205 West 54th Street (The Albemarle)

The facade is the building's public asset: arched ground-floor windows, four two-story engaged columns binding the rusticated limestone base, banded brick-and-stone upper floors with pedimented window surrounds and quoins, balconies at the fifth and eighth floors, and the dormered mansard above the cornice. Inside, the Roth-era reorganization governs: roughly seven apartments per floor, predominantly studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms with pre-war bones — high ceilings, defined entries — though little ornamental hotel-era interior fabric survives. The scale suits primary residents and working professionals rather than trophy hunters; the two-bedroom lines are the building's largest standard product, and the basement commercial space that once held the Club Intime has housed a champagne bar in recent decades.

This is a conventionally run full-service co-op: 24-hour doorman, live-in superintendent, central laundry, bike room, and storage, with no garage or amenity floor; actual carrying costs depend on the current budget, reserves, debt and assessments. The policy framework is primary-residence-oriented: no pieds-à-terre, subletting limited to two years out of every ten with board approval, pets permitted. Listing records report a 20 percent minimum down payment; confirm the current financing limit and all other application requirements. The offering plan is on file in The Roebling Research Library; current financial statements and house rules should be obtained through the managing agent during diligence.

Recent sales

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.

Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2024): a median $814/sf (floor-adjusted) across 2 sales. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 2.3% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01026-0026). 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.

• Mae West — hotel and architectural histories place the actress and playwright at the building in 1928, during its Hotel Harding years
• Jack "Legs" Diamond — the Prohibition-era gangster is recorded as a Harding resident in the same period, per architectural records
• Dutch Schultz — not a resident, but the mobster was shot in the building's basement Club Abbey in January 1931, an incident covered by The New York Times

This is a primary-residence building by design. The no-pied-à-terre policy and the two-in-ten sublet rule are screening mechanisms, and they work: the building reads as owner-occupied. Buyers seeking flexibility for investment or part-time use should look at the corridor's condos instead; buyers seeking a stable full-service home base at value pricing are the fit.

The 20 percent minimum down is a genuine outlier. Most Manhattan co-ops of this vintage require 25–50 percent down. Verify the current requirement, then run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator — the building's liquidity and ratio expectations still apply.

Price the location honestly — it is the amenity. N/Q/R/W and B/D/E service within a block, the 1 train at Broadway, Carnegie Hall three blocks north, the park five blocks, MoMA and the theaters within a ten-minute walk. The trade-off is Midtown energy: this stretch of 54th is calmer than Seventh Avenue but it is not a residential side street in feel on show nights. Spend an evening on the block before offering.

Underwrite the pre-war envelope. A 1903 building carries 1903-building capital needs — facade cycles, roof, mechanicals. Have your attorney review recent financials, assessments, and the reserve position; we provide the offering plan from the Research Library as the baseline document.

Verify the fee stack. The flip tax is not documented in public records, and sublet fees and current application requirements should be confirmed with the managing agent before contract.

Use the history, precisely. Carlton-to-Albemarle, Texas Guinan, the Club Abbey, Mae West, the Emery Roth renovation — this is the best narrative inventory of any building on the block, and it is press-documented. Buyers in this price tier respond to story; tell it with dates, not adjectives.

Compare actual purchase and carrying costs. Start with relevant pre-war co-ops in the West 50s and 70s and include comparable condominiums, adjusting for services, layout, condition and ownership rules. Present the park and Carnegie Hall proximity and reported 20 percent minimum down payment without claiming the lowest total cost.

Be candid about the policy framework. The no-pied-à-terre rule removes a buyer segment; pricing should reflect the primary-residence pool, and marketing should lead with what that pool wants — doorman service, transit, culture, carry discipline.

If you're considering 205 West 54th Street, also evaluate:

• The Osborne (205 West 57th Street) — the corridor's great Gilded Age co-op three blocks north; the prestige step-up
• Alwyn Court (180 West 58th Street) — landmarked François I pre-war co-op; the ornament benchmark
• The Wyoming (853 Seventh Avenue) — pre-war co-op peer at 55th Street, one block west
• Parc Vendome (340 West 57th Street) — larger-scale pre-war full-service condominium with amenities
• Carnegie House (100 West 57th Street) — post-war land-lease co-op; lower entry pricing, structurally different risk
• CitySpire (150 West 56th Street) — the condo alternative for buyers who need pied-à-terre or investment flexibility