The Volney (23 East 74th Street)

LPC credits the building to Schwartz & Gross. The firm designed dozens of prewar apartment houses on the Upper East and Upper West Sides. LPC describes the Volney as neo-Italian Renaissance, with a stone base and a brick shaft. The lot is 70 feet wide by about 102 feet deep. The building rises 16 stories on a narrow midblock site between townhouse rows.

As a former hotel, the Volney has a different floor plan from a family apartment house of the same years. The 1981 plan put 77 apartments on the residential floors, about five or six to a floor. That is hotel scale, not the classic six (the six-room prewar layout) of a Park Avenue co-op. Owners have combined many of them since the conversion, which is why the count has dropped from 77 to 67. Recorded share transfers show combined lines on several floors, including 3F/G, 5A/B/F, 6D/E/G, 10D/11 and 14A/B/D. So the building now has larger combined homes alongside smaller one-line apartments. The apartment-by-apartment room counts are not in the documents we hold.

Two boards. The co-op board handles admissions and the co-op's budget. The condominium board of managers, elected by the unit owners, handles building-wide matters. Under the offering plan, the commercial owner can block certain changes to the common elements. Buyers should read the declaration and by-laws with their attorney.

Mortgage and reserves. The loan is $5 million, interest-only at 4.10 percent, and matures October 1, 2032, per the 2024 statements. It can be prepaid without penalty in its last five years. The $1 million unsecured line of credit may be used only for extraordinary costs and reserves. It had not been drawn at year-end 2024. The working capital fund grew from about $510,000 to about $933,000 in 2024. Most of that growth came from transfer fees.

Operating assessment. The co-op charged $17.77 a share in 2024 and $14.84 in 2023. This offsets the co-op/condo abatement credited to shareholders who live in their apartments. The statements expect a similar assessment in 2025.

Capital work. The statements show no capitalized improvements in 2023 or 2024. The reviewed 2023–24 statements report no reserve study; confirm whether one has since been commissioned and assess the current capital plan and funding. The building's façade was rated safe in its most recent DOB façade inspection (Cycle 9, filed February 2022). Ask the managing agent about the next inspection cycle and any planned work.

Staff. The building staff belong to Local 32BJ. The contract on file ran to April 2026; ask for the successor agreement's wage and benefit terms as reflected in the current budget.

Transfer fee. 3 percent of the gross sale price, per the audited statements. The fee brought in about $398,000 in 2024 and $215,400 in 2023, from five resales in each year.

Pets. The board's January 2011 dog policy allows up to two dogs per apartment. Combined apartments count as one. The policy lists restricted breeds, and dogs must use the service elevator. Violations carry fines. An earlier version of the policy set a 40-pound limit, so confirm which version is current.

Subletting. The offering plan allows subletting with board consent. The September 20, 2026 management schedule allows a one-year term only, requires board approval of every annual renewal and lists a fee of 10% of annual rent. It prohibits pets for subtenants; confirm current terms and any cumulative duration limit.

Work hours. Contractors may work 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays only. Noisy work cannot start before 10 a.m.

Financing and purchaser policies. The September 20, 2026 management schedule states maximum financing of 65% of purchase price and prohibits corporate purchases/leases. That does not settle trust or LLC treatment. Obtain the current post-closing liquidity requirement, debt-to-income standard, pied-à-terre rule and entity-specific terms from the managing agent.

Dorothy Parker lived at the Volney in her last years and died in her room there in June 1967, as reported at the time by The New York Times. The New York Times also reported in October 2022 that Lena Horne had lived on the fifth floor from the 1980s.

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 $1,169/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. 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 1-01389-7501). 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.

You are buying co-op shares inside a condominium. Have your attorney review the proprietary lease, the condominium declaration, the 2006–07 amendment and the condominium by-laws.

Look at the layout's history. Many apartments are combined hotel suites. Ask for the alteration agreement and the DOB sign-off for any combination you are buying.

Allocate the transfer fee. The statements describe 3% of gross sale price; the September 20, 2026 management schedule says 3% of purchase price, payable by either seller or buyer. Confirm the operative fee and contractual payer before estimating proceeds.

Ask about capital plans. The 2023–24 statements show no capitalized improvements and report no reserve study; those disclosures do not establish today’s work needs or study status. Ask about the façade cycle, the elevators and the heating plant before you sign.

Explain the structure up front. A one-page note on the co-op and the condominium keeps the condop label from becoming a reason to discount.

Lead with the balance sheet. Fixed-rate debt to 2032, an undrawn credit line and a working capital fund near $1 million are easy for a buyer's attorney to confirm.

If you're considering The Volney, also evaluate:

• The Carlyle — 1928–30 co-op with hotel service two blocks north, the hotel-apartment model still operating
• 20 East 76th Street — The Surrey, a 1926 hotel building with a condominium above
• 14 East 75th Street — Schwartz & Gross's 1928–29 co-op a block north
• 135 East 74th Street — 1924 condop on the same street, where the co-op also owns the residential unit
• 125 East 74th Street — 1927–28 co-op on the same street in the historic district
• 150 East 73rd Street — 1923 Lenox Hill co-op with ground-floor commercial units
• 40 East 72nd Street — condominium behind a retained 1928 Schwartz & Gross façade
• 33 East 74th Street — ten-unit condominium on the same block