249 East 48th Street (Turtle Bay House)
249 East 48th Street, New York, NY 10017
BBL 1013227501 · BIN 1038044
- Year built
- 1957
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 160
- Floors
- 20
- Landmark
- In a historic district
- Pets
- Permitted under condominium rules
- Subletting
- Permitted with board approval
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf (floor-adjusted)
- $965
- Listing discount
- 4.0%
- Recorded sales
- 55
- On record
- 2004–2026
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at Turtle Bay House 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.
Turtle Bay House is a full-service post-war condominium on one of Midtown East's quieter and most sought-after residential blocks — East 48th Street between Second and Third Avenues, within the Turtle Bay enclave. The 1957 white-brick building operates as a condominium, offering the transactional flexibility of condo ownership in a stretch of Manhattan otherwise dominated by cooperatives.
That flexibility is the building's central appeal. Turtle Bay is a cooperative-heavy neighborhood, and a well-run condominium here serves buyers who want the neighborhood's residential calm and proximity to Midtown employment without the board-approval friction and use restrictions of a co-op. Pieds-à-terre and investment use are permitted, and closings are faster than the co-op alternative.
The location combines quiet with access. The block sits within walking distance of Grand Central Terminal, the United Nations, and the Midtown East office core, while the Turtle Bay streets themselves — including the landmarked Turtle Bay Gardens a short walk away — retain a low-rise, tree-lined character unusual for the area.
Architecture and unit composition
The approximately 160 to 163 residences distribute across roughly 20 stories in a classic post-war white-brick envelope, with a canopied entrance and modest sidewalk landscaping. The building has no balconies; air conditioning is through-wall in the post-war manner.
The unit mix runs from studios and one-bedrooms through larger two- and three-bedroom layouts. Interiors are post-war in bones — efficient, well-proportioned rooms — with renovation quality varying apartment to apartment and driving much of the pricing spread. The lobby, elevators, and package room were modernized in recent building improvements.
Building operations
Turtle Bay House operates as a full-service condominium: 24-hour doorman and concierge, a live-in resident manager, porters and handymen, on-site laundry, a private parking garage with spaces available to buy or rent, a mail room, and a renovated lobby, elevators, and package room. Pets are permitted under building rules.
As a condominium, the building offers standard condo flexibility — pieds-à-terre and investment use are permitted, and subletting is allowed with board approval. Common charges and property taxes should be modeled for the specific apartment; buyers should review the current financials, any assessments, and the reserve position during due diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $27,097/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $14
- Modeled exposure split equally across 162 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 filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair, with repairs due by the deadline stated in the filing. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials for you.
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 2020–25. 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
- Sublet policy
- Allowed; min 1 year, no more than 1 year per lease
- Notable fees
- Pets owners only upon approval; smoking prohibited
Recent sales
Turtle Bay House trades as a mid-market Midtown East condominium, with pricing driven by floor, exposure, and, above all, renovation condition.
The building's value proposition — condominium flexibility on a quiet Turtle Bay block, with full building services and on-site parking, at a mid-market price point — supports steady demand from buyers who want ownership latitude in a co-op-dominated neighborhood.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 30, 2026 | 10B | 3 BR · 4 BA · 2,721 sf | $2,650,000 | $974/sf | -3.6% |
| Dec 4, 2025 | 5J | 776 sf | $822,500 | $1,060/sf | off-mkt |
| Nov 25, 2025 | 5D | 1,494 sf | $1,500,000 | $1,004/sf | off-mkt |
| Oct 15, 2025 | 2E | 873 sf | $725,000 | $830/sf | off-mkt |
| Sep 26, 2025 | 3A | 1 BA · 633 sf | $650,000 | $1,027/sf | -3.7% |
| Oct 15, 2024 | 4A | 1 BA · 631 sf | $575,000 | $911/sf | -4.0% |
| Jun 27, 2024 | 4E | 1 BR · 1 BA · 850 sf | $740,000 | $871/sf | -8.6% |
| Jun 14, 2024 | 13D | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,494 sf | $1,525,000 | $1,021/sf | -4.4% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $965/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 4.0% 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 1-01322-7501). 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 Turtle Bay House, last 36 months
| Size | Leases | Median / month |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 5 | $3,600 |
| 2 bedroom | 2 | $5,075 |
9 closed leases, October 2023 to September 2026. Most recent lease June 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 $823K (6 sales since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $31,171 to close, or 3.8% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $0
- Mortgage recording tax: $11,875
- Title insurance: $3,701
- Attorneys, lender, building fees, reserves and filings: $15,595
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
This is a condominium in a co-op neighborhood. The building's condo structure is its differentiator in Turtle Bay — pieds-à-terre and investment use permitted, subletting with board approval, faster closings.
Condition drives price. Renovation quality is the largest single pricing variable within the building. Inspect kitchens, baths, and mechanicals and price against comparable condition.
On-site parking is a genuine amenity. The private garage, with spaces to buy or rent, is meaningful in this part of Midtown. Confirm availability and terms.
Model the full carry. Confirm common charges, property taxes, and any assessment for the specific apartment.
Confirm the exact exposure. The block is quiet, but specific lines and floors vary in light and outlook. Confirm what a given apartment sees.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with flexibility and location. Condo flexibility on a quiet Turtle Bay block, near Grand Central and the UN, is the marketing story. Foreground it.
Presentation matters. Because condition drives the pricing spread, staging and preparation materially affect outcome.
Price against genuinely comparable units. Comparable analysis should weight floor, exposure, and condition, and account for the building's condo flexibility in the buyer pool it attracts.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 249 East 48th Street, also evaluate:
- 145 East 48th Street (The Cosmopolitan) — full-amenity Midtown East condominium tower
- 232 East 47th Street (The Club at Turtle Bay) — Turtle Bay condominium tower
- 250 East 49th Street — Turtle Bay condominium nearby
- Midtown East — the broader corridor
More Midtown East buildings
- 245 East 50th Street — 1980 condominium
- 245 East 54th Street (The Brevard) — 1977 co-op by Emery Roth
- Loft53, 245 East 53rd Street — 2017 condominium
- 249 East 50th Street — 2019 condominium by Isaac & Stern Architects
- The Alexander, 250 East 49th Street — condominium
- The Mondrian, 250 East 54th Street — 1990 condominium by FXCollaborative (Fox & Fowle / FXFOWLE)
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, transit, and pricing across Midtown East — read The Roebling Team Guide to Midtown East.
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.
Considering a move at Turtle Bay House?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.