257 West 86th Street
257 West 86th Street, New York, NY 10024
BBL 1012340007 · BIN 1033196
- Year built
- 1907
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark status
- Not an individual landmark; in the Riverside-West End Historic District Extension I
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission records, updated February 2026
- Pied-à-terre
- Permitted
- Pets
- Pets permitted; species and limits not stated
- Maximum financing
- 65% of the purchase price
- Flip tax
- 2.5% of the purchase price, paid by the seller
- Doorman
- Full-time doorman
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 1BR median, 2024–2025
- $445K
- 3 qualifying sales
- Recent range
- $361K – $3.9M
- Listing discount
- 8.3%
- Recorded transfers
- 34
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at 257 West 86th Street 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.
257 West 86th Street is one of the Upper West Side's distinctive early studio buildings — a 1907 design by Pollard & Steinam, the firm best known for the studio-building type that gave the neighborhood some of its most architecturally ambitious apartment houses. What sets a building like this apart is the base: a dramatic three-story limestone elevation with robust columns, rusticated quoins, decorative balconies, and a colonnaded, lantern-flanked entrance — a far more sculptural street presence than the standard brick apartment house of the era. It rises only seven stories and holds just 32 residences, which makes it genuinely boutique.
The building was later converted to a residential cooperative, and today it trades as a full-service pre-war co-op between Broadway and West End Avenue, a block from Riverside Park and within easy reach of Central Park. For buyers, the draw is the combination: real architectural character, an intimate ownership, modern building amenities, and one of the more flexible board postures on the Upper West Side.
Architecture and unit composition
The original studio-building program shaped the interiors as much as the façade. Buildings of this type were planned around larger, light-filled rooms and double-height or generously scaled volumes; how much of that openness and pre-war detail a home retains varies by apartment. Over the decades a number of apartments have been combined and reconfigured — duplexes and classic-six layouts among them — so the unit mix runs from gracious one- and two-bedrooms up to substantial multi-floor homes. The seven-story scale and 32-unit count make for a small building, and the upper floors and penthouse look out over the low-rise side streets.
Building operations
257 West 86th is run as a full-service boutique cooperative. The building offers a fitness room and a common roof deck, with storage available. There is an elevator, and a resident manager handles day-to-day service. Reported policies include the following: pets are permitted, pied-à-terre ownership is allowed, and the building permits financing of up to roughly 65% of the purchase price (a minimum down payment in the neighborhood of 35%). A transfer fee (flip tax) applies on sale. As at any cooperative, purchasers clear a board package and interview. Confirm the applicable historic district and required exterior-work approvals with LPC; the profile and district panel name different extensions. We help buyers confirm the precise financing cap, flip-tax basis, and sublet terms against the cooperative's governing documents before they bid.
Application and transaction fees
Fees below are from building management's published schedule, as of September 2026. They are shown as published, item by item; no total is added because the total depends on the transaction. Deposits are listed apart from nonrefundable charges.
- Terms
- Equal to 2.5% of sales price
- Rate
- 2.5% of the purchase price
- Paid by
- Seller
Source: building management's published schedule, as of September 2026
Purchase
6 items
Fees and charges
| Item | Paid by | When | Amount | Refundable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application Processing Fee | Paid by Buyer | When With the application | Amount $750 | Refundable Non-refundable |
| Credit Check Fee | Paid by Buyer | When With the application | Amount $175.00 per prospective shareholder, guarantor, AND prospective adult non-shareholder resident | Refundable Non-refundable |
| Moving Fee | Paid by Buyer | When With the application | Amount $250.00 for small apartments (studios and one (1) bedrooms) and $500.00 for larger apartments (two (2) bedrooms and larger, including duplexes), | Refundable Non-refundable |
| Closing Fee | Paid by Buyer | When At closing | Amount $500 | Refundable Non-refundable |
| Recognition Agreement FeeConditional | Paid by Buyer | When At closing | Amount 250 (if financing) | Refundable Non-refundable |
| Transfer Fee | Paid by Buyer | When At closing | Amount $950 | Refundable Non-refundable |
Sublet
4 items
Fees and charges
| Item | Paid by | When | Amount | Refundable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sublet FeeRecurring | Paid by Shareholder | When With the application | Amount Equal to (10%) of the monthly maintenance | Refundable Non-refundable |
| Application Processing Fee | Paid by Subtenant | When With the application | Amount $400 | Refundable Non-refundable |
| Credit Check Fee | Paid by Subtenant | When With the application | Amount $175.00 per prospective subtenant, guarantor, AND adult resident | Refundable Non-refundable |
| Moving Fee | Paid by Subtenant | When With the application | Amount Of $250.00 for small apartments (studios and one (1) bedrooms) and $500.00 for larger apartments (two (2) bedrooms and larger, including duplexes), | Refundable Non-refundable |
Ownership transfer
2 items
Transfer: trust
Fees and charges
| Item | Paid by | When | Amount | Refundable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Transfer Application Fee | Paid by Buyer | When With the application | Amount $500 | Refundable Non-refundable |
| Coop Attorney Review Fee | Paid by Buyer | When Upon approval | Amount To be determined | Refundable Not stated |
Management updates its schedule without a public filing. The date is when management last updated the page, not when a rule changed. Confirm the current schedule with management before you apply.
Considering an apartment here? Send Corey the listing to discuss the building's costs and purchase requirements.
Own an apartment here? Request an apartment-specific pricing review.
