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 building has no reserve study, which is normal for New York co-ops. 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 current contract ran to April 2026.

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 co-op collects sublet fees. The length and frequency limits are not in our documents.

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

Not documented. The financing ceiling, minimum down payment, post-closing liquidity rule (cash left after closing), debt-to-income standard, pied-à-terre policy, and trust or LLC ownership rules. These have to come 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.

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.

Price in the flip tax. At 3 percent, it is a real cost when you sell. Confirm who pays it.

Ask about capital plans. The statements show two years with no capital spending and no reserve study. 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