211 East 46th Street

The tower is late-1970s Manhattan: beige brick, punched windows, upper-floor setbacks producing terraces, a mid-block through-lot plan that gives the building two street entrances and a garage ramp. Architectural records attribute the design to Philip Birnbaum, whose office produced a great many of the city's high-density brick towers in this period; the DOB file for this address does not reach 1979, so the attribution is well supported rather than documented.

Residences are lettered by line — A through L on the fuller floors, narrowing as the tower steps back — across roughly floors six through thirty-five. The mix runs studios through three-bedrooms, and the residential area works out to a modest average per home, which is what you would expect from a 1979 rental floor plate. The premium product is on the setback floors, where terraces appear, and in the upper stack, where the plate narrows and the exposures open.

Combinations are an active feature of the building rather than a curiosity: recent Department of Buildings filings cover the merger of units 28H and 28J in 2022 and units 32E and 32F in 2024, following earlier combinations on the sixteenth floor. That matters for buyers looking for larger homes, because it means the board has an established practice and an alteration agreement on file.

Original 2007 conversion finishes were offered in three specification packages, so two apartments of the same line can differ materially before you account for eighteen years of owner renovation. Test the specific unit.

The building runs a full staffing model with union labour — the audited statements record payroll and related costs as roughly 48 percent of the operating budget, with contributions to the Building Service 32BJ funds. The statements also disclose the building's potential withdrawal liability to the 32BJ pension fund, a standard disclosure for union-staffed buildings. The fund's latest annual report states that as of July 1, 2025 the plan was in neither critical nor endangered status; review the current fund notice and the building's employer obligations in diligence.

The amenity set is broad for a converted rental: attended lobby with a package room, fitness room and yoga studio, roof deck, media lounge, conference room and playroom. The fitness facility is fee-based — it generates a separate revenue line in the audited statements — so it is not simply included in common charges, and a buyer should ask what the current fee is. Storage is rentable. Laundry runs under a non-cancellable service agreement through 2031.

The garage is in the building but is a commercial condominium unit in outside ownership. Any parking a resident uses there is a private commercial arrangement, not a right that runs with the apartment. Garage structural repairs were filed in 2024 and entrance-ramp work in 2026.

Ownership form: Condominium, with separate Residential and Non-Residential Sections. Sales pass through the Residential Board's right of first refusal rather than a cooperative approval; confirm the timeline with the managing agent.

Pets: dogs, caged birds, cats and fish are permitted under the house rules on file, subject to written consent from the Residential Board or managing agent which is revocable at their discretion, and no more than two pets in a unit without board consent. Pet owners may be required to sign an indemnity agreement.

Terraces and balconies: the type, size and quantity of plantings, and any painting or decoration, require prior written approval from the Residential Board. Nothing may be stored on a terrace beyond outdoor furniture, and there is no barbecuing on terraces or balconies except in any area the board designates.

Alterations and noise: construction is restricted to weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.; amplified sound is restricted between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.; at least 80 percent of a unit's floor area outside kitchens, baths, closets and foyers must be carpeted or otherwise sound-attenuated. The board or managing agent retains a passkey.

Home occupations are permitted where lawful and allowed by the by-laws, but clients and patients may not wait in the lobby or public halls.

Subletting, pied-à-terre use, entity ownership, minimum down payment and any transfer fee: not established in the documents we hold. The house rules on file address conduct rather than transfer policy. Obtain the current by-laws, the leasing policy and the purchase application from the managing agent.

Real estate taxes: the reviewed FY2021–FY2027 records show no construction exemption on the residential unit lots; the office unit's institutional exemption and individual-owner benefits are separate. Abatements apply at the bill level, so use the specific unit's current bill without treating it as fixed for future years.

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01320-7506; each condominium apartment is its own tax lot). 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.

One building, two addresses. 211 East 46th and 212 East 47th are the same condominium. Verify the block and lot on any comparable before you rely on it.

Read the residential/commercial cost allocation. It is fixed by the offering plan, it excludes the commercial units from meaningful categories of shared expense, and it is the provision most likely to matter in ten years.

The assessment is over and the façade cycle is clean. The $3.6 million assessment ended in December 2022 and the building filed a safe Local Law 11 report in 2025 and again in 2026. Confirm both against the current minutes, but the public record is good.

Review current reserves and the capital plan. The year-end 2023 statements reported reserves above $4.2 million and no underlying debt, and disclosed no commissioned reserve study. Those dated figures do not establish present reserve adequacy or the absence of a capital plan; request updated balances, commitments and any subsequent study.

The garage is not yours. It is a separately owned commercial unit. Any parking is a private contract.

Ask what the fitness fee is. The gym generates its own revenue line; it is not simply bundled into common charges.

Underwrite the unit's current tax bill. The reviewed records show no 421-a or J-51 exemption phaseout; check the specific unit's bill for abatements and model changes in assessments, rates and other carrying costs.

Present the dated balance sheet and subsequent work. Identify the above-$4.2-million reserve balance and no underlying debt as year-end 2023 figures, the assessment ending December 2022, and the SAFE façade filings in 2025 and 2026. Provide current financials, commitments and minutes so counsel can assess today's position.

Use both addresses. Buyers searching Turtle Bay will find the building under either; leaving one out narrows your audience for no reason.

Correct the floor count and the unit count. City data says thirty-four floors; the audited statements say thirty-five. Be consistent and be able to explain it.

Terraces and upper floors are the premium product. Market them against the block's other converted towers, not against the neighbourhood's prewar co-op stock.

If you're considering 211 East 46th Street, also evaluate:

• 232 East 47th Street — 173 residences, 1988; the closest peer by scale on the same block front, one construction generation later
• 240 East 47th Street — a 1982 condominium; the nearest like-for-like by vintage and denominator
• 216 East 47th Street — 1985 condominium; the mid-1980s alternative around the corner
• 204 East 47th Street — 92 residences, a mid-1950s building converted to condominium in 1985; the earlier-vintage conversion comparison
• 225 East 46th Street — a mid-1950s rental converted to condominium in 1987; the same conversion logic two decades earlier
• 240 East 46th Street — roughly 100 residences in an early-to-mid-postwar building; the smaller-denominator neighbour
• 227 East 44th Street — 63 residences, 2014; a current-generation rental building a few blocks south, leased rather than sold
• 219 East 44th Street — the comparable a few blocks south toward Grand Central
• 244 East 52nd Street — the Midtown East alternative further north
• 225 East 47th Street — a 60-residence 1939 cooperative; the prewar, co-op alternative on the same block