- Year built
- 1929
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 36
- Floors
- 19
- Landmark
- Designated
- Pets
- Permitted
- Flip tax
- 3 percent of sale price, buyer-paid
895 Park Avenue is one of the most architecturally ambitious Art Deco apartment houses on Park Avenue and a building whose architectural identity is structurally distinct from the broader Italian Renaissance / Georgian tradition that defined the corridor's 1920s residential building cycle. Carter Horsley's CityRealty review describes the building as "massive but muted" — possessing "dignified monumentality." Paul Goldberger, in The City Observed, called the design "an interesting blend of Georgian and Art Deco styles… Park Avenue with just a hint of a 1930's flair."
The architectural composition is structurally distinguishing. The yellow-brick body sits over a three-story limestone base articulated by wide fluted limestone pilasters — a structural feature Sloan & Robertson positioned inset from the corners rather than at the edges (the broader Art Deco architectural norm of the period). Multiple setbacks define the upper-story massing; decorative cast plaques and the enclosed rooftop water tank carry the Sloan-Robertson Art Deco vocabulary scaled down from the firm's contemporaneous Chanin Building commission at Lexington and 42nd.
The contemporary 1930 Architectural Forum review praised the building's "delightful simplicity" — specifically the broad fluted pilasters set inset from the corners, and the 12th-floor cornice with wide rectangular stones underneath. Most original windows survive.
The building's construction-and-conversion history is structurally consequential. Construction began in 1929 — five years after John Sloan completed 898 Park directly across the avenue. Promotional materials in 1930 highlighted the attention given to staff rooms (the building has chauffeurs' quarters and no dropped beams in the entertaining rooms — the lateral steelwork was pushed into the walls). Few apartments sold before the Depression; John Sloan himself was living in the building when it went into foreclosure in spring 1931, with the building sold at auction the following August. The building subsequently converted to rentals; the tenants finally re-purchased it as a cooperative for $2 million in 1952. The structural history — original cooperative, foreclosure, rental conversion, and tenant-led cooperative re-purchase — is unusual within the Park Avenue cooperative tradition.
895 Park sits across the avenue from 898 Park (John Sloan / Albert Nast, 1924) — the Sloan-designed cooperative that opened five years before 895 Park's construction began. The architectural pairing of the two Sloan-designed buildings on the same Park Avenue intersection (in different stylistic registers) is structurally significant within the firm's broader body of work.
Architecture and unit composition
The 36 cooperative apartments distribute across the building's 19 stories in configurations that include substantial pre-war apartment-level features. Apartment-level features include wood-burning fireplaces, generous entrance galleries, 26-foot living rooms, and 22-foot dining rooms characteristic of pre-Depression Park Avenue luxury construction.
The Triplex A configuration on floors 16-17-18 is the building's structural apex apartment. The configuration includes a 19-foot garden room / library with three sides of terraces (26 feet west, 26 feet north, 26 feet east); a multi-level living-room sequence; a 23-foot media room; and 58-foot and 35-foot terraces on the upper level. Apartment 18C carries a 52-foot north-facing terrace.
Building operations
895 Park operates as a full-service cooperative with 24-hour doorman, elevator operators (the building retains attended elevator service), and substantial amenity infrastructure: squash court, basketball court, fitness center, and storage. The amenity inventory is unusually developed for the pre-war Park Avenue cooperative tier.
The cooperative policy framework — 50 percent maximum financing, 3 percent buyer-paid flip tax, pet-friendly — supports a structurally specific buyer pool calibrated to the trophy pre-war Park Avenue cooperative tradition.
What to know if you’re buying
The architectural composition is structurally distinguishing. The Art Deco–Georgian hybrid register places 895 Park outside the broader Italian Renaissance mainline that defined the 1920s Park Avenue residential cycle; the Sloan & Robertson architectural pedigree is real and consequential.
The construction-conversion history is part of the building's institutional record. Original cooperative, 1931 foreclosure, rental conversion, and 1952 tenant-led cooperative re-purchase produce a structurally unusual cooperative history.
The 1930 Architectural Forum contemporary review is documented institutional recognition. Specific architectural details — the inset fluted pilasters, the 12th-floor cornice — are documented in the contemporary architectural-press record.
The amenity inventory is unusually developed. Squash court, basketball court, fitness center are uncommon among pre-war Park Avenue cooperatives.
The 3 percent buyer-paid flip tax is meaningful at closing. On a $10 million purchase, $300,000 of additional buyer cost.
The Triplex A configuration is structural. The 16-17-18 floor combined-unit configuration with substantial terrace infrastructure is the building's apex apartment.
Verify operational specifics during due diligence. Specific board approval framework, sublet duration limits, current capital project pipeline, and the LL11 façade cycle on the 1930 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 Sloan & Robertson architectural credential and the Art Deco architectural register. Both are real architectural-pedigree features that distinguish the building from peer Park Avenue cooperative inventory.
The 1930 Architectural Forum contemporary review and Paul Goldberger's City Observed documentation are real institutional credentials.
The amenity inventory supports premium positioning. Squash court, basketball court, fitness center are unusually developed for the pre-war tier.
Pricing should reference recent comparable closings. Substantial upper-floor combined configurations have produced mid-double-digit-millions closings on the building.
Closing timelines are cooperative-standard.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 895 Park Avenue, also evaluate:
- 898 Park Avenue — John Sloan / Albert Nast 1924; same-architect (Sloan) cross-avenue peer
- 888 Park Avenue — Schwartz & Gross 1925–26; nearby Park Avenue Historic District peer
- 925 Park Avenue — Schwartz & Gross; nearby Park Avenue peer (already on the existing 186-slug list)
- 940 Park Avenue (The Coronado) — pre-war Park Avenue peer (already on the existing 186-slug list)
- 998 Fifth Avenue — McKim, Mead & White 1912; pre-WWI Fifth Avenue trophy peer
The Roebling Team at 895 Park
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Central Park West, the Upper East Side, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this building profile because Park Avenue buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architectural attribution, board context, and pricing at the apartment level.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 895 Park, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.