250 West 103rd Street (Alexandria House)

The 103rd Street elevation is a straightforward tripartite composition: a stone base with the two-story arched entrance and its Composite pilasters, a long red-brick shaft, and an upper band marked by brick stringcourses at the twelfth and fourteenth floors. The paired round-arched windows over the entrance and the brick-arched surrounds at the fourth and twelfth floors carry most of the ornament. The cornice is gone, and LPC's survey records replaced windows, a non-historic marquee and through-wall air-conditioning sleeves — typical of a hotel conversion of this era, and part of why the building reads plainer today than its Park Avenue siblings.

Apartments run across A through F lines on the typical floor, with the building's 78 units (per city records) spanning one-bedrooms through three-bedrooms. Listing records describe entry foyers, eat-in or enclosed kitchens and separate dining areas in the larger lines, angled rooms where the hotel plan turned the corner of a light court, and at least one lower-floor line opening onto a terrace over the base. A handful of owners have combined apartments; ACRIS records a combined 1C/1F. Because layouts are not uniform line to line, each apartment has to be seen on its own terms — the offering plan says as much.

The building runs as a full-service prewar cooperative: 24-hour doorman, live-in superintendent, roof deck and garden, bicycle room and storage. Management-sourced records note that the board takes a summer recess in July and August, which matters for anyone planning a summer closing.

J-51, start to finish. Department of Finance J-51 records show two benefits on this lot. The first, tied to the 1983 conversion and rehabilitation, certified roughly $1.25 million of work; its exemption on the added assessed value ran through the mid-1990s and its abatement was fully used by the 2001 tax year. A second J-51 benefit, initiated in 2005 on a smaller improvement program, abated taxes through the 2016 tax year and is also exhausted. Nothing is active today. The only exemptions on the current roll are individual shareholder exemptions, not building benefits.

Underlying mortgage. ACRIS shows the cooperative's mortgage consolidated in 2011 and again in May 2020, the latter under a consolidation agreement of about $3.48 million. Rate, amortization and maturity are not in the public record — ask for the current financial statements.

Façade. The building is subject to Local Law 11 inspections. Its most recent filing in the public record, for Cycle 9 in November 2020, was classified Safe; earlier cycles were filed as Safe With a Repair and Maintenance Program. The Cycle 10 report was not yet in the public record at this writing. Because the building is landmarked, façade repair scope also runs through LPC.

Financing: Up to 80 percent of the purchase price.

Flip tax: 1.75 percent of the sale price. Management-sourced fee schedules list it as payable by the seller; some listing records describe it as a purchaser cost. That is a 1.75-point swing in the net, and it should be settled in writing before a price is agreed.

Subletting: A shareholder must live in the apartment for two years before the board will consider a sublet. Sublets run for one full year; the board may approve further one-year terms at its discretion, and every subtenant is approved by the board. The sublet fee, payable to the building at the start of the term, is 30 percent of the apartment's annual maintenance in the first year, 35 percent in the second, and 40 percent in any year after that, per management-sourced records. That is expensive, and it makes this a poor building for an investor.

Pied-à-terre: Subject to board approval.

Ownership vehicles: LLC and corporate purchases are not permitted. Trust purchases are subject to board approval and require the trust agreement with the contract. Management records also caution that moving shares into a trust can affect a shareholder's co-op tax abatement unless the trust is registered with the Department of Finance.

Guarantors, co-purchasing, parents buying for children, gifts: Considered case by case; every party must be on the contract and submit a full application.

Pets and washer/dryers: Pets are permitted and in-unit washer/dryers are allowed, per listing records. Confirm both with the managing agent and the house rules before relying on them.

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01874-0058) 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.

Settle the flip tax before you settle the price. At 1.75 percent, whether it sits with the seller or the purchaser changes the deal. The records disagree; the contract should not.

Plan on 20 percent down and a full board package. Financing tops out at 80 percent. The board reviews in person, takes July and August off, and does not accept LLC or corporate buyers.

This is a primary-residence building. Sublets need two years of residence first and carry a fee of 30 to 40 percent of annual maintenance. Pied-à-terre use needs board approval. Buyers who may need to rent should model that cost now.

Ask for the current financials and the mortgage terms. The underlying mortgage was consolidated in 2020 at about $3.48 million per ACRIS. The maturity date and any balloon payment matter, and they are not public.

Read the layout, not the listing. Hotel-plan apartments vary line to line. Angled rooms and bedroom sizes are the usual surprise.

Landmark rules apply to the outside. Window replacements and anything visible from the street go through LPC as well as the board.

Lead with the pedigree and the location. Rouse & Goldstone, a landmarked prewar façade, half a block to the 1 train and a block to Riverside Park is a clean story for a buyer comparing newer stock on Broadway.

Price against the same line. Irregular hotel-plan layouts make building averages misleading. Recent sales in the same line, adjusted for condition and floor, are the anchor.

Have the package ready before summer. The board's July–August recess can push a spring contract into the fall. A complete application submitted in May is worth more than a higher offer that misses the window.

Know your flip-tax position. Confirm with the managing agent who pays the 1.75 percent before listing, and state it in the listing terms.

If you're considering Alexandria House, also evaluate:

• 680 West End Avenue — a 1916–18 Rouse & Goldstone apartment house at West 93rd Street; the same firm working in its family-apartment mode
• 2721 Broadway (The Armstead) — prewar cooperative one block north at West 104th Street; the closest Broadway alternative
• 2730 Broadway — circa-1917 Renaissance Revival cooperative at West 105th Street; same era, same subway stop
• 2681 Broadway (The Broadmoor) — prewar cooperative one block south at West 102nd Street; larger, taller neighbor
• 2745 Broadway (The Cleburne) — 1912 Schwartz & Gross cooperative running Broadway to West End at 105th
• 890 West End Avenue — 1924 Schwartz & Gross cooperative at West 104th; the West End family-apartment alternative
• 840 West End Avenue — Beaux-Arts cooperative at West 101st Street
• 255 West 98th Street — 1913 prewar side-street cooperative converted in 1984; a close match on era and conversion history