- Year built
- 1886
- Type
- Cooperative — a rowhouse converted to a walk-up apartment building
- Units
- 8
- Floors
- 4
- Landmark
- Designated
- Pets
- Pet-friendly per listing records
- Financing
- 20 percent minimum down per listing records — verify against current board requirements
267 West 71st Street is the Upper West Side's townhouse-co-op proposition at its most literal: an 1880s rowhouse, eight apartments, 343 shares, no staff, on a quiet side street one short block from the 72nd Street express station. For buyers who want townhouse-scale living — two units to a floor, low overhead, neighbors you can count on one hand — without buying an entire townhouse, this is the structural format, and the West 70s between Broadway and West End Avenue is one of its best corridors.
The history is better than the building's quiet face suggests. The house went up in 1886–87 as one of a row of 13 speculative rowhouses by the architect W. Holman Smith for the developers Van Loon & Capron — a row so deliberately varied in its sandstone hues, rooflines, and projecting bays that contemporary critics called it a "reign of terror," a story The New York Times revisited in Christopher Gray's 2012 "Streetscapes" column on the row ("Row Houses Gone Wild"). Only two houses of the original 13 — 265 and 271 West 71st — survive intact. No. 267 took a different path: a 1961 alteration stripped the stoop and rebuilt the entire facade as a bowed front of glazed white brick, a mid-century skin whose curve, per the designation-report records, follows the line of the balconies that once projected from the Victorian original.
The ownership story is straightforward and well documented. The building converted to cooperative ownership under a non-eviction plan dated October 23, 1987, sponsored by Richard and David Maidman d/b/a 267 West 71st Street Company, with 343 shares allocated across the 8 apartments — the offering plan and its first amendment are on file in The Roebling Research Library. In 2013 the city folded the block into the West End-Collegiate Historic District Extension, putting the facade — 1961 refacing and all — under Landmarks jurisdiction.
Architecture and unit composition
The building reads today as a curiosity the historic-district designators chose to document rather than erase: a 17-foot-wide Victorian rowhouse body behind a clean mid-century front. The bowed facade carries five rectangular window openings per floor between slender brick piers, with a glazed-brick portico at the basement-level entry. Exterior work — windows, entry, anything street-facing — now requires Landmarks approval, which protects the block's character and adds a step to facade-touching projects.
Inside, the 8 apartments distribute at roughly two per floor across the parlor and upper levels, in the front/rear configuration typical of converted rowhouses — listing records show units identified by floor and front/rear position, with at least one full-floor-style layout marketed in recent years. Expect rowhouse proportions: good light at the bowed front, quiet exposures over the rear yards, and renovation quality that varies meaningfully unit to unit. Square footage is inconsistently documented in listing records, as is common in small co-ops; measure during diligence.
Building operations
This is a self-service co-op in the fullest sense: no doorman, no staff payroll, no amenity program — a walk-up with keyed entry, run by a small shareholder board with a managing agent. The economics follow: maintenance runs lean relative to staffed buildings, and the trade is package logistics and self-reliance. With only 8 units and 343 shares, each shareholder carries a meaningful slice of the building's fixed costs, so the financial review matters more here than in large co-ops: reserve depth, recent and planned capital work (roof, boiler, facade cycles under Landmarks jurisdiction), and any sponsor- or investor-held units should all be confirmed during diligence.
Local Law 97
This building is below the 25,000 sq ft threshold at which LL97 emissions caps apply. No regulatory capital pressure from this law specifically, current or 2030.
See full Local Law 97 analysis →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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 15, 2021 | 1R/1F | $1,999,000 |
| Aug 5, 2019 | 2FR | $1,600,000 |
| Sep 1, 2017 | 3R | $750,000 |
| Jul 12, 2017 | 2F/R | $1,300,000 |
| Aug 27, 2015 | 1R | $1,925,000 |
| Apr 1, 2009 | 1R | $995,000 |
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 1-01163-0006) 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
Underwrite the co-op, not just the apartment. Eight units means a thin financial base: one major capital project moves maintenance for everyone. Have your attorney review several years of financials, the reserve position, and board minutes. The offering plan and first amendment are on file with us and frame the building's original share and unit structure.
The policy framework is lightly documented — confirm it early. Pet-friendliness and a 20 percent minimum down convention appear in listing records, but sublet terms, pied-à-terre posture, and any flip tax are not publicly documented. In a co-op this small, board posture is the policy; get current answers from the managing agent before you offer. Run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator before submitting.
Landmarks jurisdiction applies. The building sits in the West End-Collegiate Historic District Extension. Interior renovations proceed normally under board alteration agreements, but windows and anything street-facing route through Landmarks — budget time accordingly.
The block is the value. West 71st between Broadway and West End is a low-traffic side street with the 1/2/3 express at 72nd Street a block away, Trader Joe's and the Broadway retail spine at the corner, and Riverside Park three short blocks west. The location underwrites the format.
Walk-up means walk-up. Three residential levels over the entry floor, no elevator. Price your own stairs honestly — it shapes both daily life and eventual resale audience.
What to know if you’re selling
Sell the format. The buyer for this building is choosing townhouse scale over full-service convenience — market the privacy, the low maintenance, and the share of a well-located 1880s rowhouse, not a missing amenity list. The "reign of terror" row history and the building's documented architectural biography are genuine differentiators worth telling.
Pre-empt the diligence questions. Small-co-op buyers' attorneys ask hard questions about reserves and capital plans. Assemble the financials, recent board communications, and capital history up front; we provide supporting documentation from the Research Library to serious buyers' counsel.
Price to condition and layout, not to the building average. With 8 units and infrequent trades, the relevant comparables are renovated-versus-estate rowhouse co-op units across the West 70s. Run the Renovation Cost Calculator against your asking strategy if your unit is dated.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 267 West 71st Street, also evaluate:
- 265 and 271 West 71st Street — the two intact survivors of the same W. Holman Smith row; the architectural context next door
- West 71st Street Historic District rowhouses (the block west of West End Avenue) — the area's premier intact rowhouse streetscape, with similar small-building ownership formats
- The Dorilton — the landmark Beaux-Arts co-op at the Broadway corner of the same street; the full-service step-up without leaving the block
- The Ansonia — Broadway's landmark condop two blocks north; pre-war grandeur with flexible ownership mechanics
- The Chatsworth — 344 West 72nd Street; the corridor's pre-war condo-conversion alternative
- The Apthorp — the full-block landmark condo conversion at 79th and West End; the trophy alternative
- 320 West End Avenue — Rosario Candela pre-war co-op on the avenue; the classic full-service comparison
- 470 West End Avenue — Emery Roth pre-war co-op; same corridor, institutional scale
The Roebling Team at 267 West 71st Street
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Upper West Side — including its boutique rowhouse co-ops, where building-level diligence matters most — as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because small-co-op buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence: conversion documentation, policy framework, and format-true comparables, not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 267 West 71st Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.