55 East 86th Street

The building occupies a mid-block interior lot of roughly 11,000 square feet with about 86,000 square feet of built area, of which roughly 81,000 is residential. At a built floor area ratio near 7.8 against an R10 residential maximum of 10.0, the property is not built out — but as a fully tenanted prewar apartment house on an interior lot, the unused capacity is theoretical.

Residences run across A, B, C and D lines on the typical plates, in the proportions the period produced: entry foyers, separated living and dining rooms, and bedrooms off a private hall. Ceiling heights and window sizes are prewar rather than new-development. Combinations have occurred but have not been systematic — the Department of Buildings record shows a 2C/2D combination in 2011 and a 7AC combination in 2015, and the unit-lot count still stands at the original 46, meaning the combinations were done without merging tax lots. Buyers should read a specific unit's tax lot and square footage from the ACRIS schedule rather than from a floor plan.

The east elevation deserves a second look in person. Because the adjoining building to the east is low, the upper floors on that side gain light and outlook that an interior mid-block lot normally does not offer. That building is developable in principle, and the light is not protected. Anyone buying an east-facing line should understand precisely which windows are lot-line windows.

The building runs as a full-service condominium: doorman coverage with 24-hour security, a live-in resident manager, a fitness center, a children's playroom, a central laundry room, bike storage, and basement storage. Roof access with outdoor seating and an interior courtyard round out the common space, and some residences carry private terraces. Utilities are separately metered, which matters when comparing monthly carry against buildings that bundle them.

The Department of Buildings record shows recurring envelope work: filings for façade pointing and repairs in 2006 under a sidewalk shed; main roof and penthouse roof replacement in 2007; window replacement in 2009 to address water penetration; replacement of two boilers and the chimney in 2013 alongside further façade repairs under shed and pipe scaffold; and scaffold again in 2017. The filings do not by themselves confirm completion or current condition. As always, ask for the current budget, the reserve position, and the status of the current Local Law 11 cycle before contract.

Ownership form: Condominium. Transfers close through the board's right of first refusal rather than a cooperative approval, and closing timelines of 30 to 45 days are typical.

Pets: Permitted upon approval per management-sourced records. Confirm weight and breed limits in the house rules.

Subletting: Permitted immediately, with no seasoning period, per management-sourced records. A sublet fee equal to three months' common charges applies on the owner side.

Pied-à-terre, LLC, trust and foreign ownership: Permitted under the standard condominium framework.

Guarantors, co-purchase and gifted funds: Allowed, including parents purchasing for an employed or student child.

In-unit washer/dryer: Permitted.

Flip tax: None documented. The transaction fee schedule is administrative — application, credit report, closing administrative, and move-in/move-out fees with refundable deposits. Confirm current amounts with the managing agent.

Processing: Management-sourced records ask for a minimum of fourteen days from a complete submission to board review. Build that into the contract timeline.

Real estate taxes: No abatement or exemption of any kind applies at the building level. Underwrite the current bill on the specific unit and run True Monthly Carrying Cost analysis against it.

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 (2022) cleared a median $1,830/sf (floor-adjusted) across 2 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 2.9% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01498-7501; each condominium apartment is its own tax lot). 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.

Review the condominium rules in this prewar building. No co-op board admission on the way in or out, and leasing permitted with conditions; confirm entity-ownership and financing rules in the declaration and bylaws before relying on them. Compare the actual policies with specific prewar alternatives and establish any price effect from matched sales.

Underwrite full unabated taxes. There is no 421-a, no J-51, and no 485-x here. The trivial exemption value on the property belongs to individual owners, not to the building.

The landmark position is a real advantage — verify it for yourself. The lot is outside both the Expanded Carnegie Hill and Park Avenue historic districts. Window replacement, façade work and rooftop changes proceed without LPC review. That is a cost and calendar difference from the neighbors, and it should factor into any renovation budget.

Check whether your apartment is a combination. Two recorded combinations were done without merging tax lots. Confirm the unit's tax lot, its assessed value and its common-charge percentage against the ACRIS schedule, not against a marketing floor plan.

Understand the commercial base and the east lot line. Five professional and office condominium units occupy the ground floor and cellar — walk the entrance sequence on a weekday mid-morning. And on the east-facing upper floors, which gain light over a lower neighbor, establish which windows are lot-line windows and what the adjoining lot could support.

86th Street is a working crosstown street. The 4, 5 and 6 at Lexington and the Q at Second are close, and so are the buses, the retail loading and the traffic. Visit at rush hour.

Lead with the tenure, not the finishes. A 1924 building that trades as a condominium is the headline. Buyers coming from co-op searches who have been turned down, or who cannot present two years of post-closing liquidity, or who need to buy in a trust, are your market — and they are looking for exactly this.

Say the sublet policy out loud. Immediate subletting with no seasoning period is unusual even among condominiums and is worth a line in the marketing. Investor-minded buyers price it.

Adjust comparisons with the block's cooperatives. Prewar cooperatives on East 86th and the Park Avenue side streets require adjustments for actual board requirements, financing limits, transfer fees and monthly costs. Also compare prewar and new-construction condominium inventory, and explain the difference to the appraiser.

Present the capital record. Roof 2007, windows 2009, boilers 2013, façade cycles in 2006 and 2013. A buyer's attorney will find it; leading with it is better.

Flag the landmark status affirmatively. Renovation-minded buyers assume Carnegie Hill means LPC review. Showing that this lot sits outside the districts removes a real objection.

If you're considering 55 East 86th Street, also evaluate:

• 108 East 86th Street — 1924 building converted from rental, one avenue block east; the closest match on vintage and scale, structured as a cooperative
• 115 East 86th Street — 1928 building converted to cooperative in 1982; the same conversion era with the other tenure outcome
• 120 East 86th Street — 16-residence prewar cooperative; the boutique alternative with a very different policy framework
• 49 East 86th Street — 1930 Art Deco building converted from rental in 1967; the immediate neighbor to the west on the same blockfront
• 11 East 86th Street — Sylvan Bien's 1960 cooperative near Fifth; the postwar co-op alternative on the same street, and the lot where the Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District boundary stops
• 126 East 86th Street — ARLOPARC, the 28-residence 2024 new-construction condominium one block east on the south side of East 86th Street between Park and Lexington. A different building entirely, and the closest new-development condominium alternative on the same street
• 180 East 88th Street — 47-residence Carnegie Hill new-construction condominium tower; matches on tenure, not on vintage
• 44 East 67th Street — another of the small group of prewar Upper East Side condominiums; useful for pricing tenure against vintage
• 1040 Park Avenue — Delano and Aldrich, 1925, one block east inside the Park Avenue Historic District; the designated-district cooperative comparison