400 East 51st Street (The Grand Beekman)

The 89 condominium residences distribute across the building's 32 stories in configurations ranging from one-bedroom apartments through the 3,688-square-foot Penthouse 32 (originally configured as a 5-bedroom with wood-burning fireplace, 11-foot ceilings, bamboo flooring, and terrace from the master suite). Typical apartment sizes run from approximately 1,000 square feet through 3,300-plus square feet. The A and B lines on each floor are the larger corner residences with East River exposure; the broader inventory carries varied exposures (East River, Manhattan skyline, First Avenue, interior courtyard).

Interior architectural specifications include:

• Ceiling heights running approximately 9.5 to 13 feet across the inventory (substantial by contemporary new-construction standards)
• Herringbone mahogany flooring (a pre-war architectural signature)
• French doors opening onto Juliet balconies on many apartments
• Corner bay windows producing East River and Manhattan skyline views from the upper-floor inventory
• Viking, Miele, and Sub-Zero kitchen specifications
• Limestone bathroom finishes
• Wood-burning fireplaces on select penthouse-tier units (including PH32)
• Substantial private terraces on select upper-floor units

The Grand Beekman operates as a full-service condominium under the managing agent. The 24-hour doorman, concierge, and live-in superintendent produce a service infrastructure consistent with the contemporary luxury condominium tier. Alexico's own marketing describes the lobby as deliberately understated: "The intimate scale of the entrance and lobby echoes the confident restraint of the finest homes on Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue."

The amenity package is calibrated to the building's pre-war-influenced architectural identity: the duplex two-story fitness center with sauna, the Scaasi-designed conservatory and private landscaped garden, the children's playroom, the residents' lounge, the bike room, and the central laundry room together produce a full-service amenity baseline. In-unit washer/dryer is permitted, which materially distinguishes the building from the surrounding cooperative tier (most Beekman / Sutton Place trophy cooperatives prohibit in-unit washer/dryer).

The policy framework is structurally distinct from the surrounding Beekman / Sutton Place cooperative tier and warrants explicit treatment for any prospective buyer or seller:

Pet policy: Pets allowed (cats and dogs). Specific weight or breed restrictions not publicly documented.

Pied-à-terre: Permitted. Meaningful — most surrounding Beekman / Sutton Place cooperatives require primary residence.

Subletting: Permitted. Investor-friendly. Condominium board exercises right of first refusal rather than the cooperative-style purchaser-approval framework; specific minimum lease term (typically 12 months for NYC condominium subletting) should be confirmed with management.

LLC purchases: Permitted (standard NYC condominium).

Foreign buyers: Permitted.

Trust ownership: Permitted (documented by Simon Elias's 2009 transfer of his penthouse interest into personal trusts).

Minimum down payment: 10 percent. This is meaningfully more accessible than peer trophy condominium inventory in the corridor (most luxury condominiums require 20-25 percent down).

Maximum financing: Up to 90 percent.

Flip tax / transfer fee: No traditional flip tax. An ongoing capital contribution of approximately $64.33 per month per unit is documented in active listings — this is a recurring capital reserve charge rather than a transaction-based fee.

Property tax status: 421-a tax abatement expired in 2015. Buyers should be aware that the building no longer enjoys 421-a benefits; current real estate taxes are at full market assessment. The tax burden is a substantive component of the carrying-cost calculation, and any prospective transaction should run True Monthly Carrying Cost analysis against the current tax bill on the specific unit. There is no J-51, no current 421-a, and no other documented abatement.

Common charges: Approximately $2.00 to $3.00 per square foot per month for typical configurations (specific unit figures should be pulled from the offering plan budget).

Closing cost specifics: the managing agent charges include a buyer move-in fee of $0.50 per square foot, a buyer background report fee of $125 per applicant, a seller application processing fee of $750 ($800 without a broker), a $2,000 refundable move-in deposit (buyer), a $2,000 refundable move-out deposit (seller), and a $500 refundable post-closing documents deposit.

Recent sales

Recent closings at this building, from The Roebling Research Library. Prices are the transfer amounts recorded with the NYC Department of Finance; apartment-level detail is checked against the building’s own file in The Roebling Research Library before publishing.

Market read. Most recent trades (2026 to date) cleared a median $1,296/sf (floor-adjusted) across 1 sale. Floor-adjusted means each sale is restated to a constant mix of floors, so the figure can differ from the plain median of the sales listed above. Median listing discount 5.6% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01362-7502). Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified in The Roebling Research Library. Not all transactions cross-verify with ACRIS records — sponsor and LLC purchases sometimes record at stipulated values rather than market price; square footage from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.

