- Year built
- 1925
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- Designated
305 West 104th Street is the kind of handsome, human-scaled pre-war cooperative that defines the quiet streets between West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. Completed in the mid-1920s to the design of Sugarman & Berger — the firm whose portfolio includes the landmark Art Deco New Yorker Hotel — it is a Colonial Revival apartment house in brick, limestone, and terra cotta, sited on a leafy mid-block stretch a short walk from Riverside Park and the Hudson.
The appeal is value and livability rather than spectacle. At 40 apartments across ten stories, with roughly four homes per floor, the building offers the proportions of pre-war construction at a more accessible entry point than the grand doorman houses on Riverside Drive itself. For buyers who want a real pre-war home — high ceilings, solid walls, period detail — on a postcard Upper West Side block, it is a compelling option.
The location is the everyday luxury: Riverside Park and its playgrounds and waterfront paths are a block west, the West Side's restaurant and market streets along Broadway and Amsterdam are close, and the 1 train at 103rd Street keeps the building well connected. This is residential Upper West Side at its most settled.
Architecture and unit composition
Sugarman & Berger designed 305 West 104th Street in a restrained Colonial Revival idiom — a brick body trimmed in limestone and terra cotta, with the dignified street presence typical of the firm and of the Riverside Drive–West End Historic District in which it sits. The building has been carefully maintained over the decades while preserving the character that makes pre-war West Side apartments so durable.
Inside, the four-per-floor plan yields homes with the gracious bones of the period: well-proportioned rooms, generous light from the mid-block exposures, hardwood floors, and the quiet that comes with masonry construction. Layouts run from intimate to classic family configurations, and the building's scale keeps the community close-knit. In-unit washer/dryers are permitted with board approval, a meaningful convenience in a building of this era.
Building operations
305 West 104th Street operates as a well-run boutique cooperative. There is a live-in superintendent and a practical set of shared amenities — a furnished, planted resident garden, a central laundry room, bike storage, and private storage. As a non-doorman building, it carries lower monthly costs than the full-service houses on Riverside Drive while still offering attentive on-site management.
The board's policies are accommodating by co-op standards. The building is pet-friendly. Financing is permitted up to 80% — notably generous for a pre-war cooperative and a real advantage for buyers. In-unit washer/dryers are allowed with board approval. The flip tax is the lower of 10% of gross profit or 7% of the sale price, a structure to model carefully when estimating net proceeds. The combination of high allowable financing and a pet policy makes the building approachable for a wide range of buyers.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $836/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $2
Facade safety — Local Law 11
An active hazard: the building must keep a sidewalk shed up and make repairs now — expect construction, disruption, and a likely special assessment. We’d get you the repair scope and the building’s funding plan up front, so you go in knowing exactly what’s underway and what it’s likely to cost.
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
As a 40-unit cooperative, 305 West 104th Street generates a modest, steady cadence of closings rather than constant turnover. Apartments here tend to be pre-war layouts priced within the Upper West Side cooperative range, with values shaped by floor, light, condition, and the building's value-oriented, non-doorman cost profile. The generous financing allowance broadens the buyer pool and supports liquidity. For the current recorded transfer history tied to this address, see the building's sales page.
What to know if you’re buying
The headline for buyers is access: up to 80% financing is unusually buyer-friendly for a pre-war co-op, lowering the cash barrier relative to most of the neighborhood. The building is pet-friendly and permits washer/dryers with approval. The most important number to model is the flip tax, structured as the lower of 10% of gross profit or 7% of sale price — most relevant to your eventual resale, but worth understanding up front. Expect a standard co-op board package and the lower monthlies that come with a well-run non-doorman building.
What to know if you’re selling
The selling case is value plus location: a Sugarman & Berger Colonial Revival on a prime Riverside-adjacent block, a furnished resident garden, generous 80% financing, and a pet-friendly policy — all of which widen the buyer pool. Because the building is boutique and non-doorman, pricing leans on the broader Upper West Side pre-war cooperative set and on the specific apartment's floor, light, and condition. We position each listing against that comparable tier and prepare sellers to address the flip-tax structure clearly with buyers.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 305 West 104th Street, also evaluate these nearby Upper West Side cooperatives:
- 300 West 108th Street — pre-war cooperative a few blocks north
- 311 West 106th Street — Riverside-adjacent co-op nearby
- 305 West 98th Street — pre-war West Side cooperative to the south
- 300 West 109th Street — boutique pre-war co-op peer
- 310 West 99th Street — Upper West Side cooperative nearby
The Roebling Team at 305 West 104th Street
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper West Side, the Riverside and West End corridors, and the broader pre-war cooperative market. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers at boutique co-ops like 305 West 104th Street deserve building-specific intelligence — the architecture, the financing latitude, the flip-tax structure, and where values sit against the surrounding West Side stock.
If you're weighing a purchase or sale at 305 West 104th Street, a focused consultation is the right starting point.
Get the full picture on this building.
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