845 United Nations Plaza (Trump World Tower)
845 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017
- Year built
- 1999
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 376
- Floors
- 72
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Allowed
- Subletting
- Permitted (the building is known for substantial investor and pied-à-terre ownership; many owners rent units rather than reside)
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
- Flip tax
- None reported (verify against current bylaws at offer stage)
Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza is one of the most architecturally consequential modernist residential towers in contemporary Manhattan and one of the most market-historically significant New York residential buildings of the 2001-completion era. The building was, at completion in October 2001, the tallest all-residential building in the world — a distinction it held until 2003 when overtaken by the 21st Century Tower in Dubai and Samsung Tower Palace 3 in Seoul. The 72-story, 861-foot dark bronze glass slab broke an informal long-standing architectural convention that buildings fronting the United Nations grounds should observe the height of the UN Secretariat. The building has remained, in the 25 years since completion, the most architecturally singular structure on the entire United Nations Plaza corridor.
Costas Kondylis's design produced a building that critics found both polemical and elegant. The pure modernist slab — rectangular plan, no setbacks, no balconies, no articulation — is, in New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp's June 2002 review, "the most primal building New York has seen in quite a while." Terence Riley of MoMA's architecture department called the glass curtain wall "the best New York has seen in a long time." CityRealty's Carter Horsley has called the proportions "very elegant" and described the glass facade as more contextually appropriate than the post-modern masonry designs of contemporary peer luxury towers. In 2003 the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) named the building the "Best Residential Project in the World."
The construction itself was the subject of sustained organized neighborhood opposition. Walter Cronkite — the broadcast journalist who lived directly across First Avenue at 870 United Nations Plaza — was a prominent opponent; investment manager and philanthropist Alberto Vilar contributed approximately $100,000 to a roughly $400,000 East Side opposition fund; the Municipal Art Society challenged the project on air-pollution and zoning grounds. Opponents lost in state court in November 2000; the building was erected as-of-right under existing zoning and assembled air rights, acquired from seven adjacent low-rise properties including two brownstones, the Church of the Holy Family, and the Japan Society.
The building's ownership composition is one of the most internationally concentrated in the contemporary Manhattan trophy condominium market. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia purchased the entire 45th floor for $4.5 million in June 2001 and combined the units into a single Saudi Mission to the UN space in 2008. Bloomberg Businessweek reported in March 2017 that of units sold on floors 76–83 by 2004, approximately one-third involved people or limited liability companies connected to Russia and neighboring states; a sales agent told Bloomberg that "we had big buyers from Russia and Ukraine and Kazakhstan." At least seven foreign governments rented units in the building in 2017 (Iraq, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Thailand, and the European Union). The building's composition is, structurally, a foreign-government and international-investor and pied-à-terre tower rather than a traditional New York family cooperative — a structural identity that distinguishes it sharply from the surrounding Sutton Place and Beekman Place trophy cooperative corridor.
For buyers, the building's structural advantages are real and substantial: Costas Kondylis architectural credential at the building's tallest-residential-in-the-world moment; direct adjacency to the United Nations grounds and the East River esplanade (which produces structurally permanent view protection — the UN grounds cannot be developed, the East River cannot be built across); a substantial amenity package including the 60-foot saline pool, full spa, fitness center, valet, and porte-cochère; an extremely permissive condominium policy framework (pet-friendly, pied-à-terre permitted, subletting permitted, LLC purchases permitted, foreign buyers welcomed, 10 percent minimum down, no flip tax reported); and pricing materially more accessible than peer trophy condominium inventory on a per-square-foot basis. The building's market-positioning realities — including the documented post-2016 pricing dynamic — are treated explicitly below and should be understood by any prospective purchaser.
Architecture and unit composition
The 376 condominium residences distribute across the building's 72 actual constructed floors in configurations from studios through full-floor and combined-unit penthouses. The original top-two-floor penthouse — a 20,000 square foot configuration originally priced at $58 million — failed to sell at that figure and was subsequently subdivided into four separate apartments. Ceiling heights run 10 to 13 feet on typical residential floors; penthouse-tier apartments carry ceiling heights up to 16 feet. Apartment exposures include direct United Nations / East River views from the eastern units, Midtown skyline views from the western units, and broader Manhattan exposure from the upper floors.
The reinforced concrete structural system, the 11:1 slenderness ratio, and the dark bronze-tinted glass curtain wall define the building's exterior architectural identity. Floor numbering at the building runs from the entrance level through what is labeled as the "90th" floor; the actual constructed floor count is 72. The New York Times documented the labeling convention in a November 2016 investigation by Vivian Yee. Buyers should understand the numbering convention before contract: the apartment labeled "Floor 90" is the actual 72nd constructed floor.
Building operations
Trump World Tower operates as a full-service condominium managed by The Trump Organization (Trump 845 UN LP LLC, with Eric Trump as president, is the sponsor entity and ongoing building manager). The condominium board consists of six members, two of which are sponsor-appointed (a structural feature of the original offering plan that has produced sustained sponsor influence on building governance).
The amenity package — 60-foot heated saline indoor pool, full health club and fitness center, spa with sauna and steam rooms, yoga and Pilates programming, valet, porte-cochère, 24-hour doorman and concierge, full-service garage, private wine cellars, landscaped garden, cold storage, bike room, catering service — is consistent with the trophy condominium tier and substantially exceeds the typical 2001-vintage Manhattan condominium baseline.
The building's policy framework is structurally permissive within the Manhattan condominium tier: pets allowed; pied-à-terre permitted; subletting permitted; LLC purchases permitted; foreign buyers historically welcomed; 10 percent minimum down payment; no reported flip tax. The combination is materially more accessible than peer trophy condominium tier and substantially more flexible than the surrounding Sutton Place and Beekman Place cooperative inventory.
