45 East 85th Street
45 East 85th Street, New York, NY 10028
Upper East Side
BBL 1014970028 · BIN 1046832
- Year built
- 1925
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- Designated
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 3BR median
- $2.8M
- Recent range
- $450K – $3.9M
- Listing discount
- 5.5%
- Recorded transfers
- 51
45 East 85th Street is a 1925 Schwartz & Gross cooperative on a tree-lined Carnegie Hill block between Madison and Park, across from Regis High School and a short walk from Central Park, the 86th Street subways, and the boutiques and galleries of Madison Avenue. It is the kind of low-rise, masonry prewar house — handsome red brick, a marble base, restrained ornament — that gives Carnegie Hill its quiet, residential grain, and it carries the pedigree of one of the era's most accomplished apartment-house firms.
The building converted to cooperative ownership in 1955, making it one of the earlier rental-to-co-op conversions on the Upper East Side, and it has been owner-occupied ever since. At just nine stories and 46 apartments, it is intimate and human-scaled, built predominantly of the six-, seven-, and eight-room layouts that established families want — gracious prewar homes on one of the neighborhood's most coveted side streets.
Architecture and unit composition
Schwartz & Gross designed the building in the confident Renaissance Revival idiom they used across the prewar city — the same hand behind landmark apartment houses elsewhere on the Upper West and East Sides. Here the result is a red-brick elevation rising from a half-story white-marble base, anchored by a grand two-story marble entrance surround and dressed with terracotta detailing. The nine-story height keeps the building in scale with the townhouses and low apartment houses around it, in keeping with the Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District.
Inside, the homes are predominantly six-, seven-, and eight-room layouts, with a few smaller apartments — the entry-gallery, separate-dining, high-ceilinged plans the period was built for. With 46 residences across nine floors, the floor plates are generous and the building stays personal, supported by an attentive full-service staff.
Building operations
45 East 85th is a full-service cooperative with an attended lobby, a live-in superintendent, central laundry, private storage, and a bike room. As a long-established Carnegie Hill house, it operates on board approval with a thorough package-and-interview process and the conservative financial posture typical of the neighborhood's best prewar buildings — terms that keep the building well-capitalized and its resident base owner-committed. A transfer fee may apply at closing under house policy; we confirm the building's current financing cap and any sublet terms for clients in contract so the underwriting is exact.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $25,022/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $46
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 →Management & transfer contacts
- Flip tax
- 2% of purchase price (buyer)
- Notable fees
- Max financing 50%; AirBnB not allowed; in-unit W/D subject to board approval
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3, 2025 | 7E | 3 BR · 3 BA | $2,750,000 | +0.0% | |
| Jul 14, 2025 | 7D | 3 BR · 4 BA | $2,525,000 | -8.2% | |
| May 23, 2024 | 8E | 3 BR · 3 BA | $1,725,000 | -19.7% | |
| Feb 29, 2024 | 5C | 2 BR · 2.5 BA | $3,850,000 | -9.4% | |
| Feb 22, 2023 | 2A | 4 BR · 3 BA · 2,200 sf | $2,989,000 | $1,359/sf | +0.0% |
| Jan 24, 2023 | 4D | 3 BR · 2.5 BA | $3,160,000 | -2.8% | |
| Dec 8, 2022 | 7E | 3 BR · 3 BA | $2,565,000 | +0.0% | |
| Sep 3, 2021 | 3C | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,600,000 | +0.0% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2023): a median $1,359/sf across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 3.0% 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.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 3, 2003 | 8B | $2,690,000 |
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 1-01497-0028) 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 board-approval cooperative with the conservative posture of a top Carnegie Hill house. Plan a thorough package and underwrite to strong post-closing liquidity; confirm your intended use against the building's owner-occupancy orientation. Budget any transfer fee into your closing math. The reward is a gracious six-, seven-, or eight-room prewar home on a quiet Madison-to-Park block, with the relative value Carnegie Hill side streets offer against the marquee avenue addresses. We pressure-test your package against the board's expectations before you submit.
What to know if you’re selling
The marketing case is the apartment and the address: a Schwartz & Gross prewar home with classic six-, seven-, or eight-room proportions, on one of Carnegie Hill's most desirable blocks. Inventory is thin, so a well-prepared listing draws a focused, qualified pool — preparation, light staging, and accurate pricing against the live comparable set convert that interest into an accepted offer. Price to recent Carnegie Hill prewar closings of similar size, floor, and condition. The Roebling Team prepares the board-package narrative alongside the listing so an accepted offer clears review the first time.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 45 East 85th Street, also evaluate these nearby Carnegie Hill and Upper East Side cooperatives:
- 35 East 85th Street — prewar cooperative on the same block
- 111 East 85th Street — full-service East 85th Street cooperative
- 205 East 85th Street — Carnegie Hill / Yorkville cooperative
- 400 East 85th Street — Upper East Side cooperative peer
- 1115 Madison Avenue — prewar Madison Avenue cooperative nearby
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper East Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper East Side.
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 45 East 85th Street?
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 45 East 85th Street 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.