235 East 49th Street (Midtown East)

The building is a masonry house of the mid-1920s, roughly eleven to twelve stories, built as the New York Theological Seminary and designed by Henry Ives Cobb — the Chicago-based architect behind the Newberry Library and Lower Manhattan's Liberty Tower, and a rare name on a New York residential building. Its façade still reads its origins: a former double-height chapel expressed as a large stone-outlined window above the canopied entrance, and top floors that cant inward beneath an exposed rooftop water tank. Its appeal is the combination of institutional solidity and a distinctive architectural story rather than conventional pre-war ornament.

The building holds seventy-five apartments, one of which is owned by the cooperative and occupied by the superintendent. As with any building of this vintage, floor and exposure drive the experience: higher floors and the better-exposed lines take more light, while lower and rear units trade at a discount. The block itself — quiet, residential, and directly opposite the Turtle Bay Gardens — is a meaningful part of what the better lines offer.

235 East 49th Street runs as a full-service, high-touch cooperative — a part-time doorman staffed across the day, a live-in resident superintendent, two elevators, central laundry, resident storage, and central air, anchored by a common roof deck and roof garden with skyline outlooks. An unusual feature sits in the basement: an athletic space that extends under the sidewalk, with its own street entrance, leased to a children's athletic-training program. The building does not have an in-building gym or bike room; the amenity set is the practical, well-staffed package of a good pre-war-era house rather than a modern amenity tower. As a cooperative, purchases are subject to board review, and the building maintains standard co-op financing, subletting, and residency policies, with a minimum down payment on the higher side and a modest flip tax typical of the category.

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. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $759/sf (floor-adjusted) across 2 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 3.1% 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 1-01323-0015). 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.

This is a cooperative, so plan for a board process. A purchase runs through a board package and interview, and the building maintains financing and residency policies typical of a full-service Turtle Bay co-op — including a minimum down payment on the higher side, a limited but permitted sublet policy, and a modest flip tax. Plan for a primary-residence purchase and a standard board review.

The architecture and history are part of the value. A Henry Ives Cobb building, converted from a seminary, with a chapel window still expressed on the façade, is a genuinely distinctive story — and a durable one. Benchmark against Turtle Bay's full-service cooperatives, but recognize what sets this building apart.

Floor, light, and exposure are the on-site distinctions. The higher and better-exposed lines are the homes that hold value best. The block itself — quiet and across from the Turtle Bay Gardens — is a meaningful part of the appeal.

The location is deep Turtle Bay. Mid-block between Second and Third Avenues, steps from Smith & Wollensky and Amster Yard, close to Grand Central and the E/M subway at Lexington–53rd. Quiet, residential, historic.

Lead with the architecture, the history, and the block. A Cobb-designed former seminary on a townhouse-lined street opposite the Turtle Bay Gardens is an easy and distinctive story to tell; the building's character does real work in a sale.

Benchmark within the building and against Turtle Bay co-ops. With ample in-building turnover, recent comparable sales here are the first reference point; floor, light, exposure, and renovation status determine where a unit lands, on a price-per-room basis.

Position to the primary-residence buyer. As a full-service co-op with a limited sublet policy, the building rewards a well-qualified, primary-residence buyer — foreground the full-service operation and the character.

Prepare the board package early. A clean, complete package and a well-qualified, primary-residence buyer move a co-op sale through the board efficiently — we manage that process end to end.

If you're considering 235 East 49th Street, also evaluate nearby Turtle Bay and Midtown East cooperatives:

• 240 East 55th Street — a full-service postwar cooperative
• 245 East 49th Street — Turtle Bay cooperative
• 219 East 49th Street — Turtle Bay cooperative
• 220 East 54th Street — a full-service 1960 postwar cooperative
• 301 East 48th Street — Turtle Bay full-service building