- Year built
- 1985
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 326
- Floors
- 41
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Permitted under condominium rules
- Financing
- Condominium — low minimum down payment; no co-op-style financing cap
- Flip tax
- None documented as a condominium; confirm any current transfer fee at offer stage
Every recorded sale at this building, 2007–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $1,524
- Listing discount
- 7.0%
- Recorded sales
- 524
- On record
- 2007–2026
515 East 72nd Street is the amenity-first tower of the far East River end of the Upper East Side — a 41-story building that started life in 1985 as Harry Macklowe's River Terrace rental, then was reborn in the early 2000s as a 326-unit condominium organized around something almost no other Manhattan building can offer: a genuine half-acre of private, landscaped park at its base, complete with a central lawn that the building markets as the largest private green space in the borough. For families and buyers who want a suburban-scale amenity package inside a full-service Manhattan condominium, this is a destination building.
The conversion is the reason the building reads the way it does. Where most 1980s rental-to-condo conversions simply re-papered the ownership structure, the ownership here reduced the unit count from 408 to 326 — combining apartments into larger, family-sized homes — and built out an amenity program with real capital behind it: a competition-sized indoor saltwater pool, a full spa, a fitness center with a rock-climbing wall, and a multi-purpose sports court. The result is a condominium that competes on lifestyle rather than address prestige, in a location where the trade-off is deliberate: you accept the far-east walk to the subway in exchange for river light, quiet, and amenities that peer buildings on Park and Fifth cannot match.
Location defines both the appeal and the constraint. The building sits at the river's edge, delivering open East River exposure on its strongest lines and a stillness that mid-block corridor buildings never have. The same geography puts it a meaningful walk from the Lexington Avenue subway and adjacent to the FDR Drive and the hospital corridor to the south. Buyers who prioritize views, air, and amenity read the location as a feature; buyers who prioritize transit and central positioning weigh it carefully.
Architecture and unit composition
The building is a brown-brick East River tower of the 1980s idiom — a tall, balconied slab positioned to maximize water frontage. Its architectural interest is less in the facade than in the site plan: the park at the base and the amenity core were the organizing move of the conversion, and the strongest apartments are the river-facing lines with floor-to-ceiling glass and, on many lines, private balconies overlooking the water.
The 326 condominium residences run from one-bedrooms through large three-, four-, and reconfigured multi-bedroom family homes created by combining original rental units. Layouts favor generous room proportions and river exposure; the upper floors carry the widest, most open East River and city sightlines. The conversion-era interiors were finished to an early-2000s luxury standard, and many units have since been renovated by owners.
Building operations
515 East 72nd Street operates as a full-service luxury condominium: 24-hour concierge, doorman, and porter staffing, an on-site attended parking garage, and one of the deepest amenity rosters in the market — the private park, the indoor saltwater pool, the spa with hot tubs, the fitness center and rock-climbing wall, the sports court, art studio, teaching kitchen, and two children's playrooms. That amenity depth is the building's identity, and it is also its carrying-cost reality: common charges reflect the staffing and maintenance a program this large requires. Buyers should model the specific unit's full monthly carry, and review the building's reserve position and any active assessment during diligence — a large amenity plant is a capital-intensive thing to run.
Recent sales
515 East 72nd Street trades as a family-oriented full-service condominium where the amenity package and the park drive value as much as the apartment itself. Pricing is set unit-by-unit: river-facing lines with open East River exposure command a premium over interior and city-facing lines, and the large combined family homes trade on their own comparable set rather than on building averages. Recorded sales for this building auto-populate from public records; unit-level transaction history and current same-line comparables are maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence. As with any converted rental where the sponsor combined and reconfigured units, same-line, same-exposure comparables are the right analytical unit — not blended per-foot averages.
Recent closings 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 23, 2026 | 4B | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,122 sf | $1,550,000 | $1,381/sf | -3.1% |
| Jun 4, 2026 | 32C | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 1,172 sf | $1,575,000 | $1,344/sf | -4.5% |
| Mar 6, 2026 | 18B | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,087 sf | $1,700,000 | $1,564/sf | off-mkt |
| Feb 27, 2026 | 11L | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,027 sf | $1,470,000 | $1,431/sf | -1.7% |
| Jan 15, 2026 | 4A | 1 BR · 1 BA · 620 sf | $825,000 | $1,331/sf | -2.8% |
| Oct 22, 2025 | 9N | 1 BR · 1 BA · 685 sf | $960,000 | $1,401/sf | -3.5% |
| Oct 16, 2025 | 36B | 3 BR · 3 BA · 2,214 sf | $3,150,000 | $1,423/sf | -4.4% |
| Aug 14, 2025 | 40E | 2 BR · 2.5 BA · 1,669 sf | $2,375,000 | $1,423/sf | +3.5% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,524/sf across 5 sales. Median listing discount 7.0% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| May 12, 2025 | 29H | $1,550,000 |
| Jan 20, 2022 | 30H | $1,895,000 |
| Jun 2, 2011 | 17H | $1,249,000 |
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 1-01484-7501) 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 from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.
What to know if you’re buying
Buy the amenity package deliberately. The private park, saltwater pool, spa, and sports facilities are the reason to be here — and they carry cost. Confirm the current common charge on the specific unit, the reserve position, and any active assessment, and decide whether the lifestyle program justifies the carry for your household. Run the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator on the unit.
Condo flexibility is real. As a condominium, the building permits pied-à-terre and investment use, subletting, and financing without a co-op board's income and reserve thresholds — a materially wider buyer and use profile than the co-ops nearby.
Underwrite the location honestly. The river-edge position delivers views and quiet; it also means a longer walk to the Lexington Avenue subway and proximity to the FDR and the hospital corridor. View the specific line at multiple times of day.
Exposure drives everything. River-facing lines are the building's currency. Interior and city-facing lines trade at a discount — use same-line comparables, not building averages.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the park and the amenities. No competing building in the immediate area offers a half-acre private park plus a competition pool and full spa. That is the marketing headline, and it reaches the family buyer directly.
Show the river light. River-facing apartments should be shown when the water reads best. The premium for open East River exposure is real and should be priced in.
Position the location as a lifestyle trade, not a compromise. The right buyer wants air, quiet, and amenity over transit adjacency. Market to that buyer.
Closing timelines are condo-fast. 30–45 days from contract to closing; foreign and investor buyers are welcome under the declaration.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 515 East 72nd Street, also evaluate:
- 520 East 72nd Street — the immediate East River condominium neighbor; the closest like-for-like on exposure and location
- 530 East 72nd Street — East River co-op one building east; the ownership-structure alternative
- 520 East 76th Street — East River condominium a few blocks north; comparable river-edge positioning
- 515 East 79th Street — East River building further north; the northern river-edge alternative
- The Kent (200 East 95th) — the amenity-rich new-development condominium benchmark to the north
- Manhattan House (200 East 66th) — the landmarked postwar-to-condominium benchmark closer to the Lexington corridor
The Roebling Team at 515 East 72nd Street
The Roebling Team at Compass works Lenox Hill and the East River corridor of the Upper East Side as a core practice area. We publish this profile because a building whose value is driven by an amenity plant and a private park — as much as by the apartments themselves — demands unit-level, cost-aware analysis, not neighborhood boilerplate.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 515 East 72nd Street, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point. We'll bring same-line comparable analysis, the full carrying-cost picture, and the diligence priorities specific to an amenity-heavy converted condominium.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper East Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper East Side.
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