302 West 86th Street

The building's Renaissance Revival exterior is the calling card: a twelve-story brick-and-stone composition with an ornate two-story entrance and the decorative detailing that distinguishes the West 86th Street streetscape. It belongs to its block — which, between West End and Riverside, is one of the most architecturally consistent on the Upper West Side.

Inside, the 37 residences run to two- and three-bedroom homes with the pre-war features buyers actively hunt for: 10-foot beamed ceilings, French doors, decorative moldings, and hardwood floors. The proportions are generous and the room counts substantial — apartments that live larger than their footprint and reward the buyer who values original character over a gut-renovated open plan.

302 West 86th runs as a full-service boutique cooperative with full-time door staff and a resident manager. The amenity set is a real differentiator for a 37-unit building: a landscaped rooftop terrace, a newly designed fitness room, a laundry room, a bike room, and private storage. The building converted to cooperative ownership in 1988 and is owner-occupied. Admissions follow a conventional co-op board application and interview, with the board underwriting buyers to the sound financial standard typical of established West Side cooperatives; primary-residence ownership is the norm.

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.

Market read. Most recent trades (2026 to date) cleared a median $1,227/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. Floor-adjusted means each sale is restated to a constant mix of floors, so the figure can differ from the plain median of the sales listed above. Median listing discount 0.0% from the last ask.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01247-0037). 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.

Buy the pre-war detail and the light. The 10-foot ceilings, French doors, and original moldings are the reason to be in this building, so weigh any apartment that's been renovated out of its character carefully. Higher floors and the larger three-bedroom lines are the prizes and the most competitive when they appear. Come prepared for a conventional co-op board package and interview, plan financing to a conservative standard, and budget for standard New York co-op closing costs. The roof terrace, gym, and storage are genuine amenities for a building this size — value them accordingly.

Sell the architecture and the amenities together. A Renaissance Revival facade on one of the West Side's best blocks, 10-foot beamed ceilings and French doors inside, and a landscaped roof terrace and fitness room above — that combination differentiates the building from plainer inventory nearby and from larger buildings without the detail. Price against the building's own recent trades and the comparable West End-Riverside set, and stage to let the ceiling height, the light, and the original detail read. A clean, board-ready package keeps the deal on schedule.

If you're considering 302 West 86th Street, these nearby Upper West Side co-ops make a useful comparison set:

• 300 West 83rd Street — pre-war co-op three blocks south
• 320 West 83rd Street — full-service pre-war co-op nearby
• 345 West 88th Street — pre-war cooperative two blocks north
• 300 West End Avenue — West End pre-war co-op nearby
• 320 West End Avenue — Rosario Candela's 1924 Upper West Side cooperative