- Year built
- 1901
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- No
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2025
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 3BR median
- $1.5M
- Recent range
- $1.3M – $1.5M
- Listing discount
- 4.4%
- Recorded transfers
- 14
311 West 97th Street — The Von Colon — is a turn-of-the-century pre-war cooperative on one of the Upper West Side's quietest residential streets, half a block from Riverside Park and a short walk to the Broadway retail and 1-train spine. Built around 1901, it belongs to the first wave of West Side apartment houses that rose as the neighborhood transformed from rowhouse blocks into an avenue-and-side-street residential district, and it has held its period character through more than a century of use.
At seven stories and twenty-two homes, the building lives at a human scale — an owner-occupied house where the staff knows every shareholder and the carrying costs are not underwriting a resort amenity package. The apartments carry the texture buyers come to the West Side for: high ceilings, hardwood floors, oak moldings, and transom windows, the kind of pre-war detail that newer construction cannot manufacture.
For buyers, the appeal is straightforward — a pet-friendly pre-war co-op with real character, a flexible board posture, and a Riverside-and-Broadway location that has anchored value on the Upper West Side through every cycle.
Architecture and unit composition
The Von Colon is a product of 1901, when the Upper West Side's developers were building dignified seven-story masonry houses on the side streets between West End and Riverside. The building reads in that turn-of-the-century vocabulary — a restrained Beaux-Arts/Renaissance Revival body sized to the block rather than the avenue.
Inside, the building preserves its pre-war bones. Expect high ceilings, hardwood floors, oak moldings, and transom windows throughout — the period detail that defines the corridor's pre-war stock. With twenty-two homes across seven floors, layouts run to the gracious one- and two-bedroom proportions of early West Side apartment living, and apartments that retain their original detail are the building's strongest draw. The side-street setting keeps the homes quiet, with the western lines catching the open light that comes from being half a block off Riverside Park.
Building operations
The Von Colon runs lean and well. The building offers elevator service, basement storage lockers, a bicycle room, a central laundry, and a recently installed virtual-doorman entry system, with a superintendent overseeing the property. There is no pool or sprawling gym — the model is a small, owner-occupied house that spends on service and structure rather than amenities. The building is pet-friendly, a genuine draw on this family-heavy stretch of the West Side. Common charges support staff, the systems of a 1901 masonry building, and the reserve, keeping monthly costs disciplined for the corridor.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $11,108/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $42
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 30, 2025 | 3N | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,365,000 | -2.4% | |
| Jun 17, 2024 | 7E | 3 BR · 1.5 BA | $1,300,000 | -6.8% | |
| Aug 3, 2021 | 4W | 3 BR · 2 BA · 1,550 sf | $1,390,000 | $897/sf | -18.0% |
| May 27, 2020 | 5W | 3 BR · 2 BA | $1,765,000 | -6.9% | |
| Jun 18, 2019 | 2N | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,275 sf | $1,520,000 | $1,192/sf | -1.9% |
| Mar 7, 2019 | 1N | 3 BR | $1,625,000 | -4.4% | |
| Jan 13, 2014 | 1W | 3 BR · 2.5 BA · 2,000 sf | $1,815,000 | $908/sf | -9.2% |
| Feb 28, 2011 | 5E | 2 BR | $850,684 | +6.5% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2021) cleared a median $897/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 4.4% 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 7, 2025 | 6E | $1,500,000 |
| Feb 24, 2016 | 4W | $1,595,000 |
| Aug 8, 2013 | 2W | $1,755,000 |
| Mar 2, 2004 | 5N | $825,000 |
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 1-01887-0045) 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
The Von Colon is a traditional cooperative, so purchases clear a board package and interview. The building's policies are notably accommodating for a small pre-war co-op: financing is permitted up to 80%, and subletting is allowed for two of every ten years — a real measure of flexibility for owners who may need to relocate temporarily. The building is pet-friendly. Expect a board that values financial stability and primary residency in the ordinary way of an owner-occupied house.
For buyers, the decisions are exposure and condition: the western lines carry the better light, and original-detail apartments invite a choice between preservation and renovation. Budget for the cosmetic updates that century-old kitchens and baths often invite.
What to know if you’re selling
The selling story is character, flexibility, and location. A pet-friendly pre-war co-op with 80% financing and a two-in-ten sublet allowance is unusually accommodating for the corridor, and that flexibility broadens the buyer pool meaningfully — lead with it alongside the pre-war detail and the half-block-to-Riverside location.
Because the building is small, a single well-presented listing can define the comp set for the year. Benchmark pricing to recent Riverside–West End pre-war co-op trades rather than to amenity-heavy buildings, and present the building's flexible financing and sublet rules early — they are a differentiator that many comparable co-ops cannot match.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Von Colon, also evaluate these nearby Upper West Side and Riverside cooperatives:
- 310 West 99th Street — pre-war Upper West Side cooperative nearby
- 313 West 99th Street — side-street co-op a few blocks north
- 305 West 98th Street — pre-war cooperative on the corridor
- 255 West 98th Street — established Upper West Side co-op peer
- 310 Riverside Drive — Riverside Drive cooperative a short walk west
The Roebling Team at The Von Colon
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper West Side, Riverside Drive and West End Avenue, and the broader park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this profile because small pre-war co-ops trade on factors the broad market data misses — financing and sublet flexibility, exposure, and period character. Buyers and sellers here deserve building-specific counsel.
If you're weighing a transaction at 311 West 97th Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
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.