- Year built
- 1913
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- Designated
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2025
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 2BR median
- $1.4M
- Recent range
- $930K – $1.9M
- Listing discount
- 6.5%
- Recorded transfers
- 30
305 West 72nd Street is one of the more architecturally vigorous pre-war cooperatives on the Upper West Side — an Italian Renaissance palazzo designed by Gaetano Ajello, the prolific architect whose buildings gave West End Avenue and the Riverside corridor much of their early-twentieth-century character. Built in 1913 and converted to a cooperative in 1983, it sits on the corner of West End Avenue, a block from Riverside Park and steps from the 72nd Street subway and the Broadway retail row.
Ajello signed the building in the most literal way — his name is inscribed in the western cornerstone, "G. AJELLO, ARCHITECT," a flourish that captures the confidence of his work. The facade is the payoff: a particularly vigorous Italian Renaissance composition with Venetian accents and the layered masonry detailing that distinguishes Ajello's apartment houses from the plainer stock around them.
For buyers, the appeal is a full-service pre-war building with real architectural pedigree, a prime corner near Riverside Park, and — notably — a board whose policies are among the most flexible on the Upper West Side.
Architecture and unit composition
Ajello's design is a textbook of the Italian Renaissance idiom applied to a Manhattan apartment house: a richly modeled facade, Venetian-inflected detailing, and the kind of ornamental ambition that has aged into rarity. The corner siting gives the building light and air on two exposures and a presence that mid-block buildings lack.
With 46 apartments across 13 floors, the building offers a wide range of layouts — from efficient studios and one-bedrooms to larger family homes — reflecting the broad market the building has always served. The pre-war interiors carry the period's hallmarks: good ceiling heights, hardwood floors, and well-proportioned rooms, with the corner and upper-floor residences enjoying the better light and, from the higher floors, glimpses toward the Hudson and Riverside Park.
Building operations
305 West 72nd runs as a full-service pre-war cooperative. A 24-hour doorman, elevator operators, and a live-in resident manager anchor the staffing, and the amenity set includes a bicycle room, private storage, and a central laundry room.
The board's policies are among the most accommodating in the corridor. The building is pet-friendly — cats and dogs are welcome. Pieds-à-terre are permitted, co-purchasing and guarantors are allowed, and subletting is permitted with board approval — a genuinely flexible posture that opens the building to a wide range of buyers, including investors and part-time residents whom stricter co-ops exclude. Prospective purchasers should expect a board package and interview.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $4,525/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $8
Facade safety — Local Law 11
Safe to live in today — but the last inspection flagged repairs that are due on a deadline, so facade work and its cost are coming. Whether that’s a real concern depends on the scope, the timing, and how the building plans to pay for it — reserves or an assessment — which is exactly what we’d dig into for you.
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
Recent transfers at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. Apartment-level facts are independently verified before publishing; sale prices reflect the recorded transfer amount at the NYC Department of Finance.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 2025 | 1B | 2 BR · 1 BA | $930,000 | -6.5% | |
| May 15, 2025 | 10A | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,386,000 | -4.4% | |
| Aug 15, 2024 | 4AD | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,950,000 | -13.3% | |
| Mar 9, 2022 | 1A | 1 BR · 1 BA | $635,000 | -2.3% | |
| Feb 24, 2022 | 2A | 1 BR · 2 BA | $1,100,000 | -15.4% | |
| Aug 30, 2021 | 11C | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,550,000 | -2.8% | |
| Feb 27, 2018 | 6C | 2 BR · 1,100 sf | $1,250,000 | $1,136/sf | off-mkt |
| Mar 31, 2016 | 7C | 2 BR · 985 sf | $1,200,000 | $1,218/sf | -2.0% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2018) cleared a median $1,004/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 4.9% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 2021 | 8A | $971,595 |
| Feb 25, 2019 | 5B | $1,862,500 |
| Sep 22, 2016 | 9D | $691,000 |
| Apr 28, 2016 | 10A | $1,250,000 |
| Sep 2, 2015 | 11C | $1,595,000 |
| May 15, 2007 | 1B | $650,000 |
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 1-01184-0007) 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; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.
What to know if you’re buying
305 West 72nd is one of the most flexible full-service cooperatives on the Upper West Side. Pieds-à-terre are permitted, co-purchasing and guarantors are allowed, and subletting is permitted with board approval — a combination that suits second-home buyers, parents buying for children, and longer-horizon investors. The building is pet-friendly. Expect a board package and interview, but the accommodating policy set makes approval reachable for a broad range of applicants. Buyers should focus diligence on the specific apartment: light, exposure, and layout vary considerably across this large pre-war floor plate, and the corner and upper-floor homes are the most desirable.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the architecture and the flexibility. A Gaetano Ajello Italian Renaissance palazzo on a Riverside-adjacent corner, full-time staffing, and an unusually permissive board — pied-à-terre, guarantors, co-purchasing, and subletting — make a marketing package most Upper West Side co-ops cannot match. The flexible policies materially widen the buyer pool, so emphasize them. Benchmark to full-service West End / Riverside pre-war cooperatives, and price to the specific unit's size and exposure given the building's broad range. Stage to the pre-war buyer and present a board-ready purchaser to keep the closing clean.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 305 West 72nd Street, also evaluate these nearby West 70s cooperatives:
- 322 West 72nd Street — pre-war cooperative on the same block
- 330 West 72nd Street — Riverside-corridor cooperative nearby
- 340 West 72nd Street — pre-war cooperative toward Riverside Drive
- 267 West 71st Street — pre-war Upper West Side cooperative
- 243 West 70th Street — West 70s cooperative peer
The Roebling Team at 305 West 72nd Street
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper West Side pre-war cooperative market, including the architecturally distinctive West End and Riverside houses where pedigree, exposure, and a board's flexibility drive value. We publish this profile because a building this accommodating — and this handsome — rewards buyers and sellers who understand exactly where it sits.
If you're weighing a purchase or sale at 305 West 72nd, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point — we'll walk the building, the comparison set, and the board dynamics with you.
Get the full picture on this building.
Current availability including off-market, the full comp set, and the board & financials read most listings don't show.