- Year built
- 1925
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 62
- Pets
- Pet-friendly
- Financing
- Up to 65% of the purchase price
- Flip tax
- 2% of the purchase price, paid by the seller
290 West End Avenue is a Schwartz & Gross cooperative from the heart of the 1920s boom — a mid-decade Neo-Renaissance apartment house from the firm that, more than any other, gave New York its pre-war residential fabric. Schwartz & Gross designed apartment buildings on nearly every major residential avenue in Manhattan — from the Brentmore at 88 Central Park West to the color-shifting Art Deco tower at 55 Central Park West — and their work is a kind of baseline of pre-war quality: well-proportioned, classically detailed, and built to last. 290 is a clean example of that practice on West End Avenue, executed in the buff-brick Neo-Renaissance idiom over a three-story limestone base.
The building carries a piece of Gilded Age history at its doorstep. 290 rose directly across from the Charles M. Schwab mansion — the enormous French-inspired chateau that occupied the entire block between 73rd and 74th Streets from West End Avenue to Riverside Drive, the largest free-standing private house in Manhattan when it was completed in 1906. The mansion is long gone, but the address still sits on one of the corridor's most storied blocks.
At sixteen stories with roughly 62 apartments — a ratio that signals generous, family-scaled layouts rather than high-density packing — 290 is the West End Avenue proposition in miniature: the quieter, more residential counterpart to Broadway, drawing families who want serious pre-war space without the commercial bustle to the east or the river-facing premium of Riverside Drive a block west. It converted to cooperative ownership in the late 1970s, joining the wave that turned West End's rental stock into the co-op corridor it is today.
Architecture and unit composition
The approximately 62 apartments span 16 stories in the gracious layouts characteristic of mid-1920s West End Avenue — high principal-room ceilings, formal entry galleries, separated living and dining rooms, and the period architectural detail of 1925-era luxury design. The low unit count against the building's height reflects generous footprints; this is a building of family-scale apartments.
West End Avenue and side-street exposures carry the corridor's residential light, with higher floors picking up more open outlooks. Renovation condition varies across the unit mix, from preserved original detail to fully modernized interiors.
Building operations
290 West End Avenue is a full-service pre-war cooperative with a 24-hour doorman, attended elevator, live-in superintendent, private storage, a bike room, central laundry, and a common outdoor patio. The building is pet-friendly and permits financing up to 65% of the purchase price. A 2% flip tax is paid by the seller at closing.
The board governs ownership and subletting tightly. Subletting is limited: shareholders may sublet for one year, renewable for a second with prior board approval, with no more than one application permitted per seven years of ownership and a sublet fee equal to 25% of maintenance. Pied-à-terre arrangements are considered case by case. The cooperative does not permit LLC or corporate ownership — apartments are held by individual shareholders. That posture keeps 290 a genuine primary-residence community.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
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
Sales context at 290 West End Avenue:
- Turnover is moderate given the roughly 62-unit scale — a typical year produces a handful of closings.
- Pricing sits within the West End Avenue co-op band: large classic layouts anchor the upper end, with smaller configurations more accessible.
- The Schwartz & Gross pedigree and full-service operations support pricing consistent with the corridor's established pre-war cooperatives.
Apartment-level analysis depends on floor altitude, exposure, layout, and renovation condition. We provide current, building-specific comparable analysis on request.
What to know if you’re buying
Schwartz & Gross pedigree and gracious layouts are the value story. Well-built mid-1920s pre-war space from one of the city's defining residential firms, on a historic block.
The terms are knowable and primary-residence-oriented. Financing runs to 65%, the seller pays a 2% flip tax, pets are welcome — but subletting is tightly limited and LLC ownership is off the table, so plan on this as a home, not an investment vehicle.
West End Avenue is the residential-calm play. Quieter than the eastern avenues, more accessible than river-facing Riverside Drive, with Riverside Park and Broadway transit both close.
Board approval follows West End norms. Strong financials and primary-residence intent are advantageous.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the pedigree and the block. Schwartz & Gross authorship, the 1925 vintage, gracious family-scale apartments, and the historic Schwab-mansion block are the marketable strengths.
Frame the policy profile correctly. The pet-friendly, primary-residence character appeals to families; be clear with buyers that this is not a sublet- or LLC-friendly building.
Price to layout and condition. Configuration and renovation level are the dominant value drivers; comp against the most comparable in-building and corridor trades.
Closing timelines are co-op standard — generally 6–10 weeks from contract to closing.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 290 West End Avenue, also evaluate:
- 320 West End Avenue — nearby West End Avenue pre-war co-op
- 277 West End Avenue — neighboring West End Avenue cooperative
- 400 West End Avenue — West End Avenue pre-war comparable
- 263 West End Avenue — West End Avenue full-service building
- 246 West End Avenue — West End Avenue comparable
The Roebling Team at 290 West End Avenue
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Central Park West, the Upper West Side, and the broader park- and river-facing Manhattan market. We publish this building profile because West End Avenue 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 290 West End Avenue, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Get the full picture on this building.
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