785 Park Avenue
785 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021
Lenox Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1014080001 · BIN 1043025
- Year built
- 1940
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 85
- Floors
- 20
- Landmark
- Designated
- Flip tax
- 2% of the sale price.
- Financing
- Up to 50% financeable (50% minimum down).
- Subletting
- Not permitted — an owner-occupancy building.
- Pied-à-terre
- Permitted.
- Washer / dryer
- Permitted in-unit.
- Pets
- Permitted, subject to Board approval.
- Co-purchasing
- Parents purchasing for children permitted.
- Guarantors
- Permitted.
Compiled by The Roebling Research Desk from the building’s offering plan, amendments, and related building documents (primary source dated 2026). Board policies can change by amendment — confirm at the offer stage.
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 2BR median
- $2.1M
- Recent range
- $1.1M – $4.8M
- Listing discount
- 5.5%
- Recorded transfers
- 91
785 Park Avenue is among the architecturally most consequential late-pre-war cooperatives on Park Avenue and one of the last new Park Avenue residential commissions before the wartime construction freeze. Completed in 1940 by George F. Pelham Jr. for developer Frank Morrell, the 20-story building represents a distinct sub-era within the broader Park Avenue pre-war tradition — a small group of late-1939-through-1941 commissions positioned between the Candela boom of the late 1920s and the immediate post-war construction cycle that began in 1948.
George F. Pelham Jr. was the son of George F. Pelham Sr., one of the most prolific New York apartment-house architects of the early 20th century, whose attributed body of work exceeds 1,245 buildings. Pelham Jr. produced a string of late-pre-war Park Avenue cooperatives in 1939–1941, including 785 Park (1940), 1150 Park (1940), and 50 Park Avenue (1940). The Pelham Jr. Park Avenue work occupies a distinct architectural register: late-pre-war red brick over limestone bases, canopied entrances, and apartment configurations carrying the layout discipline of the Candela / Carpenter pre-war tradition executed at the cusp of the post-war modernist transition.
The cooperative's recently renovated lobby and the building's upper-floor private terraces — with northern, western, and southern exposures across the avenue to the Candela buildings of the late-1920s pre-war boom — produce a structurally distinctive apartment-level outdoor amenity infrastructure.
Architecture and unit composition
The 85 cooperative apartments distribute across the building's 20 stories in configurations carrying the late-pre-war Park Avenue layout discipline. Apartment features documented across the building's inventory include entrance galleries, substantial beamed ceilings, decorative fireplaces, windowed kitchens, and Sub-Zero, Viking, and Wolf appliance specifications across the renovated apartment inventory.
Many apartments include in-unit laundry and central air-conditioning installations. Upper-floor apartments carry private terraces — a structural amenity uncommon in peer pre-war Park Avenue cooperative inventory.
Building average $/sf on recent closings has run at approximately $1,415 per public records, with 15 closed sales tracked recently. ## Building operations
785 Park operates as a full-service cooperative with full-time doorman and live-in superintendent. The amenity infrastructure includes a recently renovated lobby, a fitness center, a landscaped roof terrace with views toward the surrounding Candela Park Avenue inventory, private storage, and a bike room. The building does not carry an on-site garage.
The cooperative policy framework — 50 percent maximum financing, 2 percent buyer-paid flip tax, pet-friendly, pied-à-terre case-by-case, trust ownership case-by-case — supports a structurally specific buyer pool calibrated to the late-pre-war Park Avenue tradition.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available FISP filing classified the facade as Safe — no repairs were required at that inspection. Facade inspections run on a fixed five-year cycle; future inspection, repair, and any assessment decisions remain building-specific.
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
- 2% of gross consideration paid by purchaser
- Sublet policy
- Not allowed
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 2026 | 1D | 2 BR · 1 BA | $285,000 | off-mkt | |
| Feb 2, 2026 | 13DE | 3 BR · 3.5 BA | $4,750,000 | +0.0% | |
| Oct 24, 2025 | 12DE | 3 BR · 4.5 BA · 2,500 sf | $2,000,000 | $800/sf | -4.8% |
| Jul 8, 2025 | 7E | 2 BR · 2.5 BA | $2,787,500 | +11.5% | |
| Jun 9, 2025 | 4A | 2 BR · 2.5 BA | $1,895,000 | +5.6% | |
| Apr 16, 2025 | 16E | 2 BR · 2.5 BA · 1,600 sf | $1,750,000 | $1,094/sf | -29.7% |
| Dec 16, 2024 | 14A | 2 BR · 2.5 BA · 1,500 sf | $2,180,000 | $1,453/sf | -9.0% |
| Oct 30, 2024 | 19B | 3 BR · 3.5 BA | $4,000,000 | -11.1% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2025): a median $794/sf across 2 sales. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 3.0% 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.
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 1-01408-0001) 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
The Pelham Jr. late-pre-war architectural register is structurally distinctive. A small group of 1939–1941 Park Avenue commissions; 785 Park is among the architecturally most consequential of this sub-era.
Trust ownership is permitted on a case-by-case basis. Materially more accommodating than typical Park Avenue cooperative norms; buyers using trust structures should structure the application accordingly.
Upper-floor private terraces are structural amenity features. Uncommon on peer pre-war Park Avenue cooperatives.
The recently renovated lobby is real. The building's contemporary lobby presentation supports premium pricing positioning relative to peer pre-war cooperatives without recent capital renovation.
Confirm operational specifics during due diligence. Current capital project status, the LL11 façade cycle on the 1940 vintage, and broader operational baselines should be reviewed.
Closing timelines are cooperative-standard. Plan for 6–10 weeks from contract through board approval to closing.
What to know if you’re selling
Marketing should emphasize the Pelham Jr. architectural credential and the late-pre-war sub-era positioning. Both are structural identity features.
The trust ownership permission is a real buyer-pool expansion feature. Marketing should reach buyers structuring transactions through trusts.
Pricing should reference recent comparable closings. The $1,415 per square foot building average provides a baseline; apartment-line-specific comparables should anchor positioning.
Closing timelines are cooperative-standard.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 785 Park Avenue, also evaluate:
- 770 Park Avenue — pre-war Park Avenue trophy peer
- 778 Park Avenue — Candela 1931; pre-war Park Avenue trophy peer
- 740 Park Avenue — Candela / Cross & Cross 1929–30; trophy pre-war cooperative
- 888 Park Avenue — Schwartz & Gross 1925–26; pre-war Park Avenue peer
- 50 Park Avenue — Pelham Jr. 1940; same architect / same vintage Murray Hill peer
- 1150 Park Avenue — Pelham Jr. 1940; same architect / same vintage Carnegie Hill peer
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Park Avenue — read The Roebling Team Guide to Park Avenue.
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 785 Park Avenue?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at 785 Park Avenue 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.