817 Fifth Avenue

George B. Post & Sons composed 817 Fifth Avenue as a neo–Italian Renaissance palazzo: a four-story rusticated limestone base grounds the façade, bandcourses articulate the shaft, and a substantial cornice crowns the building. The entrance is set on the side street beneath a canopy, in the manner of the finest Fifth Avenue houses, preserving the Park-facing frontage for the residences themselves.

The unit composition is the story. With only 16 residences over fourteen floors, nearly every home is a full floor, laid out with the grand entertaining scale — gallery, corner living rooms, formal dining, and generous private quarters — that Fifth Avenue's best prewar buildings were built to deliver. The maisonette triplex has its own private entrance. Ceiling heights, room proportions, and Central Park frontage are the differentiators here; these are among the largest and most consequential apartments in any building of this size on the avenue.

817 Fifth Avenue operates as a white-glove full-service cooperative appropriate to its stature: an attended lobby, doorman and elevator staff, and the discreet, high-touch service that defines the Fifth Avenue co-op belt. With so few residences, the building runs quietly and privately. As with any premier cooperative, financial requirements are stringent — substantial post-closing liquidity, conservative financing limits (often all-cash or near it), and a rigorous board interview are the norm. Buyers should model maintenance, any assessments, and the full carry, and review the building's financials and capital history during due diligence.

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.

Market read. Most recent trades (2023) cleared a median $3,180/sf across 2 sales. Median listing discount 10.7% 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 1-01377-7501) 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.

These are full-floor Park homes. With 16 residences over fourteen floors, nearly every apartment is a full floor facing Central Park — the defining feature and the source of value.

The board process is serious. Expect stringent financial requirements, substantial post-closing liquidity, conservative or all-cash financing expectations, and a rigorous interview.

Cooperative rules govern flexibility. Pied-à-terre use and subletting are generally restricted; primary-residence expectations typically apply. Confirm specifics with the board.

Pricing is per-room, not per-foot. Value tracks floor, Park frontage, room count, ceiling height, and condition rather than a simple square-foot figure.

Mansion tax thresholds apply. At this building's pricing, the higher mansion-tax cliffs are firmly in play. Run pricing through the Mansion Tax Calculator.

Variable board financial policy — confirm at offer stage. Financing limits, liquidity thresholds, and sublet policy should be confirmed in writing before you commit.

Lead with the full-floor plan and the Park. The full-floor layouts, the Central Park frontage, and the George B. Post & Sons pedigree are the story; marketing should foreground them.

Qualify buyers early. In a building with this board, financial readiness and primary-residence intent should be established before an accepted offer to protect timelines.

Pricing requires apartment-level comps. With so few residences and rare turnover, floor, Park exposure, layout, and condition all move the number.

817 Fifth belongs to the pre-war cohort of full-floor cooperatives that defines the avenue along the park — blue-chip architects, exacting boards, apartments measured by the floor. If it's on your list, these belong there too:

• 820 Fifth Avenue — Starrett & Van Vleck, 1916. One of the earliest full-floor houses on the avenue, and among its most rarefied addresses.
• 834 Fifth Avenue — Rosario Candela, 1931. Candela's Fifth Avenue masterwork, long counted among the most prestigious cooperative addresses in the city.
• 825 Fifth Avenue — J.E.R. Carpenter, 1926, by the architect most responsible for the form of the modern Fifth Avenue apartment house.
• 845 Fifth Avenue — another Carpenter building, 1920 — the same planning discipline from a slightly earlier hand.
• 875 Fifth Avenue — Emery Roth, 1941. The cohort's later entry, trading a measure of pre-war ornament for Roth's assured massing at the park's edge.

The Roebling Team at Compass works the full Fifth Avenue and Upper East Side market, including its premier full-floor cooperatives. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers of buildings at this level deserve building-level intelligence — architecture, board reality, and apartment-level pricing context — rather than generic market commentary.

If you're considering a purchase or sale at 817 Fifth Avenue, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point. We'll bring the full context this page provides plus the transactional specifics your situation requires.