555 West End Avenue

Boring's exterior is brick with limestone trim in a restrained Collegiate Gothic register — an academic building that reads as a civic presence on the avenue rather than as an apartment house. Scaffolding, sidewalk shed, hoist and overhead protection filings from 2015 through 2017 show exterior work during the conversion; its completion and the façade's current condition need confirming. LPC jurisdiction applies: the lot sits inside the Riverside–West End Historic District Extension I, and exterior alterations generally require LPC permits; eligible work may receive staff approval, while ordinary maintenance may be exempt. That is a real constraint on window replacement, terrace work and any visible mechanical installation.

Inside, the thirteen residences run to three-, four- and five-bedroom layouts. Ceiling heights and window dimensions are inherited from the school, and several homes carry outdoor space — including terraces at the upper levels. The two townhouse units at the base of the building operate closer to a house than an apartment.

Storage is worth understanding before contract. The plan attaches a storage bin license agreement rather than conveying storage as a limited common element or a deeded appurtenance. A licensed bin is revocable on the terms of the licence and does not necessarily transfer automatically with the unit — a buyer relying on it should have counsel read the licence and confirm assignability with the managing agent.

The building runs a modest, well-defined amenity set rather than a large one: an attended lobby with refrigerated delivery storage, a bicycle room, a stroller valet, a daylit fitness room, a residents' recreation room with a wet bar, and a common roof terrace facing the Hudson. For a thirteen-unit building this is a sensible package — enough to be useful, small enough that the operating budget is not carrying a health club for thirteen families.

The exterior is on a live inspection cycle. A façade inspection filing was made in March 2026 under the city's periodic inspection programme. Any buyer should ask the managing agent for the current inspection report, the classification of the building's conditions, and whether remedial work has been scoped or funded — in a landmarked masonry building, façade work is one capital item to assess alongside the building's other projects, reserves and financing.

The governing documents are the offering plan dated August 1, 2018 and its amendments, held in The Roebling Research Library. The building is a straightforward Article 9-B condominium — fee ownership of the unit plus an undivided interest in the common elements — with no ground lease, no co-op wrapper and no condop structure. As a condominium, transfers run through the condominium's application and right-of-first-refusal process rather than co-op board admission; confirm financing, leasing and ownership-entity rules in the current declaration, bylaws and house rules.

Beyond that, the operative terms — the exact right-of-first-refusal notice period, the leasing and sublet rules, pet and pied-à-terre policy, move-in deposits and any transfer fee — should be taken from the managing agent's current requirements package rather than from any listing summary. This is not firmly documented in public records, and the plan is now eight years old.

Sponsor inventory is the most important thing to know about this building. On the current Department of Finance assessment roll, the sponsor entity SHS Upper City NY II LLC is still the owner of record on five of the thirteen residences, and it remains the owner of record on the condominium billing lot. Sponsor sales ran from December 2019 through October 2024; only two arm's-length resales have recorded since. A sponsor holding five of thirteen residences is a large share of the common-charge collection and can influence timing and pricing in a way that matters to both buyers and sellers here; its voting weight depends on the common interests the declaration assigns to those apartments. Confirm the sponsor's current holdings, their declared common interests, its board representation, and whether any of its units are leased, before you make or accept an offer.

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 (2024) cleared a median $2,784/sf (recorded) across 1 sale. Median listing discount 3.7% 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 1-01248-7502; 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.

Read the sponsor's position first. Ask for the current unsold-unit schedule, the sponsor's percentage of common interest, its board designees, and whether it has any obligation under the plan to fund shortfalls. Then ask whether its units are being rented, which affects the building's owner-occupancy ratio and can affect a lender's willingness on a condominium questionnaire.

Underwrite the façade, not the amenities. This is a landmarked, century-old masonry building on a corner lot with full exposure to weather. Get the current periodic inspection report and the board's minutes on exterior work. Confirm LPC permit requirements for the proposed scope: exterior alterations generally need permits, eligible work may receive staff approval, and ordinary maintenance may be exempt. Estimate the actual schedule and cost from the scope.

Do not expect an abatement. Every residential lot in the building is fully taxable on the current roll. Model the real-estate tax line at its actual number, not at a converted-building assumption.

Confirm what storage is. The plan licenses storage bins. Confirm in writing that the licence transfers to you and on what terms.

Know your competition inside the building. With sponsor units still unsold, the practical comparable set may be inside your own lobby. Price against what the sponsor is actually asking and actually closing, not against the last resale.

Lead with the shell. The reason to buy here is a school building's proportions — its actual ceiling heights, window openings and floor plates, compared with the plans of specific 1920s West End Avenue apartment houses. That argument is stronger than an amenity list.

Have the paperwork ready. A prepared package — current financial statements, the periodic façade inspection status, the storage licence, and a clean statement of the tax position — gives a buyer's counsel material to review early; its effect on the diligence timetable depends on the issues raised.

• 545 West End Avenue — the pre-war co-op immediately south, the direct West End Avenue alternative at scale
• 710 West End Avenue — another West End Avenue address inside the Riverside–West End historic district system
• 595 West End Avenue — nearby West End Avenue building, comparable buyer pool
• 140 Riverside Drive — the large Riverside Drive co-op one block west, for buyers weighing river frontage
• 323 West 86th Street — pre-war side-street co-op on the same block front
• 305 West 86th Street — pre-war side-street co-op, same immediate neighbourhood
• The Apthorp — the Upper West Side's other large-format conversion, for buyers comparing condominium ownership at scale
• The Belnord — landmark Upper West Side block-front condominium conversion with a similar family-sized brief
• 393 West End Avenue — West End Avenue co-op with large classic layouts