- Year built
- 1912
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 17
- Floors
- 9
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Pets permitted under the condominium rules
- Subletting
- Permitted under the condominium declaration
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
Every recorded sale at this building, 2006–2025
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $1,421
- Listing discount
- 6.4%
- Recorded sales
- 25
- On record
- 2006–2025
235 West 71st Street — The Lucania — is a handsome 1912 red-brick apartment house by Gaetan Ajello, the architect responsible for many of the Upper West Side's most refined prewar buildings. It stands mid-block between Broadway and West End Avenue, and in 2008 it was gut-renovated and converted into a full-service condominium of seventeen residences. That combination — Ajello's prewar architecture and proportions paired with a comprehensive modern conversion and a condominium structure — is the building's signature: the light, ceiling height, and windowed eat-in kitchens of a fine prewar building, delivered with new systems and the flexibility of condominium ownership.
The location is among the most convenient on the West Side: a quiet cross street steps from the 72nd Street transit hub, near both Central Park and Riverside Park, and in the middle of the neighborhood's shopping and dining. For buyers who want prewar character without the financing caps and board processes of a co-op, a converted prewar condominium like The Lucania occupies a genuinely useful niche.
This is a boutique building whose value is set at the apartment level. With seventeen residences, floor, exposure, and layout drive pricing more than any building-wide figure.
Architecture and unit composition
Ajello's design is a well-mannered piece of prewar masonry: a red-brick, Renaissance-inspired apartment house of nine stories, with the balanced proportions that made his Upper West Side buildings so durable. The 2008 conversion, designed by Arbore Design, preserved the prewar bones while modernizing the building throughout — tilt-and-turn windows, windowed eat-in kitchens, and updated systems across the seventeen residences.
At nine stories and seventeen units, the building keeps a boutique profile with a real service package — a 24-hour doorman, a fitness center, a children's playroom, a bicycle room, and storage. Residences run through family-sized layouts, with the higher and better-exposed homes carrying the building's premiums.
Building operations
235 West 71st Street operates as a boutique full-service condominium: a 24-hour doorman, an elevator, a fitness center, a children's playroom, a bicycle room, and private storage. Because the building was comprehensively converted in 2008, its systems are of that generation; common charges reflect a small building carrying full-time staffing and an amenity set. Buyers should model the full monthly carry and review reserves and any capital history during due diligence, as is prudent for any converted prewar condominium now more than fifteen years into its new life. In a seventeen-unit building, ownership tends toward long-term, primary-residence owners.
Recent sales
As a condominium, 235 West 71st Street prices on a price-per-square-foot basis, with the higher floors and best-exposed residences carrying the building's premiums. Turnover is light in a seventeen-unit building; both resale and owner-rental activity occur, but this is an ownership condominium, not a rental building. Apartment-level context — floor, exposure, layout, ceiling height, and condition — drives pricing far more than any building average, and the prewar character combined with condominium flexibility supports pricing for well-presented residences.
Recent closings at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. Apartment-level facts are independently verified before publishing; sale prices reflect the recorded transfer amount at the NYC Department of Finance.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 12, 2024 | PH | 5 BR · 4.5 BA · 5,876 sf | $8,350,000 | $1,421/sf | -23.7% |
| Sep 19, 2023 | 1B | 1 BR · 1 BA · 980 sf | $1,100,000 | $1,122/sf | -6.4% |
| Jun 29, 2023 | 3 | 6 BR · 5.5 BA · 4,761 sf | $8,250,000 | $1,733/sf | -2.9% |
| Apr 17, 2023 | 5 | 5 BR · 4.5 BA · 4,771 sf | $8,700,000 | $1,824/sf | -3.3% |
| Oct 13, 2020 | 6A | 4 BR · 4 BA · 2,841 sf | $4,700,000 | $1,654/sf | -14.5% |
| Feb 21, 2020 | 2C | 1 BR · 1 BA · 747 sf | $925,000 | $1,238/sf | -22.9% |
| Mar 1, 2017 | 7 | 5 BR · 4 BA · 4,771 sf | $9,000,000 | $1,886/sf | -3.7% |
| Oct 5, 2016 | 4 | 6 BR · 4 BA · 4,800 sf | $8,700,000 | $1,813/sf | -2.8% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2024): a median $1,421/sf across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2025. Median listing discount 6.4% 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.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 14, 2025 | 6A | $4,500,000 |
| Aug 26, 2009 | 8A | $4,425,006 |
| Jan 31, 2006 | — | $30,500,000 |
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 1-01163-7502) and verified listing data. Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified by The Roebling Team research desk. 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.
What to know if you’re buying
Prewar character, condo flexibility. The building offers Ajello's prewar proportions with the financing and ownership flexibility of a condominium — a combination the co-ops nearby cannot match.
It's a boutique doorman building. A 24-hour doorman, gym, and playroom back seventeen residences — full service at boutique scale. Price that combination accordingly.
Condo flexibility is real. Pied-à-terre, subletting, foreign buyers, and LLC/trust ownership are permitted under the declaration; closings run on condo timelines.
Underwrite the conversion. Review the reserve position and any capital history since the 2008 conversion, as with any converted prewar building.
Mansion tax thresholds apply. At this building's pricing, the $1M and $2M cliffs can be in play. Run pricing through the Mansion Tax Calculator.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with Ajello and the conversion. The prewar architecture and the comprehensive modern renovation are the marketing story; foreground both.
Pricing requires apartment-level comps. With seventeen residences, floor, exposure, and layout move the number more than any neighborhood average.
Own the location and the flexibility. The 71st Street address and the condominium structure are genuine selling points; market them plainly.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 235 West 71st Street, also evaluate these nearby Upper West Side buildings:
- 200 West 72nd Street — nearby West 72nd Street condominium
- 201 West 72nd Street — nearby West 72nd Street building
- 120 West 72nd Street — nearby boutique West 72nd Street condominium
- 119 West 71st Street — neighboring West 71st Street building
- 267 West 71st Street — nearby West 71st Street building
The Roebling Team at 235 West 71st Street (The Lucania)
The Roebling Team at Compass works the full Upper West Side, including its converted prewar condominiums. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers of small, prewar-conversion buildings deserve building-level intelligence — architecture, operational reality, and apartment-level pricing context — rather than generic market commentary.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 235 West 71st Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point. We'll bring the full context this page provides plus the transactional specifics your situation requires.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper West Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper West Side.
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