53 West 53rd Street (MoMA Tower)
53 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019
- Year built
- 2019
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 145
- Floors
- 77
- Pets
- Permitted under condominium rules
- Subletting
- Permitted under the condominium declaration
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
53W53 — the MoMA Tower — is the most architecturally ambitious entry in the modern Billionaires' Row–adjacent supertall canon and the rare Manhattan trophy condominium designed by a Pritzker Prize–winning architect. Jean Nouvel — whose international portfolio includes the Louvre Abu Dhabi (2017), the Quai Branly Museum in Paris (2006), the National Museum of Qatar (2019), and the Philharmonie de Paris — designed 53W53 as a 1,050-foot tower with a defining concrete diagrid exterior structural frame, the most architecturally visible exterior structural system on any modern Manhattan supertall. The diagrid is not just decorative; it is the building's primary structural system, allowing the unusually slender silhouette and the inward-sloping north and south facades that culminate in five different-height spire crowns at the top of the building.
The relationship to the Museum of Modern Art is the building's defining cultural feature. Hines developed 53W53 in partnership with MoMA as part of the museum's expansion program — the lower floors (2, 4, and 5) contain MoMA gallery space integrated into the tower's base, including the Daylit Gallery on floor 2 and the Studio on floors 4 and 5. The arrangement is structural: the museum gets significant additional exhibition space; the tower gets the cultural anchor of MoMA's identity. Residents access their building from a residential entrance separated from the museum's public flow.
The development history is itself culturally significant. The project was originally announced in 2007 as Tower Verre at 1,250 feet — what would have been one of the tallest buildings ever in New York. The original design was shortened by 200 feet in 2009 following neighborhood protests over the height, and the revised 1,050-foot scheme proceeded to construction. The compromise produced the building that exists today and remains one of the more architecturally serious modern Manhattan supertalls. The construction window stretched from 2014 through 2020; sponsor sales commenced in 2015 and proceeded through the COVID-era market with meaningfully more inventory unsold at completion than peer supertalls — a fact that has shaped the building's secondary-market pricing posture.
For buyers, 53W53 represents the most architecturally distinguished entry in the modern supertall set. Where 432 Park reduces to a Viñoly square-tube minimalism, 220 CPS executes Stern's pre-war-styled classicism at supertall scale, One57 deploys de Portzamparc's blue-glass curtainwall, Central Park Tower optimizes for view altitude and amenity expansiveness, and 111 West 57th maximizes slenderness — 53W53 carries Nouvel's diagrid architectural argument and the MoMA cultural anchor. Each represents a different posture on what a Manhattan supertall should be; 53W53 is the most overtly architectural.
Architecture and unit composition
The 145 condominium residences span configurations from 1BR to 4–5 BR, distributed across the residential floors of the 77-story tower above the MoMA-integrated lower floors. Most apartments occupy a full or substantial portion of their floor given the relatively small footprint produced by the inward-sloping diagrid structure.
Thierry Despont's interior design specification is at the high end of 2019-era luxury supertall construction — substantial finish material, custom millwork, top-tier kitchens and primary bathrooms. The diagrid structural system is visible from within many apartments as a defining design element rather than a hidden engineering feature, an unusual architectural decision that places 53W53 in a different visual category from peer supertalls.
View altitude is exceptional — apartments at the upper end of the tower command unobstructed sight lines across Central Park (looking north), the Hudson, the East River, downtown, and Brooklyn. The five-spire crown creates particularly distinctive view envelopes for the topmost apartments. View permanence is essentially absolute given the substantial buildout of the surrounding Billionaires' Row corridor.
Building operations
53W53 operates as a luxury condominium with full-time doorman, 24-hour concierge, valet parking, and the broader amenity package. The amenity program is concentrated on floors 46–47 (the residents' lounge and private dining room) and across multiple amenity floors housing the 17,000 sf Wellness Center with the 65-foot swimming pool, fitness center, sauna and steam rooms, golf simulator, and squash court. The amenity program rivals Central Park Tower's in scale and exceeds most peer supertalls.
Common charges and property taxes are substantial. A 3,500 sf 3BR carries common charges in the $7,000–$11,000/month range plus property taxes that can run $5,000–$10,000/month. Total monthly carry on substantial apartments ranges $15,000–$25,000.
The 2020 completion date places 53W53 at the more recent end of the Billionaires' Row supertall corpus. The building has had a relatively smooth occupancy history with fewer documented operational issues than the older supertalls; the supertall-category risk profile applies, and buyers should review current building engineering reports and reserve studies during due diligence.
Recent sales
Last 5–10 closed sales at 53W53 (replace this section with current ACRIS data — pull at publication time and refresh quarterly):
[Recent sales table to be populated from ACRIS]
Sales context at 53W53 (per CityRealty, The Real Deal, 6sqft coverage):
- A majority of units remained unsold at the building's 2020 completion, in part reflecting the COVID-era market environment and the building's unusually slow pre-sale window.
- Secondary-market trades have been mixed; some apartments have transacted at discounts to original sponsor pricing while others have held value.
- Pricing spans roughly $4M for the lower-tower 1BRs to $25M+ for larger apartments and combined configurations; the building's most consequential trades have reached $50M+ for the top-tier inventory.
What to know if you’re buying
The Nouvel architectural posture is the building. Buyers attentive to architectural identity should weight Nouvel's diagrid design, the inward-sloping facades, and the visible structural system as the building's defining feature. The architectural posture differs substantially from peer supertalls.
The MoMA integration is real and operational. The museum's gallery space occupies the lower floors of the building. Residents have a separated entrance but the building's overall identity is mixed-use cultural. Buyers who value art-museum proximity find this differentiating.
Pricing in the secondary market has been rational. The slow sponsor sales window means secondary-market pricing has settled into reasonable levels relative to original sponsor expectations. Comparable analysis should account for the building's specific transaction history rather than sponsor reference pricing.
Condo flexibility is real. 30–45 day closings; foreign buyers welcome; pied-à-terre and investment use permitted; subletting allowed.
Mansion tax cliff effects routinely apply. Run pricing through the Mansion Tax Calculator.
Carrying cost is substantial but contained. The 145-unit inventory and the substantial amenity program produce meaningful common-charge structure; model the full monthly carry carefully.
The amenity package is unusually deep. The 17,000 sf Wellness Center, the 65-foot pool, the squash court, golf simulator, and the floors 46–47 residents' lounge and dining infrastructure exceed most peer supertalls. Buyers who use these amenities find substantial value; buyers who don't pay for them indirectly through carrying cost.
What to know if you’re selling
Marketing requires architectural literacy. The Nouvel pedigree, the diagrid, and the MoMA integration are differentiators that the typical comparable supertall doesn't carry. Listing copy should make use of these.
Pricing requires apartment-level context. View altitude, exposure, spire-crown proximity (for upper-floor inventory), and configuration all drive substantial pricing variation.
Closing timelines are condo-fast. 30–45 days from contract signing to closing.
The Roebling Team at 53W53 / The MoMA Tower / Jean Nouvel Tower
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Central Park West, the Upper East Side, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan trophy market — including the modern Billionaires' Row supertall corridor. We publish this building profile because trophy condo buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architecture, operational reality, transactional mechanics, and pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 53W53, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.