40 University Place
40 University Place, New York, NY 10003
Greenwich Village
BBL 1005670019 · BIN 1009238
- Year built
- 1926
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- Designated
Every recorded sale at this building, 2001–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 1BR median
- $2M
- Recent range
- $935K – $4.8M
- Listing discount
- 0.5%
- Recorded transfers
- 69
40 University Place is a prewar Greenwich Village cooperative that has long attracted the kind of resident the neighborhood is famous for. Designed in 1926 by Sugarman & Berger — a prolific New York firm of the era — in a distinctive neo-Romanesque register with Byzantine flourishes, the twelve-story building stands at the corner of University Place and East 9th Street, in the heart of the Village's apartment-building belt between Washington Square and Union Square.
The building's roster reflects its Village pedigree. Over the decades its residents have included the Tony Award–winning choreographer Agnes de Mille and the novelist Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City — a fitting lineage for a building rooted in the city's creative and literary life. That is the texture of the address: a serious prewar co-op with deep neighborhood character, on a street that has held its scale and feeling against the changes around it.
For buyers, the proposition is a classic Village co-op: prewar architecture with real character, a full-service building, and a location that puts Washington Square Park, the Union Square greenmarket, and the restaurants of University Place and lower Fifth Avenue within a few minutes' walk.
Architecture and unit composition
Sugarman & Berger's design distinguishes the building from its plainer neighbors. The neo-Romanesque facade — with Byzantine-inflected ornament, arched detail, and a richly handled base — gives 40 University Place a presence on the street that reflects the ambitions of mid-1920s Village apartment construction. The building rises twelve stories, a substantial height for the neighborhood, with the upper floors catching light and Village rooftop views.
The building holds 74 cooperative residences, a prewar mix that runs from studios and one-bedrooms to larger classic layouts, several refined or combined over the building's long cooperative life. Prewar construction here means the qualities buyers seek in the Village: solid masonry, real room proportions, hardwood floors, and the architectural detail that distinguishes the era. As is typical of a 1926 building, individual homes vary considerably in layout and condition, which rewards careful evaluation.
Building operations
40 University Place operates as a full-service prewar cooperative, with the elevator service and building staffing standard to a Village co-op of its caliber. As a cooperative, the building runs on monthly maintenance covering staff, operations, and the underlying building, and purchases proceed through a board review and interview. Specific board policies — financing requirements, pet rules, sublet and pied-à-terre posture — vary at prewar Village co-ops, and we walk buyers through the building's current requirements as part of preparing a clean board package.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $11,019/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $12
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 26, 2026 | 7 | 3 BR · 2.5 BA | $4,800,000 | -3.9% | |
| Feb 24, 2026 | 11G | 1 BR · 1 BA | $1,995,000 | +0.0% | |
| Sep 18, 2025 | 12A | 3 BR · 2.5 BA | $3,950,000 | +0.0% | |
| Jul 17, 2025 | 7G | 1 BR · 1 BA | $1,975,000 | -1.0% | |
| Mar 20, 2025 | 5DF | 2 BR · 2 BA | $2,800,000 | -6.5% | |
| Sep 12, 2024 | 4B | 1 BR · 1 BA | $650,000 | +0.0% | |
| Sep 12, 2024 | 4A | 3 BR · 2 BA · 1,745 sf | $3,520,500 | $2,017/sf | +10.2% |
| Aug 31, 2023 | 8EG | 2 BR · 2 BA | $3,750,000 | +7.3% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2024): a median $2,293/sf across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 1.0% 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.
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 1-00567-0019) 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
This is a cooperative, so a purchase runs through a board package and interview. Prewar Village co-ops range in their requirements, and we help buyers understand the building's posture on financing, subletting, pied-à-terre ownership, and pets before they commit, then prepare a package that presents cleanly.
The variables that drive value here are floor, light, and condition. In a 1926 building, individual homes differ markedly — a renovated upper-floor home is a very different asset from an original lower-floor line — and the building's architectural character rewards homes that have been thoughtfully updated while keeping their prewar bones. We help buyers read the floor plans, weigh condition against price, and benchmark against the Village prewar co-op inventory.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the architecture and the address. The Sugarman & Berger neo-Romanesque facade, the building's literary and artistic pedigree, and the heart-of-the-Village location are durable differentiators that distinguish a resale here from generic Village stock.
Condition and light drive pricing. In a prewar building, renovated upper-floor homes command the premium; a well-presented home should foreground its updates, proportions, and exposure.
Position to the Village buyer. This is a character co-op for buyers who want prewar detail and a true Village setting; pricing and presentation should target that buyer rather than a contemporary-condominium shopper.
Turnover is thin, which helps. With a long-tenured ownership base, available inventory is genuinely limited, and a well-presented listing benefits from that scarcity.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 40 University Place, also evaluate the surrounding Greenwich Village co-op stock:
- 24 Fifth Avenue — prewar Village cooperative on lower Fifth
- 25 Fifth Avenue — full-service Village co-op nearby
- 2 Fifth Avenue — Washington Square–facing cooperative
- One Fifth Avenue — landmark Art Deco co-op at the foot of Fifth
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Greenwich Village — read The Roebling Team Guide to Greenwich Village.
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 40 University Place?
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 40 University Place 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.