- Year built
- 1924
- 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.
- 2BR median
- $2.6M
- Recent range
- $2.5M – $3.9M
- Listing discount
- 0.8%
- Recorded transfers
- 29
55 East 72nd Street is a refined neo-Renaissance cooperative on one of the best blocks in Lenox Hill — East 72nd Street between Madison and Park, a block from Central Park and the Frick. Designed in 1924 by Albert Joseph Bodker and converted to a cooperative in 1946, it is a fifteen-story limestone-and-brick building with only 29 apartments, which makes it genuinely intimate while still carrying full pre-war height and a step-down lobby. Its three-story limestone base, canopied arched entrance, and handsome wrought-iron portals give it the dignified street presence this corridor is known for.
The building's appeal is the rare pairing of a quiet, full-service pre-war co-op with an accommodating board. In a neighborhood where many cooperatives run conservative admissions and use policies, 55 East 72nd permits pets, pieds-à-terre, and in-unit washer/dryers — a flexibility that, combined with the address and the architecture, widens the building's audience considerably.
Architecture and unit composition
Bodker's design is a textbook 1920s Upper East Side apartment house: a masonry tower with a generous limestone base, a disciplined brick shaft, and classical detailing that lets it sit comfortably among its pre-war neighbors. Fifteen stories and 29 apartments yield an average of two homes per floor, the pre-war scale that produces gracious layouts — entry galleries, separate dining rooms, high ceilings, and the solid construction of the era. The unit mix runs to comfortable one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes, with the upper floors capturing open light and, in the higher lines, sightlines toward Central Park.
Building operations
55 East 72nd is run as a full-service cooperative. A 24-hour doorman attends the lobby, an exceptional full-time resident manager oversees the building, and residents have a furnished rooftop garden, private storage, and a bike room. The board is comparatively flexible: pets — cats and dogs — are permitted, pieds-à-terre are allowed with board approval, and in-unit washer/dryers are permitted. The building permits financing of up to 40% of the purchase price (a minimum down payment of 60%), the conservative leverage posture typical of small, well-capitalized Upper East Side co-ops. A 2% flip tax is paid by the buyer at closing. Purchasers clear a board package and interview, and the building's location inside the Upper East Side Historic District means visible exterior work is subject to Landmarks review.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $18,851/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $54
Facade safety — Local Law 11
Safe to live in today — but the last inspection flagged repairs that are due on a deadline, so facade work and its cost are coming. Whether that’s a real concern depends on the scope, the timing, and how the building plans to pay for it — reserves or an assessment — which is exactly what we’d dig into for you.
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
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 | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 13, 2025 | 2NORTH | 3 BR · 3 BA | $1,112,500 | -20.3% |
| Jun 28, 2024 | 8S | 3 BR · 3 BA | $3,600,000 | -20.0% |
| Dec 16, 2023 | 12AN | 2 BR · 2.5 BA | $2,475,000 | -0.8% |
| Oct 16, 2023 | 10N | 2 BR · 3 BA | $2,650,000 | +1.9% |
| Mar 1, 2019 | 10 | 3 BR · 3 BA | $2,377,500 | -14.9% |
| Jul 25, 2018 | 4N | 2 BR | $1,600,000 | -35.9% |
| Jul 2, 2018 | 12AN | 2 BR · 2.5 BA | $2,425,000 | -11.8% |
| Apr 23, 2018 | 2S | 3 BR | $3,150,000 | -6.0% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2012) cleared a median $3,128/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 6.0% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 12, 2026 | 10S | $3,875,000 |
| Oct 9, 2024 | 7S | $3,260,000 |
| Aug 7, 2024 | 10S | $530,000 |
| May 31, 2016 | 1E | $804,000 |
| Apr 29, 2013 | 12A | $3,100,000 |
| Feb 27, 2013 | 12A | $2,300,000 |
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 1-01387-0031) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
This is an unusually flexible pre-war co-op for the corridor: the pet, pied-à-terre, and washer/dryer policies are more accommodating than at many neighbors, even though the 40% financing cap is conservative. Plan your purchase to a 60% down payment, budget for the buyer-paid 2% flip tax, and expect a board package and interview. The reward is a gracious, full-service pre-war home with a rooftop garden, one block from Central Park, in a building of just 29 households. We help buyers read the financials, understand the board's posture, and benchmark pricing line-by-line.
What to know if you’re selling
The address, the architecture, and the flexibility are the marketing core. A neo-Renaissance co-op on East 72nd between Madison and Park, a block from Central Park, with a rooftop garden and a board that permits pets, pieds-à-terre, and washer/dryers, appeals to a broad and motivated buyer pool. With turnover low, the right strategy is to price the specific home to its true line comparables, present the pre-war detail and light correctly, and lead with the location, the amenity, and the accommodating posture. We build that plan around the building's held-inventory history and the premium the block commands.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 55 East 72nd Street, also evaluate these nearby Upper East Side cooperatives:
- 50 East 72nd Street — pre-war cooperative directly across the street
- 45 East 72nd Street — full-service pre-war co-op on the same block
- 19 East 72nd Street — pre-war cooperative nearby
- 4 East 72nd Street — full-service co-op near Fifth Avenue
- 164 East 72nd Street — Lenox Hill cooperative to the east
The Roebling Team at 55 East 72nd Street
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper East Side, Lenox Hill, and the pre-war cooperative market. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers evaluating a small, flexible pre-war co-op like 55 East 72nd deserve building-specific intelligence — the architecture, the amenity package, the board's financing and use policies, and where pricing sits against the right comparables.
If you're considering a purchase or sale here, a 30-minute consultation is the right place to start.
Get the full picture on this building.
Current availability including off-market, the full comp set, and the board & financials read most listings don't show.