255 West 108th Street (The Manchester)
255 West 108th Street, New York, NY 10025
- Year built
- 1910
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 108
- Floors
- 12
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Permitted with board approval per listing records
- Financing
- Maximum not firmly documented in public records — verify with the managing agent at offer stage
The Manchester is a product of the exact moment that built the upper Broadway corridor: the subway reached Morningside Heights on New Year's Day 1904, Columbia University had moved to its new campus in 1897, and within a decade speculative builders lined Broadway with full-service Beaux-Arts apartment houses meant to pull affluent families uptown. Charles E. McManus bought the eight lots at the northeast corner of Broadway and 108th Street in 1909 and commissioned Neville & Bagge — among the most prolific apartment-house architects of the era — to design a twelve-story fireproof building. The New York Times featured the result in January 1910 as part of the new wave of elegant multi-family living. The limestone base, the filigree-bracketed balconies, the marble lobby, and the carved face over the entrance — nicknamed Phoebe by residents, after a long-time shareholder — all survive.
What distinguishes the building today is the structural value case. The Manchester delivers the corridor's signature pre-war product — high ceilings, defined foyers, generous room counts, doorman service — at Manhattan Valley pricing rather than the 86th Street trophy tier a mile south. The location math works in its favor: the 1 train at 110th Street is a block away, Riverside Park is two blocks west, Central Park's northwest corner is two blocks east, and Columbia University anchors a deep, durable buyer-and-renter pool that has steadily pushed the corridor's floor upward.
The cooperative's own record is unusually transparent for a building this size. The offering plan first offered March 19, 1982 — on file in The Roebling Research Library together with all thirty-two amendments and the proprietary lease — documents the conversion in detail: 108 apartments at offering, a tenant-era mix of rent-controlled and rent-stabilized units that has long since worked itself out, and a sponsor-retained 40-year commercial lease on the Broadway retail space. Today the cooperative reports more than 96 percent shareholder ownership, with apartments increasingly bought by neighbors and recombined into larger homes — the trajectory of a settled, owner-occupied house.
Architecture and unit composition
Neville & Bagge organized the building as a classic corner Beaux-Arts block: limestone encasing the lower floors, beige brick above, balconies carried on carved limestone brackets, and wrought iron at the entrance and inner stair. The lobby retains its grey-white marble walls, ornate ceiling moldings, and white Italian tile floor bordered in a terra-cotta Greek key — original fabric, maintained rather than replaced. The 108 apartments run predominantly from one- to three-bedrooms, with pre-war proportions that renovate well; the building's own history notes a continuing pattern of combinations as adjacent units trade. Broadway-facing lines get the corner light and the avenue's energy; 108th Street and courtyard-facing lines trade view for quiet.
Building operations
Full-time doorman, live-in superintendent, central laundry, bike room, and children's playroom, with a roof deck added in recent years per listing records. The ground-floor retail along Broadway sits under the commercial-lease framework documented in the offering plan on file — the sponsor retained a 40-year lease at conversion, a structure your attorney should review for its current status and its contribution to the co-op's finances. Management is professional; the offering plan, all thirty-two amendments, and the proprietary lease are on file in The Roebling Research Library and available to clients during diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $6,558/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $5
Recent sales
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Recent transfers at this building, sourced from NYC Department of Finance records. Apartment-level detail (line, condition, asking-price context) verified upon consultation request.
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 22, 2026 | 2F | $597,500 |
| Oct 16, 2025 | 4D1 | $784,000 |
| Jul 3, 2025 | 7D1 | $725,000 |
| Jun 29, 2023 | 4A | $930,000 |
| Feb 16, 2023 | 10D | $625,000 |
| Jul 8, 2022 | 3A | $717,500 |
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 1-01880-0001) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
Price the corridor, not the postcode. Manhattan Valley pricing with Morningside Heights infrastructure is the trade: the 1 train at 110th, Riverside and Central Parks within two blocks, and Columbia's institutional gravity a few minutes north. Buyers comparing against the West 80s and 90s should run the per-square-foot math — the discount is structural, and it has been narrowing.
The policy framework is moderate by co-op standards. Pets, pieds-à-terre, co-purchasers, and guarantors are all entertained with board approval per listing records, and the sublet policy — one year of occupancy, then up to two years in five — is more flexible than many pre-war peers. Confirm every term with the managing agent before offering, and run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator early.
Review the commercial lease in diligence. The conversion sponsor retained a 40-year lease on the Broadway retail space at terms documented in the offering plan on file. Your attorney should establish its current status and how the retail income flows through the co-op's budget.
Verify the financing ceiling and fee stack. Maximum financing and any flip tax are not firmly documented in public records. We verify both against the proprietary lease, amendments, and current house rules on file during diligence.
Condition drives outcome. With 96-plus percent shareholder ownership and an active combination market, well-renovated units meet deep demand; unrenovated units are priced as projects. Run the Renovation Cost Calculator before bidding on either.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the fabric. The 1910 Neville & Bagge provenance, the marble lobby, the balconies, the Times-featured debut — this building has a documented story most Manhattan Valley stock cannot match. Market it with specifics, not adjectives.
Name the buyer pool honestly. Columbia-affiliated buyers, families trading north for space, and value-driven pre-war buyers priced out below 96th Street are the demand stack. Pricing against the corridor's renovated comparables — not against the building's own thin trade history — wins.
Document the co-op's stability. High owner-occupancy and a settled shareholder base survive attorney diligence well. We provide the offering plan, amendments, and proprietary lease from the Research Library to serious buyers' counsel.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 255 West 108th Street, also evaluate:
- The Manhasset (301 West 108th Street / 2801–2825 Broadway) — the grand turn-of-the-century pile directly across Broadway; the corner's prestige pre-war
- The Hendrik Hudson — the 1907 Riverside Drive landmark-scale co-op two blocks northwest; same era, same submarket
- 310 Riverside Drive (The Master Apartments) — the Art Deco alternative at 103rd Street
- The Broadmoor (235 West 102nd Street) — Broadway-corridor pre-war co-op six blocks south
- 905 West End Avenue — pre-war co-op stock on the quieter avenue one block west
- Astor Court — the courtyard pre-war co-op at Broadway and 89th–90th; the step-up comparison below 96th Street
- 250 West 94th Street (The Stanton) — pre-war co-op on the 94th Street corridor
- The Belnord — the Broadway pre-war benchmark at 86th Street, now a condominium; the trophy-tier contrast
The Roebling Team at The Manchester
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Upper West Side, the upper Broadway corridor, and Morningside Heights as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because Manchester buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — conversion documentation, policy framework, and corridor-level comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 255 West 108th Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.