- Year built
- 1913
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 67
- Landmark
- No
480 West End Avenue is a quintessential expression of the West End Avenue "Gold Coast" — the stretch of the avenue where, in the years before the First World War, developers replaced row houses with substantial Italian Renaissance apartment palaces built for families who wanted space and permanence away from the busier avenues. Completed in 1913 to designs by Neville & Bagge, the building commands the northeast corner of West End Avenue and West 83rd Street, a position that gives it the cross-street light and corner presence the era's best buildings prized. It carries an alternate address, 490 West End Avenue, reflecting its full corner frontage.
Neville & Bagge were among the most productive apartment-house architects of pre-war Manhattan, and 480 shows the firm at its most assured: a palazzo-style facade organized around a substantial base, a long masonry body, and the classical detailing that gives West End Avenue its dignified, uniform wall. The entrance is marked by an iron-and-glass marquee, and the lobby is finished in marble — the kind of arrival sequence the era's better buildings used to telegraph permanence and quality.
The corridor context is the point. West End Avenue is almost entirely residential, with no commercial frontage to interrupt its rhythm, and the 83rd Street position places 480 in the heart of the avenue's most desirable pre-war stretch — two blocks from Riverside Park, two blocks from the Broadway retail and restaurant spine, and a short walk to the 1, 2, and 3 trains at 86th Street. For buyers who want genuine pre-war scale, period architecture, and a full-service family address, 480 is a benchmark example of the type.
Architecture and unit composition
At 67 apartments across twelve stories, 480 West End Avenue is a classic pre-war low-density building, and the layouts reflect it. Apartments skew large, with the deep room proportions, separated entertaining rooms, entry foyers, and generous bedroom counts that defined 1913-era luxury planning. The building's roughly 2,000-square-foot average per unit places it firmly in the family-apartment category that made West End Avenue a magnet for buyers who wanted space.
Pre-war signatures recur throughout: high ceilings, hardwood floors, and period architectural detail in varying states of preservation. The unit mix runs from larger one- and two-bedrooms to expansive three- and four-bedroom layouts, with some combined apartments producing still-larger configurations. Corner apartments benefit from two-exposure light at the 83rd Street corner. Condition is apartment-specific; original detail and renovation state vary unit to unit.
Building operations
480 West End Avenue is a full-service pre-war cooperative. The building is staffed by a 24-hour doorman and a live-in resident manager, with a fitness center, central laundry, a bike room, and basement storage. The lobby and the rebuilt iron-and-glass marquee anchor a well-maintained, classically detailed common environment.
On the rules that shape a purchase: the building permits pets and allows subletting, both meaningful flexibilities in the prime pre-war co-op tier. Pied-à-terre purchases are not permitted — the cooperative is structured for primary-residence ownership. The proprietary lease, house rules, and current financial posture govern any transaction, and the board reviews alterations with attention to the building's pre-war character.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The facade passed its last inspection with no required repairs — nothing to budget for here, and no facade assessment on the horizon for roughly five years.
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
Transaction cadence at 480 West End Avenue is moderate, consistent with its 67-unit scale and owner-occupied character — a low-turnover building that produces a handful of trades in a typical year. Pricing reflects prime West End Avenue pre-war values, with the largest family apartments and corner-light units at the top of the building's range and smaller one- and two-bedroom lines anchoring the more accessible end. Floor, exposure, line, and renovation history drive value more than any building average.
What to know if you’re buying
This is genuine pre-war scale. The large layouts and family-apartment configurations are the building's defining advantage — the reason buyers choose the West End Avenue Gold Coast over newer, more efficient stock.
The rules are buyer-friendly for the tier. Pets are welcome and subletting is allowed, two flexibilities that distinguish 480 from stricter pre-war co-ops. The trade-off is that pied-à-terre ownership is not permitted, so plan to buy as a primary residence.
The corner position is structural. The 83rd Street corner delivers cross-street light and two-exposure apartments that interior-block buildings cannot match.
Condition is apartment-specific. Evaluate the original detail and renovation state of the specific apartment, not a building average.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the architecture and the address. Neville & Bagge's 1913 Italian Renaissance design, the marble lobby, and the prime West End Avenue and 83rd Street corner are clear, marketable assets.
Foreground the buyer-friendly rules. Pet-friendly policy and permitted subletting widen the buyer pool relative to stricter neighbors — position them clearly.
Large layouts need apartment-specific positioning. With spacious, varied configurations, comparable analysis benefits from broker familiarity with the building's unit mix; corner and high-floor units command premiums for light and exposure.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 480 West End Avenue, also evaluate these nearby West End Avenue pre-war cooperatives:
- 470 West End Avenue — adjacent West End Avenue pre-war co-op
- 450 West End Avenue — nearby West End Avenue pre-war co-op
- 440 West End Avenue — nearby West End Avenue pre-war co-op
- 525 West End Avenue — nearby West End Avenue pre-war co-op
- 535 West End Avenue — nearby West End Avenue pre-war co-op
The Roebling Team at 480 West End Avenue
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Central Park West, the Upper West Side, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this building profile because West End Avenue buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architecture, board culture, transactional mechanics, and pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 480 West End Avenue, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
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