- Year built
- 1962
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 191
- Floors
- 19
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Pet-friendly per the house rules on file — dogs leashed in public areas; dogs over 35 pounds use the service elevator
- Financing
- 25 percent minimum down per listing records
420 East 72nd Street is one of Lenox Hill's larger post-war cooperatives, and its value case is structural: a full 200-foot blockfront footprint that produces wider-than-typical floor plans and big picture windows, on a major crosstown street half a block from Sotheby's York Avenue headquarters and the medical corridor — Weill Cornell, NewYork-Presbyterian, and the Hospital for Special Surgery — that anchors the neighborhood's eastern blocks. The building went up in 1962 as a white-brick rental, converted to cooperative ownership at the March 1984 closing, and has operated since as a conventionally run, fully staffed house of roughly 190 apartments plus two professional suites at the base.
What distinguishes the building for buyers today is how well-documented it is. The Roebling Research Library holds the offering plan with thirty amendments, the by-laws and proprietary lease, the house rules through their 2023 amendment, and recent audited financial statements — which means the policy stack on this page comes from the building's own paper rather than listing folklore. The financials show a cooperative that carries a large underlying mortgage (refinanced in 2022 at $24 million, interest-only, with a $2 million credit line), funds its capital work — an exterior restoration program was committed and underway as of the 2021 statements — and supplements maintenance with operating assessments, a structure buyers should price into monthly carry. They also show a 1.5 percent seller-paid transfer fee that recapitalizes the corporation on every sale.
The neighborhood arc matters too. When this building was erected, far-east 72nd Street was a frontier; six decades of redevelopment have filled the surrounding blocks with luxury towers, the Q train arrived at Second Avenue and 72nd in 2017, and the East River esplanade sits two blocks away. The building's pricing still reflects its post-war vintage rather than the corridor's newer stock — which is precisely the opportunity for space-per-dollar buyers.
Architecture and unit composition
The building rises 19 stories in post-war white brick across the full mid-block frontage, with a canopied entrance and a renovated lobby. The wide footprint is the architectural event: apartments run larger than the post-war Upper East Side norm, with defined entry foyers, real dining areas, and picture windows, in a mix that spans studios through large combination units — listing records document one- to five-bedroom configurations, many created by combining lines. Select residences carry private outdoor space: balconies with skyline views on the tower floors and ground-level terraces or yards at the base, per listing records and the house rules' detailed terrace provisions. Two professional suites at the base serve the neighborhood's medical market. As in most buildings of this vintage, renovated and estate-condition units trade side by side, and pricing tracks condition and light.
Building operations
Full-service in the traditional sense: 24-hour doorman and a concierge desk that announces every visitor by name, live-in resident manager, union building staff, 24-hour central laundry, and an on-site garage operated by an outside lessee under a lease running to October 2026 (garage income contributes roughly $390,000 a year to the corporation per the financials on file). The house rules are precise and enforced — move-ins are scheduled with a $500 moving fee and $2,500 refundable deposit, alterations are capped at twelve weeks with board and engineer review, and an 80 percent carpet rule applies, tightened by a 2023 amendment in the board communications on file. Buyers should read this as a board that documents and administers its building carefully; the full document set is in The Roebling Research Library for client diligence.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 9, 2026 | 6L | $1,395,000 |
| Mar 2, 2026 | 11G | $640,000 |
| Mar 2, 2026 | 17F | $665,000 |
| Feb 26, 2026 | 8C | $750,000 |
| Oct 29, 2025 | 17B | $2,225,000 |
| Sep 24, 2025 | 4J | $1,999,999 |
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 1-01466-0037) 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
Underwrite the financial structure, not just the maintenance line. The corporation carries a $24 million interest-only underlying mortgage (2022 refinancing, per the financials on file), has run annual operating assessments, and recaptures 1.5 percent of every sale as a transfer fee. None of this is unusual for a large post-war co-op, but your offer math should treat assessment history and mortgage maturity as part of the carrying cost. We provide the audited statements to your attorney from the Research Library.
The sublet policy is genuinely restrictive. Hardship-based, board-approved, one year plus a discretionary extension, furnished only, with a fee. If rental flexibility matters to you, this is the wrong building — and that same policy is why the house stays overwhelmingly owner-occupied.
Pets, pieds-à-terre, and co-purchase have a documented path. The house rules on file are explicitly pet-friendly, and listing records support pied-à-terre and co-purchase with board approval — a more flexible posture than much of the pre-war stock west of Third Avenue. Run the Co-op Board Qualification Calculator before offering; 25 percent down is the documented floor.
The medical corridor cuts both ways. Proximity to Weill Cornell, HSS, and NewYork-Presbyterian drives demand — including for the building's professional suites — and also brings ambulance noise to the avenue ends of the block. Walk the block at different hours and price your own tolerance.
Outdoor space and light vary sharply by line. Balcony lines, terrace units, and ground-level yards trade at premiums; mid-block lower floors trade at discounts. Same-line history matters more than building averages here — ask us for the line-specific record.
Transit is now a strength. The Q at 72nd and Second changed this corridor's connectivity; the 6 at Lexington remains the longer walk it always was. The garage — wait-listed — and the FDR two blocks east cover drivers.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with scale and the document trail. Wide floor plans, picture windows, and a co-op whose by-laws, house rules, and audited financials are organized and producible — that combination survives attorney review. We provide the underlying documents from the Research Library to serious buyers' counsel, which shortens diligence.
Be forthright on carry. Buyers will discover the underlying mortgage and assessment history in diligence regardless; sellers who present the full picture — including what the structure buys in funded capital work and the garage income offset — control the narrative instead of losing deals in week three.
Position against the new towers, not against other post-wars. Your buyer is cross-shopping new and recent condos at twice the per-foot price. The pitch is documented: comparable location, larger rooms, a fraction of the entry price. Renovated units clear at premiums; estate units clear when priced to renovation math — run the Renovation Cost Calculator against your asking strategy.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 420 East 72nd Street, also evaluate:
- 200 East 74th Street — 1962 post-war co-op two blocks north; the closest like-for-like in vintage and tier
- 233 East 69th Street — post-war condop with garage and professional space; the flexible-rules alternative
- 301 East 69th Street (The Mayfair) — 1963 condop neighbor; similar scale, condop mechanics
- 520 East 72nd Street — the quieter cul-de-sac co-op neighbor toward the river
- The Edgewater (530 East 72nd Street) — river-adjacent post-war co-op at the street's east end
- Imperial House (150 East 69th Street) — the grander full-block post-war co-op west of Third; the prestige step-up in the same vintage
- The Belaire (524 East 72nd Street) — late-1980s condo tower; the condo alternative on the same block
- 400 East 85th Street — 1962 Yorkville co-op; the same proposition a dozen blocks north at a similar tier
The Roebling Team at 420 East 72nd Street
The Roebling Team at Compass works Lenox Hill and the Upper East Side as a core practice area. We publish this building profile because 420 East 72nd Street buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — primary-document policy verification, financial-structure analysis, and corridor-level comparables — not generic neighborhood commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 420 East 72nd Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.