250 West 81st Street (Two Fifty West 81st)

The building occupies a corner site of roughly 7,900 square feet with about 76 feet of frontage, and the massing follows from that. Rather than a slab, the design steps back in stages toward the top, which is what produces the terraces on the upper residences and the staggered cornice lines visible from Broadway. The elevation is limestone at the base rising into pale brick, with punched windows — several stone-framed — rather than a curtain wall, and applied ornament concentrated at the crown and the corners.

The stack runs from the fourth floor up. Lower and middle floors carry two- and three-line plates — the fifth through seventh floors are split into A, B and C residences — and the plan consolidates as it rises, with A and B homes through the teens and a single residence at the top designated PH20. One recorded home, 14A/B, is a full-floor combination created before closing. The absence of 13, 17 and 19 from the residence designations is a naming convention, not a missing floor.

The unit-count history is worth stating plainly, because published sources still disagree with the record. The new-building application proposed 28 dwelling units. Filings during construction carried 32 and then 31. Contemporary press and marketing carried 31 residences averaging 2,700 square feet. What was actually recorded — in the 2018 condominium subdivision, in the ACRIS unit-lot schedule, in every certificate of occupancy issued, and in PLUTO — is 28 residential units plus one commercial unit. Use 28.

Two floors of retail occupy the base as a single commercial condominium unit, held by a sponsor-affiliated entity rather than sold off. Buyers should understand that the commercial unit's tenancy and its share of common expenses are governed by the condominium documents and are worth reading, since a two-level Broadway retail condominium is a meaningful economic component of a 28-home building.

Two Fifty West 81st runs as a full-service condominium with an attended lobby and full-time doorman coverage. The amenity program is broad for the unit count — roughly 6,000 square feet spread across 28 homes — and that ratio cuts both ways. It is a favourable ratio to use and an unfavourable one to fund, particularly for the specialty spaces: a professional music studio, a sports court and a golf simulator carry maintenance and equipment costs that a fitness room alone does not.

The building is now in its seventh year of operation, which is long enough for the operating baseline to be real rather than projected. Request the current budget, the reserve position, the assessment history, and the status of any remaining sponsor obligations before contract.

The open item is the certificate of occupancy. The building has run on a temporary certificate since 2020 and has renewed it eighteen times, most recently in August 2026. Temporary certificates are common in new construction and their renewal is routine; a six-year run of renewals with no final certificate is not a defect on its own, but it is a live diligence item. It can affect financing at some lenders, and it means that whatever conditions are keeping the certificate temporary have not been closed out. Ask the managing agent what the outstanding items are and what the plan is, and have counsel confirm the current status directly at the Department of Buildings rather than relying on a summary.

Ownership form: Condominium. Purchases close through the standard right-of-first-refusal mechanism rather than a cooperative board approval, which produces faster and more predictable timelines — 30 to 45 days is typical.

Pets: Permitted per management-sourced records. Confirm weight and breed limits in the house rules.

Pied-à-terre, subletting, LLC, trust and foreign ownership: All permitted under the standard condominium framework. The recorded closing history confirms that entity and trust purchases were routine from the sellout forward. Minimum lease terms should be confirmed with the managing agent.

Minimum down payment: 20 percent per listing records.

In-unit washer/dryer: Permitted; residences are equipped.

Flip tax: Not documented in public records. Confirm any resale capital contribution with the managing agent before pricing a sale.

Real estate taxes: No abatement and no exemption. There is no 421-a benefit, no 485-x benefit and no J-51 on any unit lot, and the Department of Finance exemption detail carries no record for this address at all. Underwrite full unabated taxes on the specific unit from the current bill. A purchaser who will occupy the apartment as a primary residence should ask counsel about the standard co-op/condo property tax abatement, which is applied for at the owner level.

Landmark: None. No LPC review applies to work at this building.

Recent sales

Recent closings at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. 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 (2025) cleared a median $2,446/sf across 2 sales. Median listing discount 0.0% 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 1-01228-7504) 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.

Underwrite full taxes from day one. No 421-a, no 485-x, no J-51, no exemption. This is the single item most likely to move your monthly number relative to abated new construction, and it does not improve later.

Ask about the temporary certificate of occupancy. Eighteen renewals and no final certificate. Confirm the outstanding conditions and the timeline, and check with your lender early.

Use 28, not 31. Published sources still carry 31 residences. The recorded count is 28 plus one commercial unit. Any per-unit analysis built on 31 is wrong.

The building is not landmarked — and that matters both ways. There is no LPC review to navigate for an alteration. There is also no landmark protection on the surrounding mid-block sites, and the district boundary that stops at this block's edge does not protect the views or the light of the lower floors.

Read the commercial unit's terms. Two floors of Broadway retail sit in the base as a single condominium unit held by a sponsor affiliate. Understand its common-charge allocation, its use restrictions and its voting rights.

Test the amenity economics, not the amenity list. A music studio, a sports court and a golf simulator across 28 homes is an appealing ratio and an expensive one. Read the operating budget and the reserve position.

Lead with the scarcity, and be specific about why. New construction of this scale on the Upper West Side between Riverside and Central Park West is close to unrepeatable, and the reason is that this lot falls between two historic districts that cover the rest of the block. That is an argument no competing building can copy, and it is verifiable.

Be direct about the tax posture. Sophisticated buyers will find it in diligence. Presenting the full unabated number up front, paired with a True Monthly Carrying Cost analysis, produces better outcomes than letting it surface late.

Get ahead of the certificate of occupancy. Have the current status and the outstanding items in hand before the first offer, not after the first lender question.

Price against new development, not the prewar co-ops. The buildings on the surrounding blocks are prewar cooperatives with entirely different economics, policies and buyer pools.

Same-building comparables are thin. With 28 residences and a fast sellout, resale pricing depends on line-specific and floor-specific analysis rather than a building average.

If you're considering Two Fifty West 81st, also evaluate:

• 200 West 78th Street — condominium three blocks south on Broadway; the nearest peer by corridor and product type
• 207 West 79th Street — Upper West Side condominium two blocks south; the closest alternative on the same Broadway spine
• 200 West 72nd Street — 2020 condominium conversion of a rental building; the conversion alternative with different economics
• The Belnord — historic conversion of the 1908 Broadway landmark; the large-scale, amenity-rich Upper West Side condominium alternative
• The Apthorp — Broadway landmark converted from luxury rental; the prewar condominium comparison at scale
• 15 Central Park West — Robert A.M. Stern Architects' defining traditionalist condominium; the design-lineage comparison at a much higher price tier
• 20 East End Avenue — Robert A.M. Stern Architects boutique new construction; the closest peer by architect, scale and ambition
• 100 West 81st Street — 1982 cooperative conversion on the same street; the co-op alternative with different policy and financing rules
• 11 West 81st Street — 1976 cooperative conversion; the prewar co-op comparison inside the historic district