- Year built
- 1928
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 74
- Floors
- 16
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Pets permitted, per the management questionnaire on file
- Financing
- 80 percent permitted, per the management questionnaire on file
- Flip tax
- Seller-paid and tenure-tiered per the questionnaire on file — 2 percent of price if sold within roughly the first two years of ownership, $18 per share if owned three to four years, $15 per share thereafter; confirm the current schedule before contract
Chelsea's residential core is a low-rise landmark district of 1840s–1860s rowhouses, and 365 West 20th Street is the tall building the district literally wraps around. When the city drew the Chelsea Historic District in 1970, the boundary took in the Greek Revival and Italianate rows immediately east on West 20th Street and the General Theological Seminary's full block directly across Ninth Avenue — and excluded this one 16-story corner parcel. For a resident, the effect is structural: upper-floor apartments look out over a protected, steepled, tree-canopy streetscape that cannot grow up around them, at a height almost nothing else on these blocks is allowed to reach.
The building itself is one of the better pre-war apartment houses in Chelsea — a 1928 tower with a two-story limestone base, quoined buff-brick facade, and broken-pediment ornament at the crown, attributed in architectural records to C.P.H. Gilbert, the architect of Fifth Avenue's Warburg mansion (now the Jewish Museum). We carry that attribution with the caveat that no landmark report confirms it. What is documented is the ownership history: the building converted to cooperative ownership under a non-eviction plan first offered October 6, 1981, sponsored by the principals of Weinreb Management — and the offering plan, its amendments, and subsequent audited financial statements are on file in The Roebling Research Library.
For buyers, the package is a specific one: pre-war bones and protected outlooks on one of Chelsea's two or three prettiest blocks, with a moderate-service operating model — part-time door coverage, central laundry, no amenity floor — that keeps maintenance discipline in line with the building's scale. The policy framework is friendlier than the pre-war norm: 80 percent financing documented in the management questionnaire on file, pets permitted, and case-by-case flexibility on pieds-à-terre, gifting, and co-purchase per brokerage records.
Architecture and unit composition
The building rises 16 stories at the corner, with retail in the limestone base along Ninth Avenue and the residential entrance on the tree-lined side street. Apartments run from studios and one-bedrooms through two-bedroom lines; pre-war proportions hold throughout — defined foyers, dining alcoves, bay windows in select lines — and the top floors carry the building's trophy inventory, including units with wood-burning fireplaces and wrap terraces per listing records. The center lightwell above the avenue and the corner siting give most lines real light; south- and west-facing units take the seminary close and the historic-district roofscape.
Building operations
This is a moderate-service co-op run lean: doorman coverage from 4 p.m. to midnight, a live-in superintendent, two passenger elevators, central laundry (in-unit washer/dryers are not permitted), a shared landscaped roof deck, and storage and bike allocations at no charge — one per unit, per the management questionnaire on file. There is no garage and no fitness center. The financial record on file shows a 2018 refinancing that meaningfully rebuilt reserves, a fully funded reserve at the sponsor-reporting level, and two commercial units contributing avenue retail income. Sponsor-related parties retained a block of rent-stabilized units at the date of the questionnaire on file; your attorney should confirm the current sold percentage during diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $21,545/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $24
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 2, 2026 | 9A | $740,000 |
| Mar 17, 2026 | 7A | $740,000 |
| Mar 3, 2025 | 16A | $760,000 |
| Jan 14, 2025 | 3D | $725,000 |
| Nov 26, 2024 | 6C | $950,000 |
| Nov 26, 2024 | 11A | $870,603.75 |
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 1-00744-0001) 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 block is the asset. West 20th Street between Ninth and Tenth is the seminary block — Cushman Row, the General Theological Seminary close, full tree canopy — and the historic district protects all of it. Upper floors here own a view of landmarked Chelsea that no future development can take. Walk the block at dusk before you decide; it is the product.
The financing framework is unusually accommodating. 80 percent financing per the management questionnaire on file is generous for a pre-war co-op, and the board's documented case-by-case posture on pieds-à-terre, gifting, and co-purchase widens the eligible buyer pool. Run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator before offering.
Understand the flip tax before you model returns. The seller-paid fee is tenure-tiered — highest in the first two years, stepping down per share thereafter, per the questionnaire on file. It is a hold-period incentive, not a penalty, but short-horizon buyers should price it in.
Service expectations should be calibrated. Part-time door coverage and central laundry are the trade for moderate maintenance. Buyers coming from full-service buildings should weigh the staffing model honestly — and washer/dryer hopefuls should know in-unit installation is not permitted.
Verify the sponsor position and sublet terms. The documents on file record sponsor-related rent-stabilized units and a handful of sublets as of their date; current counts and current sublet policy should be confirmed with the managing agent during attorney diligence.
What to know if you’re selling
Sell the district without being in it. The marketing story is precise: protected seminary-block views and pre-war architecture at the corner, with none of the LPC alteration friction an in-district owner faces inside the unit. Use the geography with specificity.
Lead with the policy stack. 80 percent financing, pets, and case-by-case flexibility on structures are documented advantages over the stricter pre-war co-ops your buyer is cross-shopping. State them plainly in the setup.
Position against West Chelsea's condos on value. The buyer pool for this corridor is anchored by the High Line and gallery district; your per-foot discount to new condo product two avenues west is the argument. Renovated condition clears at a premium — run the Renovation Cost Calculator against your asking strategy if the unit is original.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 365 West 20th Street, also evaluate:
- 410 West 23rd Street (London Terrace Towers) — Chelsea's signature full-block pre-war co-op complex; the scale and amenity step-up
- Chelsea Mercantile (252 Seventh Avenue) — loft condo conversion; the condo-mechanics alternative at the neighborhood's eastern edge
- 101 West 24th Street (Chelsea Stratus) — glass condo tower; the modern full-amenity alternative
- 515 West 18th Street (Lantern House) — Heatherwick-designed High Line condo; the new-development price ceiling nearby
- 503 West 24th Street (The Getty Residences) — boutique ultra-luxury condo by the High Line; the trophy-tier contrast
- The seminary-block and West 21st Street rowhouse co-ops — the in-district low-rise alternative, traded as small-building stock with different operating math
The Roebling Team at Chelsea Court Tower
The Roebling Team at Compass works Chelsea and the broader downtown pre-war market as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because Chelsea buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — conversion documentation, policy framework, and historic-district geography — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 365 West 20th Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.