- Year built
- 1987
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 149
- Floors
- 25
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Permitted under building rules
- Subletting
- Permitted immediately and indefinitely under the building's flexible sublet rules
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
- Financing
- Up to 90% financing permitted
- Flip tax
- No transfer fee (no flip tax)
The Forum occupies an unusual position in the Upper East Side cooperative market. It reads on paper like a conventional 1980s co-op — a 25-story tower rising mid-block on East 74th Street between First and Second Avenues, in the transitional zone where Lenox Hill meets Yorkville. But its governing structure is far more flexible than most co-ops of its generation. Organized as a cooperative with condominium-style bylaws — what the market calls a "condop" — the building permits up to 90% financing, requires no board approval to purchase, charges no flip tax, and allows subletting immediately and indefinitely. For buyers who want the price point and per-room value of a co-op with much of the practical freedom of a condominium, that combination is rare.
That flexibility is the building's defining commercial fact. On the Upper East Side, the great majority of cooperatives impose meaningful financing caps (often 50%–75%), require full board packages and interviews, restrict or prohibit subletting, and levy flip taxes of 1%–3% on sale. The Forum removes nearly all of those frictions. The result is a building that attracts a broader buyer pool than a typical co-op — investors, pied-à-terre buyers, first-time purchasers who need higher leverage, and those who simply prefer to avoid the co-op board process — while still trading at cooperative price levels rather than condominium premiums.
Built for first occupancy in 1987, The Forum also arrived with a physical-plant feature that was genuinely uncommon for a co-op of its era: an in-unit washer and dryer in every apartment. Combined with a full-time doorman, an on-site parking garage, a fitness center, and a roof deck, the building offered a full-service package aimed squarely at buyers who wanted modern convenience without the pre-war maintenance burden. Nearly four decades on, that amenity set remains a durable part of the building's appeal.
Architecture and unit composition
The Forum is a postmodern-era masonry tower whose most recognizable exterior gesture is a pronounced sloping curtain-wall face — a design signature that distinguishes it from the flat brick slabs common to the surrounding blocks. The building rises 25 stories on a mid-block parcel, which gives upper-floor units open exposures and, on higher floors, city and partial river-direction sight lines despite the interior-block position.
The 149 residences span studios through three-bedroom layouts, giving the building a genuinely mixed resident profile rather than a single dominant unit type. Interiors reflect their 1980s new-construction origins — efficient, well-proportioned layouts rather than pre-war scale — and every apartment includes its own washer/dryer, a convenience that continues to differentiate the building in resale.
Because the building is mid-block between First and Second Avenues, it sits a short walk from the Second Avenue subway, First Avenue crosstown service, and the retail and dining corridors of Yorkville and Lenox Hill, while remaining off the heavier avenue traffic.
Building operations
The Forum operates as a full-service cooperative: a full-time doorman and concierge at the lobby, an on-site parking garage, a fitness center, and a roof deck available to residents. Maintenance charges reflect a co-op cost structure — meaningfully lower on a monthly basis than a comparable condominium's combined common charges and taxes — with the portion attributable to the building's underlying mortgage and property taxes typically tax-deductible to shareholders.
The building's condop-style governance is the operationally distinctive feature. Purchasers are not subject to a co-op board approval process, financing is permitted to 90%, and subletting is allowed immediately and without the term limits most co-ops impose. As with any cooperative, buyers should review the current financial statements, the underlying mortgage terms, reserve levels, and any assessment history during due diligence — the Roebling Research Library holds these materials for review.
Recent sales
Pricing at The Forum is best read on a per-room and per-square-foot basis rather than against trophy condominium benchmarks. As a full-service Upper East Side cooperative, the building trades at co-op value levels, and its flexible rules tend to support liquidity: because a broader buyer pool can transact here — investors, pied-à-terre buyers, and higher-leverage purchasers who would be screened out of a conventional co-op — units generally attract wider interest at the marketing stage than comparably located restrictive co-ops.
Value within the building varies with the usual co-op drivers: floor height, exposure, layout efficiency, and renovation condition. Higher-floor units with open exposures command a premium over lower interior-facing apartments, and renovated kitchens and baths carry meaningful weight given the building's 1980s vintage. The absence of a flip tax is a concrete advantage for sellers relative to most neighborhood co-ops, where a 1%–3% transfer fee is deducted at closing. Buyers and sellers should model pricing at the apartment level; the per-room framing that governs cooperative valuation applies here rather than the headline per-square-foot numbers used in the condominium market.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 17, 2008 | 2 | $1,250,000 |
| May 19, 2008 | 20C | $1,025,000 |
| Jan 3, 2008 | 2 | $520,000 |
| Nov 20, 2007 | 18A | $1,100,000 |
| Oct 25, 2007 | 4G | $650,000 |
| Jul 10, 2007 | 2 | $887,500 |
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 1-01449-7502) 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
The condop structure is the headline advantage. No board approval, up to 90% financing, no flip tax, and immediate/indefinite subletting give this building condominium-grade flexibility at cooperative pricing. If that combination is what you're after, confirm each policy in writing at offer stage — the Roebling Research Library holds the current rules.
Underwrite it as a co-op on value. Price on a per-room and per-square-foot basis against Upper East Side cooperative comparables, not condominium benchmarks. The lower monthly carry and partial tax deductibility of maintenance are part of the value equation.
Diligence the building's financials. Review current financial statements, the underlying mortgage, reserves, and any assessment history. A flexible rule set does not substitute for balance-sheet review.
The amenity set is real. Full-time doorman, on-site garage, fitness center, roof deck, and in-unit washer/dryer in every apartment — a full-service package that many co-ops of this vintage lack.
Condition drives price. Given the 1987 vintage, renovated units command a premium. Budget for updates on unrenovated inventory and price accordingly.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with flexibility. The no-board-approval, 90%-financing, no-flip-tax, sublet-friendly rule set widens your buyer pool well beyond the typical Upper East Side co-op. Marketing should make that flexibility explicit.
No flip tax is a seller advantage. Unlike most neighborhood cooperatives, there is no transfer fee deducted at closing — a real net-proceeds benefit worth surfacing to prospective buyers evaluating total cost.
Price at the apartment level. Floor, exposure, layout, and renovation condition drive value. Comparable sales within the building are the right anchor, read on a per-room basis.
Positioning matters against nearby co-ops. The building competes with more restrictive cooperatives in the immediate blocks; its flexibility and full amenity package are the differentiators to emphasize.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Forum, also evaluate:
- 340 East 74th Street (The Avon House) — full-service Upper East Side building directly across the block
- 170 East 78th Street — nearby Upper East Side cooperative
- 180 East 79th Street — Upper East Side full-service building a few blocks north
- 130 East 75th Street — Upper East Side cooperative in the immediate vicinity
- 14 East 75th Street — Upper East Side cooperative near Central Park
- 167 East 61st Street — flexible Upper East Side building with condop-style characteristics
The Roebling Team at The Forum
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper East Side and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market — including the neighborhood's cooperative and condop inventory. We publish this building profile because co-op and condop buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — governance structure, financing and sublet flexibility, operational reality, and the realities of pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at The Forum, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point. We'll bring the full context this page provides plus the transactional specifics your situation requires — financial structuring, due diligence priorities, comparable analysis at the apartment level, and the pacing strategy that fits your timeline.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper East Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper East Side.
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