839 West End Avenue

Pelham's design is firmly of its moment — a seven-story masonry block that reads as solid and ornamental rather than tall and streamlined. The limestone base and red-brick upper floors are tied together with white terra-cotta detailing, and the cornice and the recessed corner entrance give the building a presence larger than its height. Many apartments retain original architectural detail, including decorative fireplaces and the high ceilings the era demanded.

The 42 residences are large by Upper West Side standards. Most are classic five-to-seven-room pre-war layouts with formal dining rooms and, in the original plans, staff rooms — the kind of bones that reward restoration and combination. Light improves with floor and exposure, with the corner line drawing on both the avenue and the side street.

The Creston runs as a traditional, service-light pre-war co-op: an elevator, a central laundry room, a bike room, and a renovated storage room, overseen by a live-in superintendent who receives packages. There is no doorman — consistent with a building of this size and era — and the staffing difference should be assessed alongside the actual budget and total carrying costs. The cooperative is pet-friendly, permits financing up to 80%, and allows pied-à-terre ownership, policies to verify against current governing documents and compare with specific alternatives.

Recent sales

Recent transfers at this building, from The Roebling Research Library. 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.

Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2024): a median $1,227/sf (recorded) across 2 sales. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 3.6% 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 1-01889-0022). Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified in The Roebling Research Library. 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.

This is a pre-war co-op purchase, which means a board package and interview. The reported policies permit pets, financing up to 80%, and pied-à-terre purchases; confirm the current rules and application requirements without assuming a more accommodating approval process. Evaluate ceiling height, room count, original detail, renovation scope and total costs; renovation potential does not assure a financial return. Compare actual maintenance, financing, taxes and assessments with full-service alternatives; leaner staffing does not establish lower total costs.

The pitch writes itself: a Pelham building from 1901 with five-to-seven-room apartment layouts to compare using verified measurements, in a co-op that says yes to pets, to 80% financing, and to pieds-à-terre. Sellers should lead with layout and light — the five-to-seven-room floor plans, the fireplaces and original detail, the corner exposures — and benchmark against other large-layout pre-war co-ops in the upper West End and Riverside corridor rather than against newer, smaller-unit product. Establish turnover from dated sales and present the apartment’s measured proportions clearly; neither the unit count nor presentation assures sale speed.

If you're weighing The Creston, these nearby pre-war West End and Riverside cooperatives make a useful comparison set:

• 871 West End Avenue — pre-war West End co-op a block north
• 885 West End Avenue — large-layout pre-war co-op nearby
• 801 West End Avenue — pre-war co-op a few blocks south
• 790 West End Avenue — classic West End cooperative
• 915 West End Avenue — upper West End pre-war rental building