320 West 76th Street

Lilien's other work of the period includes 10 West 74th Street (1941) and 305 West 52nd Street (1942). At 320 West 76th Street the brick is pale yellow with orange accents, and the massing is simple. The Art Moderne detail is concentrated at the entrance and in the metal windows.

What the offering plan shows. The conversion plan offered 13,381 shares allocated to 72 residential apartments, all rent-stabilized, eight of them vacant at the time. Another 175 shares went to the superintendent's apartment. The plan also disclosed a two-bedroom cellar apartment that did not appear on the certificate of occupancy; the sponsor intended to legalize it as the superintendent's residence and release the original superintendent's apartment for sale. The largest apartments in the plan had five and a half rooms, and some carried terraces. Two apartments on the 10th floor (10E and 10F) had already been joined by a doorway. The sponsor also proposed turning one apartment into a duplex.

What has changed since. Shareholders have continued to combine apartments. ACRIS records show combined units including 4D/E/F, 5E/F, 7D/E, 8D/E and 10E/F, and the 2021 audited statements count 67 residential apartments. There were 13,563 shares outstanding at the end of 2021. The Department of Finance's figure of 74 residential units is out of date, and so is any count that comes from it.

Conversion history. The building was converted under a non-eviction plan: rent-stabilized tenants who did not buy kept their leases. The apartment corporation was incorporated on April 1, 1987 and took title the same month, per the audited financials and ACRIS. At the end of 2021 the holders of unsold shares still owned 784 shares, 5.78% of the total, with no arrears. ACRIS shows further sales by that holder since then. Ask the managing agent for its current position.

Underlying mortgage and liquidity. The audited statements show the cooperative refinanced in February 2022. A $3.0 million mortgage with a 2027 balloon was replaced by a $6.5 million mortgage at 2.89%, maturing March 1, 2032, and a $1.25 million secured line of credit was replaced by a $1 million unsecured line. The refinancing came after a stretch of capital spending that had nearly exhausted the reserve fund by the end of 2021. By our estimate, after paying off the old mortgage and credit line and before costs, it raised roughly $2.8 million to $2.9 million of new money. The 2032 maturity is the date a buyer should note: the refinancing risk is about five and a half years out, and the rate until then is low.

Capital work. The corporation signed a $341,000 contract for façade renovation in October 2021, with work scheduled to start in 2022, and bought new laundry machines in 2022. The statements note that no reserve study has been done. Buyers should get the current Local Law 11 cycle status and any capital plan from the managing agent.

The operating assessment. In 2020 and 2021 the board levied an operating assessment timed to coincide with the city's cooperative tax abatement credits to eligible shareholders: $160,329 in assessments in 2021, against $130,210 in abatement credits. For a primary-residence shareholder who receives the abatement, the credit offsets most of the assessment. A shareholder who does not qualify for the abatement pays the assessment with no offsetting credit. Confirm whether the assessment is still in effect.

Heating and staffing. The building is heated with oil. The financial statements show about 30,000 gallons burned in 2021. Staff are union (Local 32BJ). At conversion the staff was a resident superintendent, two doormen and a porter. Current door coverage should be confirmed; the statements show a separate "protection" expense line.

Tax benefits. DOF records show three J-51 abatements: one beginning in 1980 (fully used by 1991), one beginning in 1996 (fully used by 2007) and one beginning in 2004 (fully used by the 2015 tax year). None is active. The exemptions on the current DOF roll are individual shareholder exemptions, not a building benefit.

• Financing: up to 80% of the purchase price, per the 2022 purchase application.
• Flip tax: $60 per share, charged to the seller. The corporation collected $53,280 in transfer fees in 2021.
• Board package: the application requires credit releases from every purchaser, guarantor and adult occupant; bank commitment, appraisal and recognition agreements if financing; reference letters from non-relatives; an assumption of any existing alteration agreement on the apartment; and a pet request form where applicable.
• Guarantors: contemplated by the application; board acceptance is case by case.
• Pets: allowed with written permission from the corporation, which "shall not be unreasonably withheld" under the house rules. Dogs must be leashed or carried in public areas.
• Subletting: permitted with board approval and a fee. The house rules impose heavy fines for unauthorized sublets. Term limits and residency prerequisites are not stated in the documents reviewed.
• Floors: 80% of each room's floor area must be carpeted or otherwise sound-treated, excluding kitchens, baths, closets and halls.
• Moves: refundable damage deposit and a non-refundable move fee on each move, weekday hours only.
• Pied-à-terre, trusts, LLCs and in-unit washer/dryers: not addressed in the documents reviewed; confirm with the managing agent.

Recent sales

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01185-0032) 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.

The capital position is readable. A fixed-rate underlying mortgage into 2032, a refinancing that rebuilt liquidity, and a completed façade contract. Ask for the 2024 and 2025 audited statements to confirm reserves after the façade work.

Account for the operating assessment. If you will not qualify for the cooperative abatement, for example as a non-primary resident, the assessment is a real cost with nothing offsetting it.

Assume combinations are possible, with board approval. The building has approved combinations repeatedly. Any new alteration requires an alteration agreement with the corporation, and a buyer takes on the prior owner's agreement for the apartment.

Flip tax math is simple. $60 times your share count, paid at closing. Figure it early.

Present the financing terms. 80% financing and a low-rate underlying mortgage into 2032 are real selling points against co-ops that cap financing at 75% or lower.

Price combined apartments against larger prewar peers. A combined unit with river exposure should be benchmarked against two- and three-bedroom sales in the prewar buildings on West End Avenue and Riverside Drive, then discounted for the 1944 construction and lighter service.

• 314 West 77th Street — prewar cooperative one block north on the same stretch between West End and Riverside
• 329 West 77th Street (50 Riverside Drive) — Gronenberg & Leuchtag's 1930 cooperative at Riverside Drive and West 77th Street
• 304 West 75th Street — Robert T. Lyons's 1930 cooperative one block south
• 325 West End Avenue — Neville & Bagge's 1916 cooperative at West 75th Street, on the same tax block
• 333 West End Avenue — Emery Roth's 1925 cooperative at the West 76th Street corner, on the same tax block
• 33 Riverside Drive — George F. Pelham's 1927 cooperative at Riverside Drive and West 75th Street, on the same tax block
• 321 West 78th Street — 1925 Sommerfeld & Sass cooperative two blocks north
• 310 West 79th Street (The Hereford) — Schwartz & Gross's 1910 cooperative, converted in 1982