- Year built
- 2010
- Type
- Condop — legally a leasehold cooperative
- Units
- 128
- Floors
- 34
- Amenities
- More than 6,300 square feet — 24-hour concierge, two landscaped roof terraces with direct elevator access, fitness center, 1,500-square-foot children's playroom, game room, residents' lounge with private dining room, valet service, cold storage, bike and private storage
- Pets
- Pet-friendly per listing records
Azure is one of the more structurally interesting buildings in Yorkville — a 34-story tower that exists because of a public school. The development was assembled through the city's Educational Construction Fund, the 1966-vintage agency that pairs school construction with private development on city-owned land: the DeMatteis Organizations and the Mattone Group built a new 520-seat home for Middle School 114, East Side Middle School — one of the city's most sought-after public middle schools — at no capital cost to taxpayers, and in exchange received the right to build the residential tower above and beside it on a long ground lease. The city kept the land. That single fact drives everything a buyer needs to understand about the building: it is not a condominium but a leasehold cooperative with condominium-style by-laws — a condop — and it trades at a documented discount to fee-simple Yorkville condo peers as a result.
For the right buyer, the discount is the opportunity. The condop framework delivers condo-style transfer mechanics — a materially lighter approval process than the surrounding co-op stock — on top of genuinely new-construction product: SLCE Architects' tower design under James Davidson, residences from roughly 600-square-foot studios to terraced four-bedrooms over 3,000 square feet, and an amenity stack (two landscaped roof terraces with direct elevator access, fitness center, lounge and private dining room, 1,500-square-foot playroom, 24-hour concierge) that the neighborhood's pre-war and post-war buildings cannot match. The trade is the lease: the land runs with the Educational Construction Fund into the early 2080s, tax obligations flow through maintenance, and lenders and attorneys underwrite the structure with more care than a standard condo purchase.
The building's history is press-documented at both ends. Construction was marked by the May 2008 tower-crane collapse at the site — a fatal accident that killed two construction workers, drew extensive coverage in The New York Times, and produced years of litigation reported by the real estate press. Sales, launched into the post-2008 downturn, ran long: the offering plan on file in The Roebling Research Library carries thirty-three amendments between September 2007 and March 2012, a paper trail of repricing that documents the era's market better than any commentary — and that gives today's buyers unusually granular line-level pricing history.
Architecture and unit composition
The tower rises from a low-rise brick school base that fronts East 91st Street — planters and benches on 91st, school playgrounds toward 92nd — with the residential entrance and lobby (anchored by an original glass art wall by Weil Studio) operating independently of the school. Above, the building used air rights from four adjacent low-rise parcels to clear its neighbors early; upper-floor lines carry open East River, skyline, and northern views, with balconies on select lines.
The 128 residences skew family-scale — the majority are two bedrooms or larger, which is consistent with the school-anchored thesis. Finishes from the sponsor era run to Afromosia hardwood floors, stone-counter kitchens with Viking and Bosch appliances, and marble primary baths; a substantial share of units have been renovated since. City records carry 110 units against the 128 marketed, the gap reflecting combinations and the "reconfigured apartments" documented in the plan amendments on file.
Building operations
Full-service condop: 24-hour concierge, valet service, live-in management presence, cold storage, and the amenity floor plus the two roof terraces. The school shares the block but not the building's systems or entrances in any way that affects daily residential life — the practical effects are morning drop-off activity on 91st Street and, for resident families, one of the city's best middle schools downstairs. The offering-plan amendments are on file in The Roebling Research Library; current financial statements, the ground-lease rent schedule, and the maintenance composition (which embeds the tax and ground-rent obligations) should be obtained through the managing agent during diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
Recent sales
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Recent transfers at this building, sourced from NYC Department of Finance records. Apartment-level detail (line, condition, asking-price context) verified upon consultation request.
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 2026 | 24A | $1,500,000 |
| Dec 2, 2025 | — | $1,550,000 |
| Sep 2, 2025 | 5B | $999,999 |
| Jul 21, 2025 | 21A | $1,442,500 |
| Jun 4, 2025 | 27B | $962,500 |
| May 2, 2025 | 9B | $1,095,000 |
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 1-01554-0023) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
Understand the condop before the apartment. You are buying shares in a leasehold cooperative with condo-style by-laws, not a condominium deed. In practice that means lighter board mechanics than a co-op, but your attorney must review the ground lease — term, rent resets, and renewal posture — and your lender must be comfortable with leasehold collateral. Not every bank lends here on the same terms; we maintain a current list of active lenders in the building's tier.
Model the all-in monthly, not the sticker maintenance. Taxes and ground rent flow through the maintenance line under this structure. A headline maintenance figure that looks high against a condo's common charges may net out comparably once the condo's separate tax bill is added — run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator both ways.
The discount is your margin — price the exit too. Land-lease product buys more apartment per dollar, and Azure's lease runs decades. But the discount belongs to every future buyer as well; underwrite your eventual resale against the lease term remaining at that point, not today's.
The school is a genuine amenity for the right household. East Side Middle School's presence in the development is a differentiator no peer building can replicate. Families should verify current zoning and admissions independently — school assignment is never guaranteed by an address.
Verify the policy stack at offer stage. Sublet terms, purchase structures (LLC, trust, pied-à-terre), and current approval requirements should be confirmed with the managing agent; the condop framework is permissive by co-op standards, but the by-laws govern.
What to know if you’re selling
Sell the structure honestly and early. Listing feeds routinely mislabel the building a condominium; the buyer who discovers the leasehold at contract is a buyer you lose. Marketing that explains the condop mechanics, the ECF lease, and the resulting per-foot value up front converts better-qualified buyers.
Anchor to in-building comparables. The land lease makes cross-building per-foot comparisons misleading in both directions. Same-line and same-tier history inside the building — which we maintain in the Research Library — is the defensible anchor.
Lead with what fee-simple peers can't offer. New-construction systems, the amenity and terrace stack, family-scale layouts, and the school: this is the package that justifies the carry to your buyer. Renovated units with documented upgrades clear at visible premiums here.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 333 East 91st Street, also evaluate:
- The Kent (200 East 95th Street) — the fee-simple new-condo alternative four blocks north; the direct price-structure comparison
- 360 East 89th Street (Citizen360) — contemporary condo tower two blocks south
- 180 East 88th Street — the corridor's architectural step-up in boutique new-condo form
- 340 East 93rd Street — the established post-war alternative in the same blocks
- 389 East 89th Street — converted Yorkville condo tower; the value-tier fee-simple alternative
- 1 Carnegie Hill (215 East 96th Street) — large amenity-rich condo at the corridor's northern edge
- 300 East 93rd Street (The Waterford) — post-war condop comparison in the immediate area
- The Brittany (1775 York Avenue) — east-of-First alternative with river proximity
The Roebling Team at Azure
The Roebling Team at Compass works Yorkville and the broader Upper East Side as a core practice area, with particular depth in land-lease and condop structures — a niche where building-specific documentation matters more than anywhere else in the market. We publish this building profile because Azure buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — lease mechanics, plan documentation, and structure-adjusted comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 333 East 91st Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.