The Riviera
790 Riverside Drive, Manhattan, on the east side of the drive between West 156th and West 157th Streets · Washington Heights
BBL 1021340071 · BIN 1063252
- Year built
- 1909
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 202
- Floors
- 13
- Landmark
- Designated
- Amenities
- Full-time doorman, resident superintendent, elevators, central laundry, bicycle storage and storage space
Every recorded sale at this building, 2002–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $661
- Listing discount
- 3.5%
- Recorded sales
- 253
- On record
- 2002–2026
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A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at The Riviera 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.
The Riviera occupies an unusually large site along the bend of Riverside Drive in the Audubon Park Historic District. Rouse & Goldstone designed it for Riviera Realty Corporation in 1909–1911, with limestone and terra-cotta ornament giving its long elevations a ceremonial character. Its present 202-residence cooperative contains both substantial prewar apartments and smaller homes created through subdivision.
That range is central to buying here. A large room count does not describe the whole building, and a compact apartment still shares the same elaborate entrance and staffed operations. The inventory accommodates markedly different interior footprints under one cooperative budget. The range of apartment sizes is visible in the building's recurring resale activity.
The setting also has a different geometry from a straight numbered-street block. Riverside Drive curves past the property, and the building occupies the depth between two cross streets. Exposure, wing and outlook are meaningful parts of an apartment description here; the address alone does not promise a river view.
Architecture and unit composition
LPC documents an original arrangement of 149 apartments containing four to ten rooms. A major 1938 remodeling replaced 52 large suites in two wings with 92 smaller apartments. By 1944 the building had 192 apartments; later subdivisions brought the count to 202. That history explains the coexistence of large, formally divided homes and much smaller layouts.
The exterior retains projecting balconettes and oversized brackets. Its original balustraded parapet had been removed by the time of LPC’s 2009 designation report. The entrance opens to a marble lobby with a coffered ceiling and double staircases. These shared spaces are an important part of the building's architectural appeal even for an apartment whose interior has been extensively modernized.
Recent transfers include compact homes under 1,000 square feet and substantially larger apartments above 2,000 square feet. Those sizes establish a broad inventory range, without implying that each wing contains the same distribution. Apartment area, usable room proportions and outlook are separate considerations when comparing homes within the cooperative.
Building operations
The Riviera has a full-time doorman and a resident superintendent, with central laundry and storage facilities supporting the apartments. Its operating obligations cover a large prewar building with multiple elevators, extensive common interiors and a decorated masonry exterior.
Historic-district designation applies to the building's exterior. Work affecting protected exterior features may require LPC review, including visible window changes and façade alterations. The architectural detailing is therefore relevant to repair planning as well as appearance. A window replacement proposed as part of an apartment renovation needs to fit the building's approved exterior treatment.
The property is in tax class 2, with no statutory annual cap on assessment growth. No building-wide abatement is identified. Owners carry their share of the cooperative's property-tax expense through maintenance, alongside operating costs. A personal exemption attached to an eligible owner is separate from a building-wide tax benefit.
The recorded floor area exceeds the current residential zoning figure. That comparison describes the existing building's density, not unused development rights or an ability to enlarge an apartment. The cooperative already operates within a substantial historic building on this site.
Recent sales
Recent transfers at this building, curated by The Roebling Team research desk. 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.
| Date | Unit | Apartment | Price | PPSF | vs. Ask |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 9, 2026 | 8J | 3 BR · 1 BA · 1,450 sf | $1,100,000 | $759/sf | +0.0% |
| Jun 1, 2026 | 7C | 2 BR · 1 BA · 950 sf | $599,000 | $631/sf | -7.8% |
| May 21, 2026 | 12D | 3 BR · 1.5 BA · 1,750 sf | $1,250,000 | $714/sf | -7.4% |
| May 18, 2026 | 5F | 1 BR · 1 BA | $490,000 | -6.7% | |
| May 14, 2026 | 6E | 4 BR · 2.5 BA · 2,300 sf | $1,435,000 | $624/sf | -21.2% |
| May 8, 2026 | 10E | 3 BR · 2.5 BA · 2,300 sf | $1,500,000 | $652/sf | -18.9% |
| Mar 17, 2026 | 4C | 2 BR · 1 BA | $555,000 | -3.5% | |
| Feb 24, 2026 | 6C | 1 BR · 1 BA · 900 sf | $549,000 | $610/sf | +0.0% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $661/sf across 7 sales. Median listing discount 3.5% 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.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2023 | 2L | $908,000 |
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 1-02134-0071) 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.
At the recent median sale of $1.05M (15 transfers since 2024), a buyer putting 25% down would pay about $22,988 to close, or 2.2% of the price.
- Mansion tax: $10,500
- No mortgage recording tax or title insurance on a co-op purchase
- Attorneys, lender, building fees and filings: $12,488
Assumes a resale (the seller pays transfer taxes), a $4,500 attorney fee and a mortgage on the rest.
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Comparable buildings
- The Grinnell — A nearby prewar cooperative with a smaller residential inventory and a closely related Riverside Drive setting.
- River Arts — A large cooperative alternative with a later architectural character and lower-rise massing.
- Roger Morris Apartments — A substantial prewar rental building for buyers comparing northern Manhattan's larger historic apartment houses.
- Colonial Parkway Apartments — A prewar architectural comparison; its ownership restrictions require separate consideration.
- The Imperator — A prewar Riverside Drive alternative with condominium ownership and a smaller inventory.
More Washington Heights buildings
- 330 Haven Avenue (Lafayette Gardens) — 1951 co-op
- Cliffside Condominium, 340 Cabrini Boulevard — 2002 condominium
- 720 Fort Washington Avenue — 1939 co-op
- The Bennett (736 West 187th Street) — 2003 condominium by SLCE Architects
- 800 Riverside Drive (The Grinnell) — 1910 co-op by Schwartz & Gross
- 4260 Broadway (The Belford) — 1920 condominium
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.
How to read the facts on this page. Items attributed to an offering plan describe the building as it was offered at that filing — unit mix, square footage, the amenity program as planned. They are not a statement about how the building operates today. Tax and compliance figures are sourced separately to current City records and carry their own dates. House rules, staffing and fee policy can change by board resolution without any public filing: treat every policy line here as a starting point for diligence and confirm it with the managing agent. Where this page compares one building or neighborhood to another, that is our analysis of the recorded record — it names the measure, the period and the sample it rests on, and it is an observation about medians rather than a prediction about any particular apartment.
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