the most conservative count — run from studios through large, combinable layouts, with dining alcoves, big windows, and generous closets. Upper-floor and western lines carry Hudson River and city outlooks. Many lines have central air, though this varies across the complex's eight addresses; buyers weighing HVAC should confirm the specific apartment.
Building operations
Full-service: 24-hour doorman and concierge, a live-in resident manager, on-site security, a fitness center, a children's playroom and community room, an underground parking garage with driveway, a central laundry, an on-site dry cleaner, a library, and bike and private storage, plus access to the Lincoln Towers Community Association's shared private grounds — gardens, playgrounds, basketball, pickleball, ping-pong, and floor hockey. There is no roof deck. Financing runs to roughly 75% and subletting is permitted with board approval. Note that some board-policy specifics — flip tax, sublet caps, pied-à-terre — are not published for this building and should be confirmed with the managing agent during diligence; maintenance includes core utilities per management-sourced records.
Recent sales
Recent transfers at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. Apartment-level facts are independently verified before publishing; sale prices reflect the recorded transfer amount at the NYC Department of Finance.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 29, 2016 | 19J | 1 BR | $736,000 | +0.5% |
Market read. Median listing discount -0.5% over ask.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 2017 | 11M | $1,599,000 |
Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01179-7501) and verified listing data. Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified by The Roebling Team research desk. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price.
What to know if you’re buying
This is a co-op within the condop wrapper. You are buying co-op shares in the cooperative corporation, with board approval and a proprietary lease. Your attorney should review the by-laws and condominium documents (on file with us) so the structure is papered correctly.
Confirm the board specifics directly. Some of this building's policies — flip tax, sublet caps, pied-à-terre — are not publicly documented. Verify them with the managing agent before you offer, and run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator against the confirmed terms.
The combinable layouts are a feature. Flexible plans make this a good candidate for combinations; underwrite the renovation math with the Renovation Cost Calculator.
The campus is the amenity. Private, secured, landscaped grounds shared only with the complex's residents. Weigh acreage against amenity-floor square footage; there is no equivalent nearby at this price tier.
Compare carry, not just price. Line up the true monthly against separately metered condos with the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator, and confirm the specific line's climate systems.
What to know if you’re selling
Sell the structural discount. Your buyer is cross-shopping Lincoln Square condos at materially higher per-foot pricing and higher taxes. The pitch is arithmetic: full service, private acreage, and Lincoln Center proximity at the lowest carry in the district.
Differentiate within the complex. This building's specifics — high owner-occupancy, on-site dry cleaner and library, flexible combinable layouts — are the points that separate 165 from its siblings.
Lead with light, line, and layout. River-outlook and open lines and combination-ready plans command the premium. Same-line history matters more than building averages, and we maintain it in the Research Library.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 165 West End Avenue, also evaluate:
- 150 West End Avenue and 170 West End Avenue — the adjacent Lincoln Towers siblings; the closest like-for-like alternatives
- 180 West End Avenue, 185 West End Avenue, and 205 West End Avenue — the western and northern siblings; same conversion, same campus, differing layouts and HVAC
- 140 West End Avenue and 160 West End Avenue — the southern siblings, the largest buildings with central HVAC
- 165 West 66th Street — full-service Lincoln Square co-op nearby; the non-campus alternative
- 220 Riverside Boulevard and 200 Riverside Boulevard — the condo alternative immediately west, at a higher price point and carry
The Roebling Team at 165 West End Avenue (Lincoln Towers)
The Roebling Team at Compass works Lincoln Square and the broader Upper West Side as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because Lincoln Towers buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — conversion structure, board policy, and within-complex comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 165 West End Avenue, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper West Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper West Side.
Get the full picture on this building.
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