- Year built
- 1912
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 160
- Floors
- 11
- Landmark
- Designated
- Pets
- Permitted
- Subletting
- Permitted after one year of ownership, with board approval
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- Studio median
- $419K
- Recent range
- $390K – $5.4M
- Listing discount
- 3.6%
- Recorded transfers
- 190
4 Lexington Avenue — marketed as Sage House — is one of the most architecturally distinguished cooperative buildings in the Gramercy Park area, and one of relatively few individually landmarked residential co-ops in the neighborhood. It was built in 1912–1913 as the headquarters of the Russell Sage Foundation, the pioneering social-welfare and urban-planning philanthropy established in 1907, and designed by Grosvenor Atterbury in a heavily rusticated red sandstone Italian Renaissance palazzo idiom that remains striking a block off Gramercy Park.
The building was converted to residential use in the 1970s and to a cooperative in the 1980s, and it now trades as a pre-war Gramercy co-op with a genuine architectural pedigree. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated it an individual landmark in 2000, protecting the sandstone facade, carved shields, and palazzo massing. For buyers who want a distinctive, landmark-quality pre-war address near Gramercy Park at co-op pricing, Sage House occupies a specific and defensible niche.
The apartment stock is concentrated in studios and one-bedrooms, with some combined multi-level units, and the building is a full-service co-op with a doorman and live-in resident manager. It reads and prices as a pre-war Gramercy cooperative — share ownership, moderate carrying costs relative to condos, and a board process — with the added distinction of a purpose-built landmark shell.
Architecture and unit composition
Atterbury's design is a Florentine palazzo executed in rusticated red sandstone, with carved decorative shields and vaulted interior detail that reflect the building's origin as an institutional headquarters rather than a speculative apartment house. A penthouse level was added in 1922–1923 and the adjoining Annex followed in 1930–1931.
The residential conversion produced approximately 160 apartments across roughly 11 to 15 stories, weighted toward studios and one-bedrooms, with some units combined across levels. Because many listings transfer without a stated square footage, apartments here are best read on a price-per-room basis. Renovation quality is the largest single pricing variable within the building — an original-condition studio and a gut-renovated one-bedroom on adjacent lines can price very differently.
Building operations
Sage House operates as a full-service cooperative: 24-hour doorman, live-in resident manager, central laundry, bicycle room, private storage, and elevator service. It does not carry a fitness center or roof deck, which is consistent with a purpose-built pre-war shell of this vintage.
Carrying costs are structured as cooperative maintenance and are generally moderate for a landmark full-service building of this size. Financing is permitted up to 80 percent, more generous than the down-payment posture at many Gramercy pre-war co-ops. Buyers should confirm the current maintenance schedule, any assessments, the reserve position, and the flip-tax structure during due diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $13,783/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $7
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available FISP filing classified the facade as Safe — no repairs were required at that inspection. Facade inspections run on a fixed five-year cycle; future inspection, repair, and any assessment decisions remain building-specific.
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent). Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library.
See the full facade history →Recent sales
Because apartments transfer as cooperative shares, the building is best read on a price-per-room basis rather than strictly per square foot. Recent closings have run across a broad range for the corridor, with studios and small one-bedrooms toward the lower end and combined multi-level units at the top. Pricing is driven by floor, exposure, and — heavily — renovation condition. The landmark distinction and the Gramercy Park proximity support demand, while the studio-and-one-bedroom-heavy mix keeps the building in the neighborhood's entry-to-mid tier rather than its trophy tier.
Recent transfers at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. Apartment-level facts are independently verified before publishing; sale prices reflect the recorded transfer amount at the NYC Department of Finance.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 2026 | 14J | $460,000 | +0.0% | ||
| Jun 11, 2026 | 8J | 1 BA | $452,500 | -1.2% | |
| May 7, 2026 | 10N | 1 BA · 400 sf | $500,000 | $1,250/sf | -5.5% |
| Dec 30, 2025 | 2E | 1 BA | $419,000 | -5.8% | |
| Aug 8, 2025 | 10P | 1 BA | $525,000 | -6.3% | |
| Apr 14, 2025 | 1A | 1 BR · 2 BA | $1,050,000 | -4.1% | |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 8B | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 1,100 sf | $1,225,000 | $1,114/sf | -18.1% |
| Sep 19, 2024 | 11L | 1 BA | $400,000 | -3.6% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,222/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 1.7% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 14, 2005 | 9M | $230,000 |
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 1-00877-0074) 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; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.
What to know if you’re buying
You are buying into a landmark. The individual landmark designation protects the sandstone facade and palazzo massing. That is a durable architectural asset, and it also means exterior alterations are governed by Landmarks review — a factor for any future capital work on the building envelope.
This trades as a pre-war Gramercy co-op. You are buying cooperative shares, with a board process, share-based ownership, and moderate carrying costs relative to condos. Financing up to 80 percent is permitted, and subletting is allowed after one year of ownership with board approval.
Condition drives price. Renovation quality is the largest single pricing variable within the building. Inspect finishes, kitchens, baths, and mechanicals carefully and price against genuinely comparable condition.
Confirm carrying costs, reserves, and flip tax. Review the current maintenance schedule, any active assessments, the reserve position, recent capital projects, and the transfer-fee structure. Model the full monthly carry.
Run the numbers on transfer costs. Confirm the closing-cost structure at offer stage, and run pricing through the Mansion Tax Calculator where applicable.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the landmark and the location. The Russell Sage Foundation pedigree, the Atterbury architecture, and the block-off-Gramercy-Park address are the building's differentiators. Marketing should foreground them.
Condition is your leverage. Because renovation quality drives pricing spread, presentation and staging materially affect outcome. A well-prepared apartment stands out in the building's studio-and-one-bedroom inventory.
Price per room against the right comps. Comparable analysis should weight floor, exposure, and condition — not just room count — and should benchmark against the neighborhood's other pre-war cooperatives.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 4 Lexington Avenue, also evaluate:
- 50 Lexington Avenue (Gramercy North) — 1987 condop cooperative nearby; full-service, flexible policy framework
- 210 East 15th Street (Parc Fifteen) — white-brick cooperative on Stuyvesant Square; full-service
- Madison Green — full-amenity condominium at the Flatiron edge
- 45 East 22nd Street — modern Gramercy/Flatiron condominium tower
- Gramercy — the broader corridor's pre-war cooperative tradition
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Gramercy — read The Roebling Team Guide to Gramercy.
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
Considering a move at Sage House?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at Sage House would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — reviewed personally against condition, exposures, renovation quality, and the competition actually on the market.