900 Park Avenue (The Park 900)

Birnbaum was the most prolific apartment-tower architect of his era. 900 Park carries limestone cladding with a vertical emphasis, rounded-top-and-bottom window bays at the south and east corners, a deep landscaped plaza, and a Jay Spectre Modernist lobby behind large glass. The 124 residences distribute across 28 floors in lines running from one-bedrooms with dining alcoves through high-floor two- and three-bedroom corners; the A-line three-bedrooms carry 30-foot living rooms, and full-floor combinations exist — most famously the 22nd floor, which Botero assembled into a single residence and studio. Corner exposures above the neighboring cornice line take Central Park views to the west and protected Park Avenue vistas south down the avenue; the 79th Street crossing keeps the lower-floor outlook open as well.

Full-service condominium: 24-hour doorman, concierge, attended elevators — a service signature more common in co-ops than condos of this vintage — plus live-in superintendent, fitness center, bike room, laundry, and the on-site garage. The private driveway and below-grade plaza form a distinctive arrival sequence to compare with other avenue buildings. In-unit washer/dryers appear throughout recent listings. The offering plan and amendments are on file in The Roebling Research Library; current by-laws, financials, and house rules should be reviewed with counsel at offer stage.

Recent sales

Recent closings 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. Most recent trades (2026 to date) cleared a median $2,371/sf (floor-adjusted) across 4 sales. Floor-adjusted means each sale is restated to a constant mix of floors, so the figure can differ from the plain median of the sales listed above. Median listing discount 5.4% 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 1-01491-7501; each condominium apartment is its own tax lot). 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 from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.

• Fernando Botero — the Colombian painter and sculptor kept his New York residence and working studio on the building's 22nd floor from 1980, a combined apartment marketed on that provenance when offered in 2017; his bronze cat sculpture sits in the building's plaza

The condo structure is the headline. No co-op board interview or co-op-style financial disclosure to neighbors; leasing and pied-à-terre use are permitted with conditions. Confirm trust, LLC and international-buyer rules, the right-of-first-refusal mechanics and any structure-specific requirements with the managing agent and your attorney.

The height is an asset. Under the Special Park Improvement District, the building's elevation is unlikely to be replicated on upper Park Avenue, but zoning can change and protects no particular view. Upper-floor views — park to the west, the avenue's open spine to the south — vary by floor and exposure and should be priced into line selection.

Underwrite the 1979 conversion documents, not folklore. The conversion era was litigious, and the offering plan plus amendments (on file with us) remain the governing documents for unit boundaries, common elements, and the commercial components. Your attorney should review them alongside current financials.

Attended elevators cut both ways. They are a genuine service luxury and a staffing cost; compare common charges against peer condos with leaner staffing using the True Monthly Carrying Cost Calculator.

Model the mansion tax. Run the Mansion Tax Calculator at your target number before you structure an offer.

Market the scarcity, by name. "Condominium on Park Avenue" is the thesis — purchase without co-op board admission, with pied-à-terre use permitted with conditions. Confirm LLC, trust and foreign-ownership rules in the current declaration, bylaws and house rules before positioning against the co-ops.

Anchor to line-specific history. The spread between high-floor corners and low mid-block lines is wide, and the building's average is not a useful anchor. Same-line and same-tier comparables — which we maintain in the Research Library — are.

Lead with the arrival sequence and the service model. The driveway, the plaza and its Botero, the Spectre lobby, and attended elevators photograph and show better than the building's exterior reputation suggests. Let the entrance do the first showing.

If you're considering 900 Park Avenue, also evaluate:

• 733 Park Avenue — the other 1970s tower that pierced the avenue's cornice line; the closest structural sibling
• 520 Park Avenue — Robert A.M. Stern's limestone condominium tower; the trophy-tier condo alternative on the avenue
• 535 Park Avenue — boutique residential alternative further south on the avenue; confirm its ownership form
• 1010 Park Avenue — Carnegie Hill residential alternative; confirm construction history and the offered interest
• 1049 Fifth Avenue — pre-war-envelope condominium on Museum Mile; the same no-board thesis, park-facing
• The Bellemont (1165 Madison) — new-development boutique condo alternative nearby
• 888 Park Avenue and 895 Park Avenue — the immediate pre-war co-op neighbors; the traditional alternative with the stricter framework
• 930 Park Avenue — pre-war co-op peer two blocks north