188 East 70th Street
188 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021
Lenox Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1014047503 · BIN 1042610
- Year built
- 1986
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 97
- Floors
- 31
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Pet-friendly, subject to approval
The Trafalgar House Condominium sales history: 137 recorded sales
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)
- $1,624
- Listing discount
- 5.0%
- Recorded sales
- 137
- On record
- 2003–2026
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Trafalgar House Condominium 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 Trafalgar House is a full-service condominium tower on the corner of East 70th Street and Third Avenue, at the heart of Lenox Hill. Completed in 1986 and designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, it stands 31 stories — tall for the immediate blocks — which gives the upper floors open light and long protected views in a neighborhood dominated by lower prewar and postwar stock. It is a purpose-built condominium in a corridor where condo inventory is comparatively scarce, and that tenure is central to its value: condo financing, permissive subletting, and pied-à-terre use in a pocket of the Upper East Side where those terms are otherwise hard to find.
The building's second calling card is its amenity package and its architecture. The KPF design pairs a red-brick tower with a two-story limestone base and a distinctive oculus window above the canopied entrance, and the interior amenities are unusually complete for the era: a fitness center with sauna, a double-height atrium resident lounge with a catering kitchen, and a children's playroom. For a buyer who wants a well-serviced condominium with real light, a recognizable architectural pedigree, and a walk-everywhere Lenox Hill address, the Trafalgar House is one of the strongest options in the immediate market.
Architecture and building operations
Completed in 1986 to designs by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, 188 East 70th Street is a 31-story condominium of roughly 97 apartments. The building presents a red-brick tower rising from a two-story limestone base, with an oculus window above the canopied Third Avenue–adjacent entrance — a considered street-level composition that distinguishes it from the plainer towers of its period. Its height gives upper-floor residences open exposures and city views that are uncommon on the surrounding blocks.
Operations are full-service and amenity-forward. The building maintains a 24-hour doorman and concierge, a live-in superintendent, a fitness center with sauna, a double-height atrium resident lounge with a catering kitchen, a children's playroom, bike storage, and private storage. Reported unit counts cluster around 97 residences; the exact number, along with amenity access terms, should be confirmed against the offering plan and current schedule at diligence. There is no on-site parking garage on record.
Policy framework
- Type: Condominium — no board approval to purchase; the condominium board holds a right of first refusal
- Pets: Permitted, subject to approval
- Pied-à-terre: Permitted
- Financing maximum: Condominium financing is generally flexible; confirm any lending guidance with the managing agent at offer stage
- Subletting: Permitted — a meaningful advantage over neighboring cooperatives
- Trust, LLC, foreign buyers: Generally accommodated under condominium ownership; confirm at contract
- Right of first refusal: Standard condominium waiver process applies
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $30,265/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $26
- Modeled exposure split equally across 97 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
- Notable fees
- Move-in $500 / move-out $500; processing $700 w/broker ($750 w/o); lease renewal $450
Recent sales
As a condominium, 188 East 70th Street trades on a price-per-square-foot basis rather than the price-per-room framing used for co-ops. Pricing here reflects several durable factors: the central Lenox Hill location at Third Avenue and East 70th Street, close to the Lexington Avenue subway, Hunter College, and the neighborhood's retail spine; the condominium tenure, which typically commands a premium over comparable co-op stock; the tower's height, which puts upper-floor light and views at a premium within the line; and the full amenity package, which supports value against less-serviced peers.
Buyers should expect per-square-foot values in line with, and in higher and better-lit lines above, the full-service condominium and co-op inventory nearby, with the condo structure and permissive subletting supporting resale liquidity and investor demand. Specific closed prices move sharply with floor, exposure, view, and condition given the building's height, and should be underwritten against current recorded transfers rather than headline averages.
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 | 8B | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 720 sf | $890,000 | $1,236/sf | -2.7% |
| Sep 2, 2026 | 3A | 2 BR · 2.5 BA · 1,430 sf | $2,060,000 | $1,441/sf | -8.4% |
| Aug 27, 2026 | 10D | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,170 sf | $2,170,000 | $1,855/sf | -7.7% |
| Jul 10, 2026 | 7B | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 720 sf | $1,390,000 | $1,931/sf | off-mkt |
| Jun 2, 2026 | 17CD | 3 BR · 2.5 BA · 2,400 sf | $4,150,000 | $1,729/sf | +1.2% |
| Jun 2, 2026 | 17D | 1,330 sf | $4,150,000 | $3,120/sf | off-mkt |
| Apr 27, 2026 | 6BC | 3 BR · 4 BA · 2,060 sf | $3,300,000 | $1,602/sf | -5.7% |
| Apr 14, 2026 | 11A | 2 BR · 2.5 BA · 1,396 sf | $2,250,000 | $1,612/sf | +0.0% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,624/sf (floor-adjusted) across 9 sales. 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 5.0% 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.
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 1-01404-7503). 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 Trafalgar House Condominium, last 36 months
| Size | Leases | Median / month |
|---|---|---|
| 1 bedroom | 4 | $6,625 |
5 closed leases, October 2023 to September 2026. Most recent lease June 2025. 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 $2.25M (16 sales since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $94,384 to close, or 4.2% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $28,125
- Mortgage recording tax: $32,484
- Title insurance: $10,125
- Attorneys, lender, building fees, reserves and filings: $23,650
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
- Condominium tenure is the headline advantage. Financing flexibility, pied-à-terre use, and permissive subletting are scarce in central Lenox Hill and directly support the building's resale and rental utility.
- Height and light drive value within the building. At 31 stories, the difference between a lower interior line and a high-floor exposure is significant; underwrite the specific unit, not the building average.
- The amenity package is genuinely full. Fitness center with sauna, atrium lounge with catering kitchen, playroom, and storage set it apart from thinner-serviced peers — but there is no on-site garage on record.
- The location is a core strength. Walk-everywhere Lenox Hill, close to the Lexington Avenue lines, retail, and Hunter College.
- Confirm the unit count, amenity terms, and any active assessments against the offering plan and current schedule at diligence.
What to know if you’re selling
- Lead with tenure, height, and amenities together. Condo flexibility, high-floor light, KPF architecture, and a full amenity suite are a rare combination in this corridor and should anchor the story.
- Position the view and exposure precisely. For higher lines, protected light and open outlooks are a measurable premium worth documenting.
- Bring current financials to the table. A clear picture of common charges, reserves, and any assessments strengthens pricing against neighboring buildings.
- Pricing should be anchored to recent in-building comparables on similar floors and exposures, rather than to broader Lenox Hill averages.
Comparable buildings
- 310 East 70th Street — same-street Lenox Hill cooperative
- 308 East 72nd Street — nearby Lenox Hill peer
- 304 East 65th Street (The Rio) — nearby Lenox Hill condominium with full amenity package
- 1440 Second Avenue — nearby full-service Lenox Hill cooperative
- 170 East 78th Street — nearby Upper East Side peer
More Upper East Side buildings
- 181 East 65th Street (The Chatham) — 2000 condominium by Robert A.M. Stern Architects
- 181 East 90th Street (The Metropolitan) — 2004 condominium by SLCE Architects
- 181 East 93rd Street — 1928 co-op
- 188 East 75th Street — 1924 co-op
- 188 East 76th Street (The Siena) — 1996 condominium by SLCE Architects
- 188 East 78th Street (The Empire) — 2001 condominium by SLCE Architects
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.
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