235 East 40th Street (The Vanderbilt)
235 East 40th Street, New York, NY 10016
BBL 1013147501 · BIN 1037178
- Year built
- 1986
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 361
- Floors
- 41
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Permitted under the condominium rules
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
- Financing
- Approximately 20 percent minimum down payment (condominium — no co-op financing cap)
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)
- $1,204
- Listing discount
- 2.4%
- Recorded sales
- 349
- On record
- 2003–2026
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Vanderbilt 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 Vanderbilt is a 41-story condominium on 40th Street between Second and Third Avenues, a Frank Williams design completed in 1986 for a development team led by William Zeckendorf. It sits in the heart of East Midtown — near Grand Central Terminal, the Chrysler Building, Tudor City, and the United Nations — and it delivers a deep amenity package that distinguishes it from much of the corridor's postwar inventory.
The building's amenity suite is its calling card. A 70-foot indoor swimming pool anchors a health club that also carries a jacuzzi, saunas and steam rooms, a gym, and a squash / racquetball / half-basketball court — a sports program rare for a building of this size and era. Add a residents' lounge and screening room, a game room, an on-site parking garage, and even an in-building dry cleaner and salon, and the result is a full-service condominium with an amenity depth that rewards day-to-day residents.
As a condominium, The Vanderbilt offers the transactional flexibility the corridor's cooperative inventory does not: a roughly 20 percent minimum down payment with no co-op financing cap, permitted pied-à-terre and investor use, and condo-fast closings. Its Grand Central proximity anchors steady commuter-driven rental and resale demand.
Architecture and unit composition
The roughly 361 residences occupy the tower's 41 stories, running from studios and one-bedrooms through larger multi-bedroom layouts. Some lines carry corner balconies, and the north-facing upper floors carry Chrysler Building and East River views — the building's premium exposures. The 1980s red-brick massing is updated at the base by a private pass-through driveway, a practical convenience in a dense East Midtown location.
The health club and 70-foot pool anchor the building's amenity identity.
Building operations
The Vanderbilt operates as a full-service condominium with a 24-hour doorman and concierge, a live-in resident manager, an on-site parking garage, and the deep sports-and-pool amenity suite noted above. As a large condominium near Grand Central, the building carries an active owner-rental sub-market — a normal profile for an investor-friendly commuter-convenient condominium and a factor buyers should weigh when reviewing the owner-occupancy ratio and financials.
Standard condominium buyer costs apply, along with the usual application and move-in deposits (confirm current figures at offer stage). Common charges and property taxes should be modeled at the apartment level; buyers should review the building's financials and reserve position during due diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $343,401/yr
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $471,276/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $79 – $109
- Modeled exposure split equally across 361 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).
Penalties shown are amounts DOB assessed against filings on record across 2005–10 to 2025–30. The FISP dataset does not record whether they were paid, contested or remain open, so treat the figure as history rather than a current balance and confirm the building’s standing with the managing agent.
Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
Management & transfer contacts
- Notable fees
- Guarantors not allowed; entity purchases reviewed by condo attorney
Recent sales
The Vanderbilt trades as a full-service East Midtown condominium with a strong amenity package and a Grand Central location. North-facing high-floor lines with Chrysler and East River views command the building's premium pricing; interior and lower lines trade at a discount.
Pricing is heterogeneous by floor, exposure, and layout. Comparable analysis should reference recent recorded closings on the specific line and floor rather than a single building-wide average.
Unit-level transaction history is maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence.
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 24, 2026 | 9I | 1 BA · 405 sf | $515,000 | $1,272/sf | -6.4% |
| Aug 24, 2026 | 24D | 1 BR · 1 BA · 714 sf | $850,000 | $1,190/sf | -2.9% |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 40A | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,094 sf | $1,565,000 | $1,431/sf | -5.2% |
| Aug 5, 2026 | 39E | 1 BR · 1 BA · 585 sf | $756,000 | $1,292/sf | -12.6% |
| Jul 16, 2026 | 15B | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 770 sf | $955,000 | $1,240/sf | -3.0% |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 11G | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 850 sf | $800,000 | $941/sf | -10.6% |
| Mar 5, 2026 | 2C | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 782 sf | $900,000 | $1,151/sf | -5.3% |
| Oct 23, 2025 | 34C | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 789 sf | $940,000 | $1,191/sf | -1.1% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,204/sf (floor-adjusted) across 7 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 2.4% 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 1-01314-7501). 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 from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.
Closed rents at The Vanderbilt, last 36 months
| Size | Leases | Median / month |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 16 | $3,225 |
| 1 bedroom | 57 | $4,595 |
| 2 bedroom | 5 | $6,500 |
80 closed leases, October 2023 to September 2026. Most recent lease August 2026. 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 $850K (20 sales since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $31,894 to close, or 3.8% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $0
- Mortgage recording tax: $12,272
- Title insurance: $3,825
- Attorneys, lender, building fees, reserves and filings: $15,798
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
The amenity suite is a genuine differentiator. The 70-foot indoor pool and the sports facilities — including a squash / racquetball / half-basketball court — are unusual for a building of this size and a real day-to-day feature.
Condominium flexibility applies. Roughly 20 percent down, no co-op financing cap, pied-à-terre and investor use permitted, and condo-fast closings.
The Grand Central location anchors demand. Proximity to Grand Central and the East Midtown business core supports steady rental and resale interest.
Weigh the owner-occupancy profile. As a large commuter-convenient condominium, the building carries an active rental sub-market; review the current ratio and financials during due diligence.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the amenities and the location. The 70-foot pool, the sports suite, and the Grand Central proximity are the building's core selling points.
Price the view lines distinctly. North-facing high-floor inventory with Chrysler and East River views is the building's premium product.
Price at the line and floor. Reference recent recorded closings on the specific line rather than the building average.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Vanderbilt, also evaluate:
- 415 East 37th Street (The Horizon) — nearby Murray Hill full-service condominium with a rooftop pool and East River views
- 630 First Avenue (Manhattan Place) — nearby Kondylis-designed condominium with a rooftop health club
- The Corinthian (330 East 38th Street) — nearby Murray Hill full-service condominium
- 300 East 40th Street — East Midtown full-service condominium
- 50 United Nations Plaza — UN-area trophy condominium (trade-up comparison)
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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