170 East 78th Street (The Morgan Studios)
170 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075
Lenox Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1014127501 · BIN 1077853
- Year built
- 1927
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 38
- Floors
- 9
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 1BR median
- $1M
- Recent range
- $895K – $3M
- Listing discount
- 4.2%
- Recorded transfers
- 57
The Morgan Studios is one of the most architecturally distinctive small-scale prewar cooperatives on the Upper East Side — a 1927 Art Deco red-brick building originally constructed as artists' studios, with apartments configured for double-height living rooms, oversized north-facing windows, and the spatial-rhythm vocabulary derived from the Studio Building tradition (compare 130 West 56th, 27 West 67th, 131 East 66th, 14 East 75th).
The building's appeal rests first on its artist-studio architectural program: double-height living rooms, original casement windows, and leaded glass deliver prewar interior quality at price points well below the Park-and-Fifth Candela/Carpenter inventory. That program is not an isolated case but a paired-studio-building urban context — 170 East 78th shares its block configuration with a sister building (per architectural records, one story taller and one apartment larger), forming a distinctive small-cluster artist-studio district. Layered onto the architecture is a David Duchovny and Téa Leoni resident overlay, the actors counted among the building's residents in architectural coverage.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $6,802/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $17
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.
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.
See the full facade history →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 | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 24, 2026 | 3C | 1 BR · 1 BA · 1,020 sf | $1,250,000 | $1,225/sf | -16.7% |
| Sep 8, 2025 | 7E | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,450 sf | $1,400,000 | $966/sf | +14.3% |
| Aug 1, 2025 | 8E | 2 BR · 2 BA | $2,350,000 | +4.4% | |
| Jan 7, 2025 | 5EF | 3 BR · 2 BA · 2,450 sf | $3,000,000 | $1,224/sf | -4.8% |
| Aug 29, 2024 | 2 | 2 BR · 2 BA | $2,760,000 | -4.7% | |
| Jun 18, 2024 | 9 | 1 BR · 2 BA · 1,300 sf | $1,150,000 | $885/sf | -4.2% |
| Aug 31, 2023 | 10E | 1 BR · 1 BA | $932,500 | -1.8% | |
| Sep 15, 2022 | 3F | 1 BR · 1 BA · 986 sf | $810,000 | $822/sf | -18.6% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,207/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 4.7% 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.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2006 | 4D | $449,000 |
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 1-01412-7501) 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; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.
Comparable buildings
- 14 East 75th Street — Schwartz & Gross 1928-29 double-height living rooms; nearby studio-vocabulary Lenox Hill peer
- 180 East 79th Street — Schwartz & Gross 1929-30; nearby Lenox Hill peer
- 130 East 75th Street — Schwartz & Gross 1928; nearby Lenox Hill peer
- 200 East 83rd Street — nearby UES peer
- 30 East 76th Street — nearby Lenox Hill peer
Sources: The Roebling Research Library (offering plans, house rules, financial statements, board minutes, internal transaction records); NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers; publicly recorded NYC building data.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper East Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper East Side.
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.
Considering a move at The Morgan Studios?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.
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A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Morgan Studios 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.