238 East 55th Street (Sutton Place)

The building is a fourteen-story white-brick apartment house of the late-1950s postwar era, mid-block between Second and Third Avenues, with angled setback terraces animating the upper floors. Public records attribute the design to Horace Ginsbern & Associates, an award-winning firm of New York apartment-house architects, built for the developer Morris Rosen & Sons. It is not a landmark and makes no pre-war claims; the appeal is the practical virtue of a solid postwar house, with light and a central location doing the work.

The residences run to roughly ninety-nine apartments — largely alcove studios on the lower floors, with one-bedrooms on the upper floors, several of which carry private terraces. Several apartments have been combined over the years. As with any postwar house, floor and exposure drive the experience: the south-facing lines take strong light and open city views, and the terraced upper-floor homes are the standouts, while lower and interior units trade at a discount. With ninety-nine residences, the stack offers enough variety that a buyer can usually assemble a meaningful set of in-building comparables.

240 East 55th Street runs as a full-service, high-touch cooperative — a doorman, a live-in resident superintendent, a full-time porter, two elevators, central laundry, resident storage, and bike storage. In-unit washer/dryers are permitted with board approval. The building does not have a garage, roof deck, or in-building gym; the amenity set is the practical, well-staffed package of a good postwar house rather than a modern amenity tower, and the full-time staffing is a core part of why the building holds its standing. As a cooperative, purchases are subject to board review, and the building maintains standard co-op financing, subletting, and residency policies — a minimum down payment of roughly twenty-five percent, and a sublet policy that permits subletting after an initial period of owner-occupancy, on board-approved terms. The building's financials have been described as strong, with an ample reserve fund.

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 $707/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. 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 2.3% 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 1-01328-0030). 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 Midtown East co-op — including a minimum down payment of roughly twenty-five percent and a sublet policy that permits subletting after an initial owner-occupancy period. Plan for a primary-residence purchase and a standard board review.

Know the building's true identity. The tax and city records index this building under 238 East 55th Street, but it is marketed and commonly known as 240 East 55th Street — one building, one lot, two addresses. An address-only search on the wrong number can turn up empty.

Floor, light, and exposure are the on-site distinctions. The south-facing lines and the terraced upper-floor homes are the ones that hold value best; lower and interior units are the value entry point. Note that dogs are not permitted, though cats are.

The location is central Midtown East. Mid-block between Second and Third Avenues, with the E/M subway at Lexington–53rd, the 4/5/6 and N/R/W a short walk away, Whole Foods nearby, and the quiet residential streets toward Sutton Place just to the east. Benchmark against Midtown East's full-service postwar cooperatives.

Lead with the full-service operation and the light. A well-staffed postwar co-op with strong south light, terraced upper-floor homes, and a central Midtown East address is an easy story to tell; the building's steadiness and financial strength do real work in a sale.

Benchmark within the building and against Midtown East co-ops. With ample in-building turnover, recent comparable sales here are the first reference point; floor, light, exposure, terrace, 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, the building rewards a well-qualified, primary-residence buyer — foreground the staffing, the light, and the financial strength.

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 238 East 55th Street, also evaluate nearby Midtown East and Sutton Place cooperatives:

• 235 East 49th Street — distinctive Turtle Bay cooperative
• 220 East 54th Street — a full-service 1960 postwar cooperative
• 400 East 54th Street — Midtown East full-service building
• 301 East 55th Street — Sutton-edge cooperative
• 220 East 57th Street — Sutton Place cooperative