501 Third Avenue (Eastlight)

The 144 residences run from studios of approximately 462 square feet through one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms, and a small number of three-bedroom and convertible layouts at the upper floors. Average unit size across the building is roughly 917 square feet by architectural records — small by trophy-tier standards and appropriate to the corridor, where the buyer pool skews toward first-purchase, relocation, and pied-à-terre use rather than family-sized primary residences.

Interior specification is consistent across the building rather than tiered by floor. Kitchens carry integrated Miele appliance packages; bathrooms carry Kohler fixtures in a titanium finish; every residence has a vented in-unit Bosch washer/dryer, which in this corridor is a genuine competitive advantage over the converted-rental condominium stock nearby. Several layouts were drawn with a flexible alcove or secondary space that has functioned well as a home office — a configuration that has aged better than the sponsor could have known when the plans were drawn.

The line-level distinction that matters most at Eastlight is exposure, not floor. The corner and cantilevered lines carry the multi-exposure light the building is named for; the interior lines do not, and price accordingly. A buyer comparing two units at the same asking price on adjacent floors should be looking at the window count and the orientation, not the altitude.

Eastlight operates as a full-service condominium with an attended lobby, package handling, bicycle storage, and the top-floor amenity level. Staffing is calibrated to a 144-unit building rather than a trophy tower — buyers accustomed to a doorman, concierge and separate service entrance should confirm the current staffing schedule with the managing agent rather than assume it.

Because the building is recent construction, the operating questions that dominate diligence in prewar co-ops — façade cycles, underlying mortgage maturity, elevator replacement — are not yet live here. The questions that are live are different and specific to new development: the status of any remaining sponsor punch-list obligations, the reserve balance at the most recent year-end, whether the condominium board has completed its transition from sponsor control, and whether any common-element defect claims are open. Ask for the most recent audited financial statement and the last two years of board minutes; on a building of this vintage those two documents answer nearly everything.

Pets: Permitted under condominium rules. Specific weight or breed limits are not documented in records we hold — confirm with the managing agent.

Pied-à-terre: Permitted. This is a structural advantage over the corridor's cooperative inventory and part of why the building draws relocation, corporate and second-home demand from the surrounding hospital and university employment base.

Subletting: Permitted. The board exercises a right of first refusal on sale and, typically, on lease; minimum lease terms should be confirmed with management.

LLC, trust and foreign purchases: Permitted, as at any standard NYC condominium.

Financing: No cooperative-style down-payment floor applies. Lender condominium-project approval is the operative constraint, and on a building of this size and vintage that generally means confirming owner-occupancy ratios and the sponsor's remaining unsold inventory before a buyer's commitment is firm.

Flip tax / transfer fees: Not documented in the records we hold. Working capital contributions and move-in fees are common at buildings of this vintage; request the current fee schedule from the managing agent.

Property taxes: No abatement is documented for this parcel in public records. Model the full unabated tax bill on the specific unit.

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) cleared a median $1,657/sf (floor-adjusted) across 25 sales. 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 0.0% from the last ask.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-00914-7501). 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.

Buy the exposure, not the floor. The building's cantilevered massing means the difference between a corner line and an interior line is larger than the difference between the 12th floor and the 24th. Walk both at the same time of day before you price either.

Confirm the tax position on the specific unit. No abatement is documented for this parcel. A marketing sheet showing a low monthly tax figure should be checked against the current Department of Finance bill.

Ask where sponsor inventory stands. On a 144-unit building delivered in 2021, the remaining sponsor position and the owner-occupancy ratio drive lender project approval. Get the answer from the managing agent before a mortgage commitment is assumed.

The in-unit washer/dryer is not a given in this corridor. It is here, in every unit. That is a durable resale advantage against the converted-rental inventory nearby.

Model the full carry. Common charges plus unabated taxes on a small-to-mid-sized unit can approach the economics of a larger apartment in older stock. Run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator before committing.

Lead with the top-floor amenity level. It is the building's most differentiated feature and the one competing inventory in the corridor cannot answer.

Price against the same line, not the building average. Exposure dispersion inside Eastlight is wide enough that a building-average per-square-foot figure is not a defensible list price on either the high or the low side.

The buyer pool is broader than the corridor's co-ops. Pied-à-terre, investor, LLC and foreign buyers all transact here and cannot transact in most of the surrounding cooperative stock. Market accordingly.

Closings are condominium-fast. Thirty to forty-five days from contract, subject to the board's right of first refusal.

If you're considering Eastlight, also evaluate:

• 303 East 33rd Street — 2009 new-construction condominium; the closest prior ground-up comparable in Kips Bay
• The Charleston (225 East 34th Street) — 2007 condominium; the corridor's prior full-service benchmark
• 143 East 34th Street — 2002, built new as a condominium; smaller and quieter
• 385 Third Avenue — 2006 condominium on the same avenue, ten blocks south
• The Devon (333 East 34th Street) — postwar rental converted to condominium; larger floor plates, older systems
• The Future (200 East 32nd Street) — 1993 condominium; the corridor's late-century full-service alternative
• One United Nations Park (685 First Avenue) — 2018 condominium a few blocks east; newer, larger, and a tier up on price
• 200 East 21st Street — contemporary condominium at the Gramercy end of the corridor