555 Edgecombe Avenue (Roger Morris Apartments / Paul Robeson Residence)
555 Edgecombe Avenue, New York, NY 10032
BBL 1021090034 · BIN 1062545
- Year built
- 1914
- Type
- Rental
- Units
- 127
- Floors
- 13
555 Edgecombe Avenue is a designated National Historic Landmark — recognized by the National Park Service as the Paul Robeson Residence. Per LPC: "one of the city's most important sites of 20th-century African-American history."
Status flag: Currently operates as rental, not a cooperative or condominium. Included here as essential cultural and architectural Harlem corridor context.
What anchors the building is its National Historic Landmark + NYC Landmark dual designation, but the designation only exists because of who lived here. The trophy cultural resident roster — Paul Robeson (1939-41), Count Basie (for whom Edgecombe was co-named "Count Basie Place"), Joe Louis, Lena Horne, Andy Kirk, Canada Lee, Kenneth Clark, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Thurgood Marshall (briefly), Jackie Robinson, and Anne Wiggins Brown — made it, per Ephemeral New York, "the most elite apartment building in Harlem." That concentration was inseparable from the Coogan's Bluff Sugar Hill location, sited at the top of the bluff overlooking the Polo Grounds.
The building rented to white tenants only when it opened in 1916, transitioning to all-Black by 1939-40 — the LPC report calls it "one of the city's most important sites of 20th-century African-American history."
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $40,736/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $27
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair before the next inspection cycle. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials 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 | PPSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 2022 | — | 168,000 sf | $26,750,000 | $159/sf |
Market read. Most recent trades (2022) cleared a median $159/sf across 1 sale.
Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-02109-0034) 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 on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.
Comparable buildings
- 409 Edgecombe Avenue — Schwartz & Gross 1916; immediate Sugar Hill peer
- Graham Court — Clinton & Russell 1901; nearby Harlem landmark peer
- The Lenox (380 Lenox Avenue) — GF55 2006; nearby Harlem peer
- 5th on the Park (1485 Fifth) — FXFowle 2007; nearby Harlem peer
- Hudson View Gardens (116 Pinehurst) — Pelham Sr. 1925; nearby Hudson Heights peer
Sources: The Roebling Research Library (offering plans, house rules, financial statements, board minutes, internal transaction records); NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers; publicly recorded NYC building data.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Harlem — read The Roebling Team Guide to Harlem.
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
Considering a move at Roger Morris Apartments; Paul Robeson Residence?
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A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at Roger Morris Apartments; Paul Robeson Residence would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — reviewed personally against condition, exposures, renovation quality, and the competition actually on the market.