- Year built
- 1928
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 96
- Landmark
- Designated
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 2BR median
- $1.4M
- Recent range
- $525K – $2.6M
- Listing discount
- 0.0%
- Recorded transfers
- 76
685 West End Avenue is one of the larger apartment houses built on upper West End Avenue in the great 1928 building season, and it has never lost the qualities that made it desirable then. Designed by Sugarman & Berger — a firm responsible for a wide range of New York apartment and commercial buildings in the 1920s — it rose fifteen stories at a moment when West End Avenue, with its proximity to Riverside Park and the new transit along the West Side, was drawing the city's most sought-after tenants. When it opened that October, more than half of its ninety original apartments had already been spoken for; the building has held that pre-war prestige across nearly a century.
What distinguishes it today is the combination of generous pre-war layouts, a quiet residential block near 93rd Street, and a full-service operation that punches above the building's size. The lobby has been restored and renovated, and the roof deck — furnished and landscaped, with open views that reach to the Hudson — is the kind of shared amenity that turns a co-op into a community. For buyers who want classic West End Avenue scale without the price of the avenue's marquee names, 685 is a serious, livable address.
Architecture and unit composition
The building reads as a confident piece of late-1920s West End Avenue masonry: a fifteen-story brick-and-stone façade, a deep lobby, and the proportioned windows and high ceilings of the pre-war era. Apartments were originally laid out from three to six rooms and have evolved into a mix of one-, two-, and larger family-sized homes, many retaining the entry foyers, separate dining rooms, and detailed ceilings that define the period. Upper-floor lines on the western flank capture light and partial Hudson outlook to the west.
At 96 apartments across fifteen floors, the building is intimate enough to feel managed and personal, yet large enough to support a real staff and a full amenity package — a balance pre-war buyers consistently prize.
Building operations
685 West End Avenue runs as a full-service cooperative with a full-time doorman and a live-in superintendent. The renovated lobby, central laundry, and landscaped rooftop deck round out the resident experience. Pets are permitted under the building's house rules. In-unit washers and dryers are allowed. Subletting is permitted with board approval; the cooperative charges a sublet surcharge equal to 30% of monthly maintenance for the duration of a sublease, with a partial rebate when the shareholder returns. Pied-à-terre purchases are not permitted — this is an owner-occupied building, and parents-buying and corporate purchases are not allowed.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $17,176/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $15
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 →Management & transfer contacts
- Flip tax
- 1% of gross sale price
- Sublet policy
- Allowed; sublet fee 30% of monthly maintenance surcharge (15% rebate if shareholder returns)
- Pied-à-terre
- Not allowed
- Notable fees
- Co-op. Max financing 75%. App processing $725 + building app $500; credit $150/applicant; closing $775; recognition $325; refinance $400-$500. No corporate/secondary residence
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 | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 2026 | 3C | 2 BR · 1.5 BA · 1,300 sf | $1,250,000 | $962/sf | -5.7% |
| Jul 14, 2025 | 14F | 1 BR · 1.5 BA · 850 sf | $875,000 | $1,029/sf | -2.8% |
| Apr 21, 2025 | 10E | 1 BR · 1 BA | $525,000 | -34.0% | |
| Mar 13, 2025 | 8B | 3 BR · 2.5 BA · 2,100 sf | $2,600,000 | $1,238/sf | +0.0% |
| Mar 7, 2025 | 8F | 1 BR · 1.5 BA | $760,000 | +8.6% | |
| Sep 21, 2023 | 6C | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,550,000 | +0.0% | |
| Mar 22, 2023 | 10F | 1 BR · 1.5 BA | $900,000 | +4.0% | |
| May 20, 2022 | 2A | 4 BR · 3 BA · 2,200 sf | $3,200,000 | $1,455/sf | +3.4% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,089/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount 0.0% from the last ask.
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
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 1-01252-0050) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
This is a board-approval cooperative, and a complete, well-documented purchase application is essential. Financing is capped at 75% of the purchase price, so buyers should plan for at least 25% down plus the post-closing reserves the board expects to see. A 1% flip tax, paid by the seller, applies on resale — useful to factor into your offer strategy because it shapes how sellers price their net. Pets and in-unit laundry are both allowed, which widens the buyer pool; the building is owner-occupied, so a pied-à-terre or investment purchase is not the right fit here. We help buyers assess the line and exposure, read the financials, and prepare a board package that clears cleanly.
What to know if you’re selling
The selling case is the full-service, pre-war, park-adjacent package: a doorman building with a restored lobby and a landscaped roof deck, on a quiet upper-West-End block two blocks from Riverside Park. Buyers pay for that combination. Price to the building's own comparable set — recent closings in similar lines and floors here and at the neighboring pre-war co-ops — and lead with what's scarce: light, ceiling height, original detail, and the quality of any renovation. The 1% seller flip tax should be built into your net-proceeds expectations from the start; our Seller Closing Cost Calculator below makes that straightforward.
Comparable buildings
If you're evaluating 685 West End Avenue, also look at these nearby pre-war Upper West Side cooperatives:
- 680 West End Avenue — neighboring pre-war elevator building at 93rd Street
- 670 West End Avenue — 1927 West End pre-war peer
- 790 West End Avenue — full-service West End Avenue co-op to the north
- 565 West End Avenue — Art Deco West End Avenue cooperative
- 300 Riverside Drive — pre-war Riverside Drive co-op a few blocks west
The Roebling Team at 685 West End Avenue
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper West Side, West End Avenue, and the pre-war cooperative market along Central Park West and Riverside Drive. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers on West End Avenue deserve building-specific intelligence — the operation, the rules, and where the pricing actually sits. If you're considering a purchase or sale at 685 West End, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across West End Avenue — read The Roebling Team Guide to West End Avenue.
Get the full picture on this building.
The full comp set, a private valuation of your line, or current and off-market availability — sent to you directly.
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A broker’s honest answer to three questions — what your apartment would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — for your apartment at 685 West End Avenue, in this market. Put together by a person, not an algorithm.