Simon Elias — co-founder of Alexico Group, co-developer of 56 Leonard and the broader Alexico portfolio. Elias and his wife Jacqueline acquired PH32 at construction in 2005 and listed it for sale in June 2013.

No other notable residents are publicly documented through reporting.

The architectural pedigree is structurally distinguishing. Kondylis's most classically detailed commission within the firm's body of work; the limestone-and-cast-stone material specification and the explicit River House homage place the building in a different architectural register from peer contemporary condominium inventory.

The pre-war-influenced interior architecture is real. Ceiling heights 9.5-13 feet, herringbone mahogany flooring, French doors and Juliet balconies, corner bay windows, limestone bathrooms, Viking/Miele/Sub-Zero kitchens — the apartment idiom references the pre-war Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue tradition rather than the contemporary new-construction norm.

The policy framework is permissive. 10 percent minimum down, no traditional flip tax, pied-à-terre permitted, subletting permitted, in-unit washer/dryer permitted, LLC and trust ownership permitted — among the more accessible policy frameworks in the contemporary Manhattan luxury condominium tier.

The 421-a abatement has expired. Property taxes are at full market assessment; True Monthly Carrying Cost analysis should reflect current tax burden on the specific unit.

Subway access requires a three-avenue walk. Closest stations are 51st Street (6 train) and Lexington Avenue / 53rd Street (E, M trains), approximately 0.30 miles west; the building is not adjacent to subway access.

Marketing should emphasize the architectural pedigree. Kondylis architectural credential; Alexico developer pedigree; explicit River House architectural homage; Scaasi-designed conservatory amenity; limestone-and-cast-stone material specification — a different architectural register from peer contemporary condominium inventory on First and Second Avenues.

Marketing should emphasize the policy framework. The 10 percent minimum down payment, the permitted in-unit washer/dryer (rare in surrounding pre-war cooperatives), the permitted pied-à-terre use, the permissive subletting framework, and the absence of a traditional flip tax — together produce a structurally accessible buyer pool that surrounding cooperative inventory does not have.

Be transparent about the 421-a expiration. Sophisticated buyers will run True Monthly Carrying Cost analysis themselves; transparent disclosure produces stronger transaction outcomes than ambiguous positioning.

Pricing should reference apartment-line-specific comparables. The variation between the A-line (corner, larger, river-view) and the C-D-E-F-line interior configurations is meaningful; recent comparables on the specific apartment line should anchor positioning.

Closing timelines are condominium-fast. Right-of-first-refusal mechanism; 30-45 day pacing typical.

If you're considering The Grand Beekman, also evaluate:

• 845 United Nations Plaza (Trump World Tower) — Kondylis 2001; the most direct Kondylis architectural peer (different architectural register; trades at meaningfully more accessible price points)
• 870 United Nations Plaza — landmark UN-corridor cooperative; pre-war-influenced full-service tier
• 50 United Nations Plaza — Foster + Partners 2014; trophy contemporary condominium peer (higher price tier, with pool and valet garage)
• 100 United Nations Plaza — Der Scutt 1986; pyramidal-top condominium peer
• The Beekman Regent (351 East 51st Street) — 1999 conversion of a 1928 former synagogue; immediate cross-street neighbor; smaller boutique conversion
• The Alexander (250 East 49th Street) — 24-story full-service Turtle Bay condominium (rooftop deck, concierge); a contemporary condo alternative a few blocks west
• Three Ten (310 East 53rd Street) — Macklowe-built glass-and-limestone condominium at Second Avenue; newer Midtown East construction
• River House (435 East 52nd Street) — Bottomley 1931; landmarked Art Deco cooperative; the explicit architectural inspiration for The Grand Beekman
• 1 Beekman Place — Sloan & Robertson's 1929 Beekman Place cooperative; the prewar trophy-coop alternative on the cul-de-sac
• 2 Beekman Place — Rosario Candela's 1931 cooperative at the foot of Beekman Place
• 1 Sutton Place South — Cross & Cross's 1927 riverfront Sutton Place cooperative
• 2 Sutton Place South — Emery Roth & Sons' 1938 Sutton Place cooperative
• 45 Sutton Place South (Cannon Point South) — Paul Resnick's 1958 Cannon Point cooperative; postwar, river-facing Sutton Place
• 25 Sutton Place — Rosario Candela's 1928 cooperative at the north end of the Sutton enclave