315 West 70th Street (Presidential Towers)
315 West 70th Street, New York, NY 10023
Lincoln Square, Upper West Side
BBL 1011820020 · BIN 1030930
- Year built
- 1963
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 185
- Floors
- 16
- Landmark
- No
- Amenities
- Underground parking garage, central laundry, storage, bike room; no roof deck or gym
- Pets
- Pet-friendly per listing records
- Financing
- Brokerage records indicate roughly one-third minimum down — verify current requirements at offer stage
Every recorded sale at this building, 2001–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 1BR median
- $762K
- Recent range
- $420K – $2.1M
- Listing discount
- 1.0%
- Recorded transfers
- 177
Presidential Towers has a legitimate architectural claim that almost no post-war Upper West Side co-op can make: it is, per architectural records, the only apartment building Morris Lapidus designed in New York City. Lapidus was the architect of the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc in Miami Beach and the Summit and Americana hotels in New York — the great showman of mid-century American hospitality design — and his hand shows in the building's emphatic horizontal banding and in a 2,200-square-foot lobby conceived with hotel-scale theatricality. Working drawings were executed by Harle & Liebman; the result, completed in 1963, is a genuine piece of mid-century authorship hiding in plain sight on a quiet Lincoln Square block.
The lobby story is worth telling on its own. After two intermediate renovations had stripped the space of everything but its green marble end walls, the cooperative engaged Belmont Freeman Architects, who found the original architectural drawings in the building's basement and rebuilt the room from them — diamond-pattern terrazzo, teak casework, a central planter in the Lapidus manner, period Florence Knoll seating — while adding an ADA ramp, an accessible mailroom, and a modern package room. A board that funds restoration from original drawings rather than a generic gut is telling you something about how the house is run.
The building's ownership history is equally distinctive: this is an early-generation cooperative, organized under a plan dated April 15, 1969 (sponsor Praetorian Realty Corp. — the amendments are on file in The Roebling Research Library), not a product of the 1980s conversion wave. And the economics carry a structural quirk buyers consistently underprice: all utilities, including central air conditioning, are bundled into maintenance per listing records. A headline maintenance figure here buys electricity, gas, water, and climate control — a materially different monthly proposition than the same number at a peer building.
The block itself sits at the hinge of old and new Lincoln Square: West End Avenue's pre-war wall to the east, the Riverside Boulevard condo generation and Riverside Park South to the west, with Freedom Place at the building's western end. The 1/2/3 express station at 72nd and Broadway is about a quarter mile; Trader Joe's, Fairway, Lincoln Center, and the Hudson River greenway and Pier i complete the everyday map.
Architecture and unit composition
The building presents a long, low-slung 225-foot front of brick organized in horizontal bands, rising 16 floors per city records, with select balconied lines. Inside, the apartments are the generous, rational layouts of the better early-1960s product: roughly 185 units from studios and one-bedrooms through two- and three-bedroom spreads, with combinations (including full 12th-floor assemblages) creating the building's largest homes. Central air conditioning — rare for the vintage and included in maintenance — runs throughout. Renovation quality varies by unit; high-floor north and west lines pick up open light toward the Hudson over the Riverside Boulevard context, and the balconied lines carry premiums.
Building operations
Full-service and conservatively run: 24-hour doorman, live-in resident manager, underground parking garage, central laundry, storage, and bike room. There is no roof deck or fitness center — this is a service building, not an amenity building, and common charges reflect a utilities-inclusive model rather than amenity-program overhead. The recent lobby project was executed with restoration-grade intent per architectural records. The plan-of-cooperative-organization amendments are on file in The Roebling Research Library; current financial statements should be requested through the managing agent during diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $58,545/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $26
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available filing classified the facade as Unsafe — conditions requiring corrective action, which under FISP means a protective sidewalk shed and repairs. Review the subsequent filings, the repair status, and the building’s board and financial materials — we pull the repair scope and funding picture 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 →Management & transfer contacts
- Sublet policy
- Allowed (must submit reason before finding tenant; sublet fee 25% of monthly maintenance)
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
- Notable fees
- App Processing $725; Credit Check $150/person; Move-In Fee $1,300 + $1,000 deposit; Closing Fee $775; Recognition Agreement $325; Reserve Working Capital = one month maintenance
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 26, 2026 | 12J | 3 BR · 2 BA | $1,625,000 | +4.8% | |
| Oct 31, 2025 | 17B | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,400 sf | $1,575,000 | $1,125/sf | -1.3% |
| Jul 23, 2025 | 5D | 1 BR · 1 BA | $850,000 | +0.0% | |
| Jul 14, 2025 | 3B | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,290,000 | -0.4% | |
| Feb 26, 2025 | 12AB | 3 BR · 2 BA | $1,995,000 | -9.1% | |
| Feb 21, 2025 | 9E | 1 BR · 1 BA · 800 sf | $708,000 | $885/sf | +1.1% |
| Jan 23, 2025 | 16GH | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,350,000 | +0.0% | |
| Dec 30, 2024 | 6E | 1 BR · 1 BA | $665,000 | +2.3% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2025): a median $1,028/sf across 2 sales. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 2.6% 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.
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 1-01182-0020) 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
Normalize the maintenance before you compare. Electricity, gas, water, and central air are inside the maintenance per listing records. Run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator with utilities zeroed out and the comparison against peer buildings changes meaningfully in this building's favor.
You are buying named authorship at anonymous-building pricing. Lapidus's only New York apartment house, with a lobby restored from his original drawings, trades at ordinary post-war co-op numbers. The market has not fully priced the provenance; that is the opportunity.
Confirm the policy stack early. Financing limits (brokerage records suggest roughly one-third down), sublet and pied-à-terre posture, and any flip tax are thinly documented publicly. We verify against board documents during diligence; run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator once terms are confirmed.
Calibrate amenity expectations. Garage, storage, bike room, full staff — yes. Roof deck, gym, playroom — no. Buyers who need an amenity floor should weigh the Riverside Boulevard condos; buyers who value service and carry efficiency will prefer this.
Walk the block both directions. Freedom Place and Riverside Park South to the west have transformed this micro-location over two decades; older comparable sales predate the finished park edge. The 72nd Street express station anchors the eastern walk.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with Lapidus. The attribution is verified in architectural records and the restored lobby makes it tangible at the front door. On a street of unnamed white-brick stock, named mid-century authorship is a marketing asset — use it with precision.
State the utilities-inclusive maintenance arithmetic explicitly. Buyers screening listings by maintenance-per-room will misread this building unless the listing does the normalization for them. Show the math.
Anchor to line-specific history. Balconied lines, high-floor west light, and combination units price differently; with 185-plus units there is usually same-line history available. Building-average pricing undersells the best lines.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 315 West 70th Street, also evaluate:
- 140 West End Avenue and 160 West End Avenue — the Lincoln Towers co-ops; the closest like-for-like post-war full-service alternatives
- 165 West 66th Street — comparable post-war full-service co-op near Lincoln Center
- 155 West 68th Street — post-war co-op alternative closer to Broadway
- 11 Riverside Drive (Schwab House) — the larger post-war co-op on the Riverside Park blockfront; the prestige step-up in the same vintage
- 340 West 72nd Street — co-op alternative at the Riverside Drive end of 72nd Street
- 200 Riverside Boulevard — the condominium alternative one block west; condo mechanics at a higher price per foot
- One West End — the new-development condo benchmark for the corridor's top tier
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper West Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper West 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.
Considering a move at Presidential Towers?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at Presidential Towers 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.