A note on hotel-style services: during the 2006–2014 operating window of Megu (the Japanese restaurant that occupied the building's ground floor; not a Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant, as is sometimes reported), residents could access in-unit room service through the restaurant. Megu closed suddenly in October 2014; current room-service options should be verified against the building manager. The World Bar (a two-story bar and cocktail lounge in the building that was particularly popular with UN diplomats) also closed years ago; the vacant 2,500-square-foot former World Bar space was the subject of substantial board-governance litigation in 2023 (see below).
Recent sales
| Unit | Configuration | Closing Date | Price | $/sf |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #22A | — | January 31, 2024 | $2,700,000 | $1,366 |
| #55C | — | February 2024 | $3,250,000 | $1,557 |
| #32D | 2-bedroom | May 2024 (742 DOM) | — | — |
| #20E | — | 2024 (403 DOM) | — | — |
| #60E | — | 2025 | — | $1,556 |
| #82CD | 5,000 sf, 3-bedroom combined | Currently listed at $10.9M (down 54.6% from $24M Feb 2019) | — | — |
Building averages: approximately $1,714 per square foot on current asks; approximately $1,412 per square foot on recent closings; approximately $2,360,000 average sale price across mixed unit configurations.
What to know if you’re buying
The architectural and operational features are genuinely strong. Costas Kondylis architectural credential at the building's historic tallest-residential-in-the-world moment; direct UN-and-East-River frontage with structurally permanent view protection; substantial 2001-vintage amenity package; 24-hour doorman and concierge with valet and porte-cochère; full-service on-site garage; permissive condominium policy framework.
The condominium policy framework is among the most flexible in the Manhattan trophy tier. Pets allowed, pied-à-terre permitted, subletting permitted, LLC purchases permitted, foreign buyers welcomed, 10 percent minimum down, no reported flip tax. These structural features distinguish the building sharply from the surrounding Sutton Place and Beekman Place cooperative inventory and from much of the broader trophy condominium tier.
The market positioning reflects the documented brand-association dynamic. Per-square-foot pricing has run approximately 24 percent below the building's 2016 peak; the discount is well-documented and broadly reported. For buyers whose decision framework is not influenced by the brand association, the building offers structural value at pricing meaningfully below peer trophy condominium inventory.
Governance structure includes sponsor-appointed board representation. Two of six board seats are sponsor-appointed (Trump Organization); recent governance disputes have produced sustained public reporting. Prospective purchasers should review the building's governance documents and recent board minutes with their attorney during due diligence.
Verify operational specifics directly at offer stage. Pet policy, sublet specifics, foreign-buyer documentation requirements, the exact flip-tax structure, common-charge trend, and the current operational baseline should all be confirmed against current management documents and the offering plan during due diligence.
Confirm the floor-numbering convention. The building's apartment labeled "Floor 90" is the 72nd constructed floor; the convention is documented in NYC Department of Buildings records and the 2016 New York Times investigation.
What to know if you’re selling
Pricing strategy should reference the current building $/sf benchmarks. Recent closed average approximately $1,412 per square foot; active asks approximately $1,714 per square foot; the 2016 peak of $1,790 per square foot is not a relevant near-term benchmark.
Marketing should emphasize the structural advantages. Costas Kondylis architectural credential; UN-and-East-River frontage with permanent view protection; the building's tallest-residential-in-the-world historical significance; the substantial amenity package; the permissive condominium policy framework that supports foreign-buyer, pied-à-terre, and investor demand.
Marketing should be candid about the broader pricing dynamic. Sophisticated buyers will evaluate the Marketproof and Van Nieuwerburgh analyses themselves; transparent positioning produces stronger transaction outcomes than ambiguous positioning.
Closing timelines are condominium-fast. Right-of-first-refusal mechanism; 30–45 day pacing typical.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 845 United Nations Plaza, also evaluate:
- 860 United Nations Plaza — Harrison & Abramovitz 1966; cooperative; the historic glass slab across First Avenue with the deep Capote / Cronkite / RFK literary register
- 870 United Nations Plaza — Harrison & Abramovitz 1966; cooperative twin to 860
- 100 United Nations Plaza — adjacent condominium peer with the same dark-bronze palette at smaller scale
- 50 United Nations Plaza — Foster + Partners 2014; full-service condominium immediately south of the UN
- 1 Beekman Place and 2 Beekman Place — old-line Beekman Place trophy cooperatives
- 1 Sutton Place South — trophy Sutton Place cooperative peer
- 25 Sutton Place — trophy Sutton Place cooperative peer
- Other Trump-branded NYC condominiums that retained the name: Trump Tower (725 Fifth, Der Scutt 1983; pricing dynamics broadly similar), Trump International Hotel & Tower (1 CPW, Kondylis / Johnson 1997; hotel-condo hybrid), Trump Plaza (167 East 61st, Birnbaum 1984), Trump Palace (200 East 69th, Williams 1991)
- Other Trump-branded NYC condominiums that removed the name: Trump Place at 140 / 160 / 200 Riverside Boulevard (renamed 2018-2019; pricing recovery documented); Trump Soho / The Dominick
The Roebling Team at Trump World Tower
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Manhattan trophy and full-service condominium corridor across Central Park West, the Upper East Side, the Fifth Avenue inventory at both ends of Central Park, Greenwich Village, Tribeca, the West Village, Sutton Place, and the broader Park-facing and East Side trophy market. We publish this building profile because 845 United Nations Plaza buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architectural attribution, board context, policy framework, market positioning, and apartment-line comparable analysis — not generic neighborhood commentary or partial information.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 845 United Nations Plaza, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.