Financing and purchase requirements
- Maximum financing
- 65% of the purchase priceSource: The Roebling Team's building profile
Sublet and pied-à-terre policy
A condominium owner leasing a unit and a co-op shareholder subletting are different rules, and a building-wide rule is different from a restriction on one apartment. This is the building's rule; confirm it for the specific apartment.
- Subletting by shareholders
- Not verified
- Pied-à-terre ownership
- PermittedSource: The Roebling Team's building profile
Considering an apartment here? Send Corey the listing to discuss the sublet and pied-à-terre rules for that apartment.
Pets and in-unit washer/dryer
- Pets
- Pets permitted; species and limits not statedSource: The Roebling Team's building profile
- In-unit washer/dryer
- Not verified
Considering an apartment here? Send Corey the listing to confirm the pet and washer/dryer rules for that apartment.
Monthly carrying charges in recent sales
- Maintenance, per room
- $919 per room a monthMedian of 6 recorded sales since October 2023Source: recorded sales, refreshed October 2026
Maintenance as recorded with each sale. A co-op's maintenance already covers the building's real estate taxes and the building's own mortgage, if it has one; add your own loan payment for the monthly outlay. A summary of recorded sales, not a current bill; charges change.
Building staffing and amenities
- Doorman
- Full-time doormanSource: recent listing records
- Live-in superintendent
- YesSource: The Roebling Team's building profile
- Elevator
- YesSource: NYC Department of City Planning records (PLUTO)
- Amenities noted
- Fitness room, roof deckSource: The Roebling Team's building profile
Staffing and amenities as our building profile and recent listing records describe them. A feature not listed is not confirmed absent. Outdoor space, parking and some facilities can belong to particular apartments or to a separate owner; confirm access for the specific apartment.
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the inspector (QEWI) 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 — a licensed professional engineer or registered architect who meets DOB’s FISP qualifications and signs the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent).
Penalties shown are amounts DOB assessed against filings on record across 2005–10 to 2025–30. 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 data last refreshed October 2026.
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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 2026 | 3 | 3 BR · 2.5 BA | $3,625,000 | -8.2% | |
| Feb 9, 2026 | PHA | 3 BR · 2.5 BA · 2,875 sf | $4,228,750 | $1,471/sf | -6.0% |
| Aug 21, 2025 | 5 | 3 BR · 2.5 BA | $3,850,000 | — | |
| Aug 13, 2025 | 10D | 1 BR · 1 BA | $361,000 | -8.6% | |
| Jun 18, 2025 | 9C | 1 BR · 1 BA | $445,000 | -4.3% | |
| Aug 19, 2024 | 8C | 1 BR · 1 BA · 625 sf | $454,000 | $726/sf | -8.3% |
| Dec 20, 2022 | 10C | 1 BR · 1 BA · 700 sf | $440,000 | $629/sf | -7.4% |
| Oct 25, 2021 | 8D | 1 BR · 1 BA | $459,000 | +14.8% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026 to date) cleared a median $1,471/sf (recorded) across 1 sale. Median listing discount 5.5% 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.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 23, 2003 | 8D | $425,000 |
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 1-01234-0007). 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.
What would your apartment rent for?
Enter your apartment and I'll send you what it would rent for, from comparable closed leases at 257 West 86th Street and nearby.
At the recent median sale of $3.63M (5 transfers in the past 24 months, since October 31, 2024), a buyer putting 35% down would pay about $68,925 to close, or 1.9% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $54,375
- No mortgage recording tax or title insurance on a co-op purchase
- Attorneys, lender, building fees and filings: $14,550
Assumes a resale (the seller pays transfer taxes), a $4,500 attorney fee and a mortgage at the building's 65% financing limit.
Keep up with 257 West 86th Street and its market
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What to know if you’re buying
The building's documented terms permit pets and pied-à-terre ownership. Confirm the building's financing limit and match your financing to it, budget for the transfer fee, and expect a board package and interview. The reward is an architecturally distinctive, full-service home with a gym and roof deck, a block from Riverside Park. We help buyers read the financials, understand the board's posture, and benchmark pricing against the right line-specific comparables.
What to know if you’re selling
The architecture and the flexibility are the marketing core. The sculptural limestone base, the studio-building provenance, the on-site gym and roof deck, and a board that permits pieds-à-terre and pets together describe a building that appeals to a wide buyer pool — primary buyers, second-home buyers, and downsizers alike. The key is pricing the specific apartment to its true peer set given the building's varied layouts, and presenting the pre-war volume and light correctly. We build that strategy around the building's amenity package and accommodating posture.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 257 West 86th Street, also evaluate these nearby Upper West Side cooperatives:
- 255 West 90th Street — pre-war Upper West Side cooperative nearby
- 145 West 86th Street — full-service pre-war co-op on the same street
- 200 West 88th Street — Upper West Side comparison; confirm its construction era and ownership in its own records
- 215 West 84th Street — boutique pre-war co-op to the south
- 320 West 83rd Street — West End–corridor pre-war cooperative
More Upper West Side buildings
- Claremont Condominium (255 West 85th Street) — condominium
- The Augusta, 255 West 92nd Street — 1897 condominium
- 256 West 88th Street — 1884 condominium
- 267 West 71st Street — 1886 co-op
- 267 West 89th Street — 1910 co-op
- 269 West 87th Street (West End and Eighty Seven) — 2018 condop by FXCollaborative (Fox & Fowle / FXFOWLE)
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, transit, and pricing across Upper West Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper West Side.
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
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 257 West 86th Street?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.
646.939.7375 · c.cohen@compass.com