820 Park Avenue
820 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021
Lenox Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1013900035 · BIN 1041701
- Year built
- 1926
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 21
- Floors
- 14
- Landmark
- Designated
- Subletting
- Not permitted — an owner-occupancy building.
- Pied-à-terre
- 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, 2005–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 3BR median
- $7.8M
- Recent range
- $425K – $9.7M
- Listing discount
- 5.6%
- Recorded transfers
- 13
820 Park Avenue is one of the architecturally most eccentric apartment houses on the Park Avenue corridor — a building that emerged from a specific developer's vision of stacked mansions and that carries one of the most architecturally distinctive entries on the avenue. Vienna-born Hearst publisher Albert J. Kobler acquired three East 75th Street row houses to assemble the site and commissioned Harry Allen Jacobs — whose body of work includes the Friars Club and townhouses for Adolph Lewisohn, Herman Lehman, Adolph Zukor, and Martin Beck — to build what was effectively a stacked series of mansions, with the developer's own triplex apartment at the top.
The architectural composition reflects the program. The half-mansard, half-tower roof; the asymmetrical brown-brick shaft over a two-and-a-half-story tan sandstone base; and the famously medieval entry ironwork together produce a building whose architectural identity is structurally distinct from the broader Italian Renaissance / Georgian Park Avenue mainline of the 1920s building cycle. Christopher Gray's 2000 New York Times "Streetscapes" column described the entry ironwork as "one of the most unusual on Park Avenue: dark, hammered shapes worked in medieval designs, including the shapes of blades and a knight." Andrew Alpern, in Luxury Apartment Buildings of Manhattan, framed the building as "a thoroughly modern concept in apartment-house living: multiple mansions stacked one upon another for soaring status and expansive living."
public records judges the building's roof "whimsically uncontextual" while the prewar detailing is "very attractive."
The original Kobler triplex penthouse — long since subdivided — was famous within Manhattan's interwar architectural-history record. The drawing room rose two stories with leaded and stained-glass windows; a 16th-century carved-stone fireplace; a coffered ceiling reputedly taken from the Uffizi Palace; a Yellin-forged wrought-iron three-story stair; and a wall-hung tapestry whose pedigree was reportedly traced to Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey. Furniture came from the Strozzi and Barberini palaces. The Greenwich Savings Bank foreclosed in 1941; floors were subsequently inserted; the stained glass was removed. The 1957 cooperative conversion produced the building's current 21-apartment configuration from the original 9-apartment Kobler-era plan.
Architecture and unit composition
The 21 cooperative apartments distribute across the building's 14 stories. Surviving apartment plans document the substantial Jacobs-era apartment scale: a maisonette with a 22-foot entry foyer leading up a staircase to a 38-foot living room with fireplace; the 12th-floor apartment with a 40-foot gallery; the 15th-floor and 6/7 duplex configurations preserving much of the Jacobs grand-scale planning. Wood-burning fireplaces are common across the building's apartment inventory.
The structural identity of the building rests on the architectural composition rather than on apartment-line standardization. Apartment-by-apartment variation is meaningful and reflects the building's origins as Kobler's stacked-mansion architectural vision.
Building operations
820 Park operates as a small-scale full-service cooperative with full-time doorman, elevator operator (the building retains attended elevator service), and private storage. The building is pet-friendly. The building does not carry an on-site garage or a fitness center. Specific cooperative policy details (financing maximum, flip tax structure, pied-à-terre allowance, sublet duration limits) should be verified directly with management.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $41,508/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $288
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair before the next inspection cycle. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials 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
- 3% of purchase price
- Sublet policy
- Not Allowed
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
- Notable fees
- Move In Fee $4,000; Closing Fee $800 ($850 no broker) + $0.05/share; Background report $816.56/applicant
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 2026 | 15 | 3 BR · 3.5 BA | $9,700,000 | -2.5% | |
| May 20, 2025 | 10 | 3 BR | $5,800,000 | -10.5% | |
| Sep 26, 2024 | 2N | 1 BA | $425,000 | -5.6% | |
| May 17, 2021 | MAIS | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,810,000 | -2.2% | |
| Dec 27, 2016 | MAIS | 5 BR · 3 BA | $1,300,000 | -28.8% | |
| Nov 4, 2016 | 12 | 4 BR · 3,128 sf | $8,850,000 | $2,829/sf | -6.8% |
| Jun 24, 2014 | MAIS | 2 BR · 2 BA | $2,100,000 | -4.3% | |
| Aug 8, 2012 | 15 | 3 BR | $8,250,000 | -10.3% |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2016): a median $2,829/sf across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 6.2% 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 1-01390-0035) 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 architectural composition is structurally distinguishing. The Jacobs design is outside the Italian Renaissance / Georgian mainline that defined the 1920s Park Avenue residential cycle; the half-mansard roof, the asymmetrical brown-brick shaft, the tan-sandstone base, and the medieval entry ironwork together produce a building whose architectural identity is structurally distinct from peer Park Avenue cooperative inventory.
The Kobler triplex history is real architectural history. The original Kobler penthouse — with its Yellin-forged stair, its Uffizi coffered ceiling, its Strozzi and Barberini palace furniture, and its Henry-VIII / Cardinal-Wolsey tapestry — is documented in the architectural-history record.
The 21-unit boutique scale produces a specific cooperative culture. Among the smaller Park Avenue cooperatives.
Wood-burning fireplaces are common. Many apartments retain operational fireplaces.
Notable historical residents are documented. Herbert H. Lehman (Governor of New York 1932–1942; U.S. Senator 1949–1957) lived in an 11th/12th-floor duplex (later owned by Denise LeFrak Calicchio). Walter P. Chrysler leased the Kobler triplex before its 1941 subdivision. Banker Carl H. Pforzheimer was an original tenant.
Verify operational specifics during due diligence. Specific board approval framework, financing structure, flip tax, sublet duration limits, current capital project pipeline, and the LL11 façade cycle on the 1926 vintage 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 architectural distinctiveness. The Jacobs design and the documented Kobler triplex history are real architectural-pedigree features that distinguish the building from peer Park Avenue cooperative inventory.
The historical resident roster supports premium positioning. Lehman, Chrysler, and Pforzheimer residency is documented in the architectural-history record.
Pricing requires apartment-level architectural analysis. Apartment-by-apartment variation is meaningful; recent comparables on the specific apartment configuration should anchor positioning.
Closing timelines are cooperative-standard.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 820 Park Avenue, also evaluate:
- 815 Park Avenue — Rouse & Goldstone 1916–17; same-block Park Avenue peer
- 820 Fifth Avenue — McKim, Mead & White 1916; pre-WWI Fifth Avenue trophy peer (different avenue)
- 740 Park Avenue — Candela / Cross & Cross 1929–30; trophy pre-war cooperative
- 998 Fifth Avenue — McKim, Mead & White 1912; pre-WWI Fifth Avenue trophy 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 820 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 820 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.