- Year built
- 1901
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- No
Every recorded sale at this building, 2004–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 2BR median
- $1.3M
- Recent range
- $935K – $1.7M
- Listing discount
- 6.4%
- Recorded transfers
- 34
The Creston is one of the older apartment houses on West End Avenue — a 1901 building from the first wave of Upper West Side apartment construction, designed by George F. Pelham, the architect responsible for a large share of the neighborhood's early masonry stock. Set on the northeast corner of West End and West 101st Street, it predates the limestone-and-brick co-op blocks that came to define the avenue in the 1910s and 1920s, and it carries the heavier, more decorative vocabulary of the era: a limestone-and-dark-red-brick body trimmed in white terra cotta, a galvanized-iron cornice, and a concave, balcony-topped entrance set on the side street.
What makes the building distinctive for buyers is the scale of its apartments. The Creston was built for a generation that expected separate dining rooms and staff quarters, and its 42 homes run from roughly five to seven rooms — generous, high-ceilinged layouts of a kind that became scarcer as later buildings subdivided floors more tightly. Converted to a cooperative in 1992, it has settled into the role of a well-kept, owner-occupied pre-war co-op a short walk from Riverside Park and the upper Broadway retail spine.
Architecture and unit composition
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.
Building operations
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 trade-off is the lower carrying cost that comes with a leaner staffing model. The cooperative is pet-friendly, permits financing up to 80%, and allows pied-à-terre ownership, a combination that gives buyers meaningfully more flexibility than the stricter co-ops further south on the avenue.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $5,128/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $10
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The facade passed its last inspection with no required repairs — nothing to budget for here, and no facade assessment on the horizon for roughly five years.
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 →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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 19, 2026 | 5B | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,335,000 | -1.0% | |
| Nov 6, 2024 | 3A | 4 BR · 1 BA | $935,000 | -6.0% | |
| Oct 28, 2024 | 6D | 2 BR · 2 BA · 1,000 sf | $1,220,000 | $1,220/sf | -7.9% |
| Jun 18, 2024 | 2A | 3 BR · 1 BA | $935,000 | -6.4% | |
| May 8, 2024 | 7F | 4 BR · 2 BA · 1,357 sf | $1,674,000 | $1,234/sf | -8.3% |
| Oct 28, 2022 | 4F | 4 BR · 2 BA | $1,630,000 | -1.2% | |
| Jun 25, 2021 | 6B | 2 BR · 1.5 BA | $1,400,000 | +1.1% | |
| Jul 17, 2019 | 3B | 3 BR | $1,150,000 | -3.8% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2024) cleared a median $1,067/sf across 2 sales. Median listing discount 6.0% 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.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 6, 2022 | 1A | $9,528,590 |
| Sep 28, 2022 | 4A | $999,000 |
| Jun 16, 2022 | 3F | $1,750,000 |
| Jul 11, 2018 | 5F | $1,450,000 |
| Jul 13, 2016 | 4E | $1,375,000 |
| Jan 15, 2015 | 3F | $1,387,662 |
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 1-01889-0022) 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
This is a pre-war co-op purchase, which means a board package and interview. The building's posture is comparatively accommodating — pets are welcome, 80% financing is permitted, and pied-à-terre purchases are allowed — so the approval path is friendlier than the all-cash, primary-residence-only stance of some grander pre-war houses. Buyers should underwrite the apartment on its bones: ceiling height, room count, original detail, and renovation scope, since many homes here trade as projects with strong upside. The leaner staffing keeps maintenance more moderate than at full-service buildings, an advantage for buyers focused on monthly carry.
What to know if you’re selling
The pitch writes itself: a Pelham building from 1901 with apartments that are simply bigger than what most of the avenue offers, 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. Because turnover is low, a well-prepared apartment that photographs its proportions tends to find its buyer efficiently.
Comparable buildings
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 co-op
The Roebling Team at The Creston
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper West Side, the West End and Riverside corridors, and the broader pre-war co-op market. We publish this profile because buyers and sellers at large-layout pre-war buildings deserve building-specific intelligence — what the apartments actually offer, how the board operates, and where value sits against the surrounding stock.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 839 West End Avenue, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Get the full picture on this building.
Current availability including off-market, the full comp set, and the board & financials read most listings don't show.