357 West 55th Street (The Pembroke)
357 West 55th Street, New York, NY 10019
- Year built
- 1935
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 72
- Floors
- 6
- Landmark
- No
- Amenities
- Laundry room, bike room, private storage, garden
- Pets
- Cats and dogs permitted
- Financing
- Up to 80 percent per brokerage records
The Pembroke is the kind of building Hell's Kitchen's ownership market is actually built on: a six-story 1930s brick co-op of 72 apartments on one of the neighborhood's most attractive blocks, two avenues from Columbus Circle and a short walk to Carnegie Hall, the Theater District, and Central Park. Architectural records single out the facade's quiet quality — rusticated piers, a white-stone entrance surround, a run of five oculus windows at the ground floor, and fire escapes worked into the composition with masonry banding rather than bolted across it. It is modest, pre-war, and structurally sound as a value proposition: real 1930s apartments at the entry tier of Midtown West ownership.
The interiors are the draw. Apartments carry high ceilings, sunken living rooms, arched openings between rooms, and windowed kitchens and baths — a 1930s plan vocabulary that survives intact across much of the building and that newer stock in the corridor simply does not offer. The mix runs from generously proportioned studios with dining alcoves and dressing rooms through one-, two-, and three-bedroom lines, including combined units.
The policy framework is the other half of the case. By Manhattan co-op standards the Pembroke is documented as unusually flexible: 80 percent financing, pieds-à-terre, gifting, and co-purchasing per brokerage and listing records, with subletting permitted after two years of ownership. For first-time buyers, parents buying with children, and part-time New Yorkers priced out of condo product, that combination at this price point is genuinely scarce. The conversion-era offering plan — sponsor 55th Street Associates, cooperative Pembroke Owners, Inc. — is on file in The Roebling Research Library, including the original commercial-space master lease and the sponsor's conversion-era financial framework.
Architecture and unit composition
Six stories of red brick across a wide mid-block frontage, with the building's massing extending deep into the lot around light courts. The 72 apartments skew studio and one-bedroom, with a thinner inventory of two- and three-bedroom lines (some created by combination). The signature plan features — sunken living rooms off raised dining galleries, arched casings, windowed kitchens and baths — appear throughout; renovation quality varies unit to unit, and the spread between estate condition and renovated trades is the building's main pricing variable. Ground-floor commercial spaces face the street under the conversion-era lease structure documented in the offering plan on file.
Building operations
This is a lean, well-staffed small co-op rather than a full-service house: a part-time doorman covering roughly 7 AM to midnight, a live-in superintendent, central laundry, bike room, storage, and a garden. Maintenance levels reflect the modest staffing model. The cooperative's conversion documents are on file with us; current financial statements should be reviewed by your attorney during diligence, as with any co-op of this size.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $3,604/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $4
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 11, 2025 | 5L | $808,000 |
| Feb 14, 2025 | 4D | $700,000 |
| Oct 12, 2023 | 1M | $650,000 |
| Aug 30, 2023 | 5J | $800,000 |
| Sep 19, 2022 | 1F | $520,000 |
| Aug 15, 2022 | 9C | $658,750 |
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 1-01046-0001) 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 policy stack is the headline. 80 percent financing, pied-à-terre, gifting, co-purchase, and a two-year sublet seasoning make this one of the more flexible boards in the corridor on paper. Verify each policy against current board requirements before structuring an offer — run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator first.
Buy the bones. Sunken living rooms, arched openings, high ceilings, and windowed kitchens and baths are the product. An estate-condition unit here renovates into something newer buildings cannot replicate — price the work with the Renovation Cost Calculator.
Calibrate service expectations. Part-time door coverage and a live-in super, not 24-hour staff. Package logistics and late-night entry are self-service propositions; maintenance is priced accordingly.
The block is the upside. West 55th between Eighth and Ninth is one of Hell's Kitchen's best-kept blocks, and the location math — Columbus Circle, Carnegie Hall, the A/B/C/D/1 at 59th, the C/E at 50th — is the same math that powers far more expensive buildings three blocks east.
Confirm the fee stack in diligence. The flip tax (if any), current sublet fees, and assessment history are thinly documented publicly. We verify against board documents and the offering plan on file during diligence.
What to know if you’re selling
Sell the flexibility. Buyers' agents filter for financing limits and pied-à-terre rules; the Pembroke clears hurdles that knock out most co-op stock. Make the policy framework explicit in the marketing — it widens the buyer pool materially.
Lead with the pre-war plan features. Sunken living rooms and arched openings photograph distinctively and differentiate the listing from the corridor's flat post-war stock. Condition honesty wins: renovated units command the premium; original units should be priced to the renovation math.
Position against condo carrying costs. The total monthly cost of ownership here often undercuts a comparable condo's common charges, taxes, and price point combined. State the comparison plainly for buyers cross-shopping the neighborhood's towers.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 357 West 55th Street, also evaluate:
- 317 West 54th Street — neighboring Hell's Kitchen pre-war co-op; the closest like-for-like comp
- 205 West 54th Street (The Albemarle) — pre-war co-op nearer Seventh Avenue; the step east at a higher tier
- 419 West 55th Street (Loft 55) — condop on the same street; the no-board-interview alternative
- Parc Vendome (340 West 57th Street) — pre-war condominium two blocks north; the full-amenity pre-war alternative
- The Piano Factory (454 West 46th Street) — converted loft co-op deeper into Hell's Kitchen
- The Whitby (325 West 45th Street) — 1920s Theater District co-op with a performing-arts heritage
- 350 West 50th Street (Two Worldwide Plaza) — the corridor's establishment full-service condo; the service-and-scale step up
The Roebling Team at The Pembroke
The Roebling Team at Compass works Midtown West — from the Billionaires' Row corridor through Hell's Kitchen's co-op and condo stock — as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because Pembroke buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — conversion documentation, policy framework, and corridor comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 357 West 55th Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.