305 East 72nd Street (Charing Cross House)
305 East 72nd Street, New York, NY 10021
Lenox Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1014477501 · BIN 1076314
- Year built
- 1955
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 177
- Floors
- 17
- Pets
- Permitted under building rules
- Financing
- Up to 75 percent permitted (25 percent minimum down)
- Flip tax
- 2 percent of the gross sale price, seller-paid
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- Studio median
- $435K
- Recent range
- $200K – $1.8M
- Listing discount
- 5.3%
- Recorded transfers
- 217
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at Charing Cross House 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.
Charing Cross House is a case study in why tenure has to be read carefully rather than assumed. Its legal entity is "305/72 Condominium," and a quick glance at the city's tax records would file it as a condominium. In practice, the building sells and operates as a cooperative — a cond-op — where buyers purchase shares, pay monthly maintenance, and go through cooperative board approval. Getting that right is the difference between an accurate underwriting and a wrong one, and it is exactly the kind of distinction a generic building description misses.
Beyond the structure, the building carries a genuine piece of New York literary history. Helene Hanff — author of 84, Charing Cross Road, the beloved epistolary memoir of her correspondence with a London bookseller — lived here, and the building takes its name from her book. That is a real, documented asset, and it gives an otherwise workmanlike postwar tower a story that resonates with a certain kind of buyer.
What Charing Cross House offers in the market is accessible full-service cooperative living in Lenox Hill: a doorman, a roof deck, a gym, and ground-floor conveniences including a 24-hour pharmacy, at price points that sit well below the corridor's pre-war co-ops. The financing and policy framework — 75 percent financing, pieds-à-terre entertained case by case — is friendlier than the Park and Fifth Avenue tier, which widens the buyer pool.
Architecture and unit composition
The building is postwar pragmatism at scale: H.I. Feldman's design joins a 6-story north wing facing East 73rd Street to a 17-story south tower facing East 72nd Street via a connecting corridor, in beige brick, with the column-free corner windows characteristic of the era and terraces and bay windows on select lines. Roughly 177 apartments run from studios and one-bedrooms — the building's core inventory — through two-bedroom combinations; sources differ modestly on the exact count and the building's precise construction year, and the offering plan controls on any specific unit. Some apartments carry in-unit washer/dryers; the building is noted for a "green building" designation.
Because this is a cooperative, apartments are valued on a per-room basis rather than strictly per square foot — an important framing for buyers translating between condominium and co-op pricing in the same neighborhood.
Building operations
Charing Cross House runs as a full-service cooperative: 24-hour doorman, a live-in resident manager, a fitness center, a landscaped roof deck with skyline views, central laundry across both wings, a bike room, and private and common storage, over ground-floor retail that includes a 24-hour pharmacy. The building is managed by AKAM Associates. The offering plan, house rules, board fee schedule, and financial statements are held in The Roebling Research Library and available to clients during diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $74,093/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $35
- Modeled exposure split equally across 177 units (the city tax-lot count). Not an assessed amount; co-op shareholders are typically charged by share allocation.
Source: NYC LL84 benchmarking and PLUTO · The Roebling Research Library. City record last verified September 2026.
See full Local Law 97 analysis — emissions history, scenarios, methodology →Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer 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 — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent).
Penalties shown are amounts DOB assessed against filings on record across 2005–10 to 2020–25. 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 record last verified September 2026.
