The Peter Stuyvesant (258 Riverside Drive)
258 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10025
- Year built
- 1908
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 51
- Landmark
- Designated
The Peter Stuyvesant at 258 Riverside Drive is one of the most architecturally memorable buildings on a drive defined by its architecture. Completed in 1908 to designs by William L. Rouse for the developer James T. Lee — a figure whose New York real-estate career would later connect him, as a grandfather, to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — the building anchors the Riverside Drive and West 98th Street corner with a confidence that has only grown more distinctive with time.
Its signature is unmistakable: a crowning band of arched windows on the third and top floors, outlined in vivid blue glazed terra-cotta, rising above a four-story rusticated limestone base and a long brick body. The composition is Beaux-Arts in its grammar and Italian Renaissance Revival in its detail — the architecture of an era that treated Riverside Drive as Manhattan's grand river boulevard, lined with mansions and the first generation of luxury apartment houses built to capture the Hudson light. Few buildings on the drive announce themselves as clearly from a distance. Inside, the layout is unusual and gracious: two separate elevator banks, each opening to a private vestibule shared by only two apartments, give most residents a semi-private landing.
The siting compounds the appeal. A corner position on Riverside Drive delivers river-facing and cross-street exposures with the permanent open light the park and the Hudson guarantee — view permanence is among the most durable advantages real estate can offer, and 258 has it, with a roof deck taking in panoramic views of the river and the Manhattan skyline. Converted to a cooperative in 1988 and within the Riverside–West End Historic District, the building offers a relatively intimate 51-apartment scale that produces large, gracious layouts and a low-turnover, owner-occupied character.
Architecture and unit composition
At 51 apartments across thirteen stories, The Peter Stuyvesant is a low-density pre-war building — and the math shows in the apartments. Layouts skew large, with the deep room proportions, separated entertaining rooms, and entry foyers characteristic of 1908-era luxury planning. The building's roughly 2,700-square-foot average per residential unit places it among the more spacious pre-war buildings on the drive.
Pre-war signatures recur throughout: high ceilings, hardwood floors, period architectural detail in varying states of preservation, and river-facing exposures on the western flank. The unit mix runs from larger one- and two-bedrooms to expansive three-bedroom layouts, with some combined apartments producing still-larger configurations. Corner river-facing units — Riverside Drive plus West 98th Street exposure — command the building's clearest view premium. Condition varies apartment to apartment; original detail and renovation state are unit-specific questions.
Building operations
The Peter Stuyvesant operates as a full-service pre-war cooperative with a part-time doorman and a live-in resident manager, and shared amenities that punch above the building's modest size: a river-view roof deck, a bicycle room, private storage bins, and a central laundry. The building converted to cooperative ownership in 1988 — among the later conversions of the wave that reshaped Upper West Side ownership from the late 1950s through the 1980s.
The board is comparatively accommodating for a prime-drive pre-war co-op. Pets are permitted, financing is allowed up to 80%, and sublets are permitted (with a sublet fee equal to 10% of the monthly rent). A 2% flip tax applies on resale. Renovation scope is shaped by the building's historic-district status and pre-war character, and trust ownership is workable with attention to the city's co-op/condo property-tax abatement eligibility rules.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $18,160/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $29
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The facade passed its last inspection with no required repairs — nothing to budget for here, and no facade assessment on the horizon for roughly five years.
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent). Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library.
See the full facade history →Recent sales
Transaction cadence at The Peter Stuyvesant is light, consistent with its 51-unit scale and owner-occupied character — a low-turnover building that produces only a handful of trades in a typical year. Pricing reflects prime Riverside Drive pre-war values, with the largest and highest river-facing apartments at the top of the building's range and a clear premium for direct Hudson exposure and corner light.
With variation by exposure, floor, and condition, building-wide averages are of limited use; a current apartment-level comparable analysis is the right tool for pricing any individual home.
What to know if you’re buying
View permanence is the core asset. Riverside Park and the Hudson guarantee open western light and river views that no future construction can erase — a structural advantage worth paying for, and the roof deck extends it building-wide.
The architecture is genuinely distinctive. The blue terra-cotta arched crown is a recognizable, marketable feature, not a generic pre-war facade.
The policies are friendly. 80% financing, permitted sublets, and a pet-friendly stance make this an easier pre-war co-op to transact in than much of the drive; budget the 2% flip tax.
Low turnover means patience. With 51 apartments and an owner-occupied profile, inventory is thin; the right apartment may require a wait.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the river and the crown. Direct Hudson exposure, the roof deck's panoramic views, and the building's distinctive blue terra-cotta architecture are the strongest marketing assets on the drive.
Foreground the accommodating rules. 80% financing and permitted sublets widen the buyer pool relative to stricter drive co-ops.
Large layouts need apartment-specific positioning. With spacious, varied configurations and the semi-private landings, comparable-sales analysis benefits from broker familiarity with the building's unit mix.
Corner and high-floor river units command premiums. Foreground exposure, floor altitude, and view in the listing strategy.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Peter Stuyvesant, also evaluate these nearby Riverside Drive pre-war cooperatives:
- 280 Riverside Drive — nearby Riverside Drive pre-war co-op
- 285 Riverside Drive — nearby Riverside Drive pre-war co-op
- 300 Riverside Drive — nearby Riverside Drive pre-war co-op
- 310 Riverside Drive — nearby Riverside Drive pre-war co-op
The Roebling Team at The Peter Stuyvesant
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper West Side, Central Park West, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this building profile because Riverside Drive buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architecture, board culture, transactional mechanics, and pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at The Peter Stuyvesant, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Get the full picture on this building.
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