Recent sales
The building's resale market is a value-and-flexibility market. Buyers reach it wanting a doorman, a roof deck, and a gym in Lenox Hill without the down-payment and pied-à-terre restrictions of the avenue co-ops — and the 75 percent financing posture and case-by-case pied-à-terre tolerance deliver exactly that. Studios and one-bedrooms are the building's currency, which makes it a natural first-purchase and parents-buying building and means same-line comparables are plentiful. The seller-paid 2 percent flip tax is a real number to build into pricing and net-proceeds math from the start.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 15, 2026 | 3HN | 1 BR · 1 BA · 720 sf | $685,000 | $951/sf | +5.4% |
| Apr 13, 2026 | 3DS | 1 BR · 1 BA · 750 sf | $670,000 | $893/sf | +3.2% |
| Mar 20, 2026 | 4CN | $407,500 | -1.8% | ||
| Jan 28, 2026 | 13I | 1 BA | $390,000 | -1.3% | |
| Nov 7, 2025 | 10G | 1 BA · 550 sf | $480,000 | $873/sf | -3.8% |
| Oct 23, 2025 | 6IS | 1 BA | $445,000 | -8.2% | |
| Sep 18, 2025 | 6FN | 1 BR · 1 BA · 700 sf | $610,000 | $871/sf | -6.2% |
| Aug 25, 2025 | 2FN | 1 BR · 1 BA | $670,000 | -3.6% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $940/sf (floor-adjusted) across 2 sales. 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 1.6% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 27, 2018 | 13F | $646,000 |
| Dec 9, 2009 | PHF | $125,000 |
| Dec 9, 2009 | 14B | $259,000 |
| May 13, 2003 | 12G | $275,000 |
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 1-01447-7501). 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.
At the recent median sale of $670K (15 transfers since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $11,063 to close, or 1.7% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $0
- No mortgage recording tax or title insurance on a co-op purchase
- Attorneys, lender, building fees and filings: $11,063
Assumes a resale (the seller pays transfer taxes), a $4,500 attorney fee and a mortgage on the rest.
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What to know if you’re buying
Understand the cond-op structure. Despite the "Condominium" in the entity name, you are buying shares in a cooperative and going through co-op board approval. Underwrite it as a co-op — board package, maintenance, financing cap, and all. Run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator before offering.
The framework is flexible for the corridor. 75 percent financing and case-by-case pied-à-terre tolerance widen the buyer pool relative to the 50–70 percent, primary-residence-only co-ops nearby. Confirm current policy — including any sublet seasoning and duration caps — in writing at contract.
Build the flip tax into the math. The 2 percent seller-paid transfer fee affects pricing strategy and, indirectly, the value you underwrite. Factor it into offer and resale modeling.
Studios and one-bedrooms are the currency. Same-line comparables are the right anchor. Run the Co-op Affordability Calculator on the specific unit.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the story and the flexibility. The Helene Hanff / Charing Cross House history is a documented, searchable asset, and the 75 percent financing and pied-à-terre posture are selling points to this building's buyer pool. Use both.
State the tenure plainly. Buyers and their attorneys need to understand this is a cooperative in operation; framing it correctly up front shortens diligence and prevents mid-deal surprises.
The flip tax shapes your net. Build the seller-paid 2 percent transfer fee into pricing from the start. Run the Seller Closing Cost Calculator before listing.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 305 East 72nd Street, also evaluate:
- Belaire (524 East 72nd Street) — full-service condominium two blocks east on the same street, with a pool
- 420 East 72nd Street — Lenox Hill co-op peer on the same corridor
- 220 East 73rd Street (Eastgate) — Emery Roth pre-war co-op one block north; the architecture step-up
- The Impala (404 East 76th Street) — Michael Graves condominium; the flexibility-and-amenity alternative
- 196 East 75th Street (1296 Third Avenue) — full-service Lenox Hill co-op of similar era and scale
- 400 East 70th Street — postwar Lenox Hill full-service building nearby
More Upper East Side buildings
- 303 East 77th Street (The Isis) — 2008 condominium by FXCollaborative (Fox & Fowle / FXFOWLE)
- 304 East 65th Street — 1986 condominium by Gruzen Samton Steinglass
- 305 East 61st Street (Archive Lofts) — 1900 condominium
- The Georgica (305 East 85th Street) — condominium by CetraRuddy Architects
- 306 East 82nd Street — 2008 condominium
- 308 East 72nd Street (The Knickerbocker) — 1996 condominium by SLCE Architects
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, transit, and pricing across Upper East Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper East 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.
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