920 Fifth Avenue
920 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10021
Lenox Hill, Upper East Side
BBL 1013870069 · BIN 1041486
- Year built
- 1922
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 26
- Floors
- 14
- Financing
- Up to 50% financeable (50% minimum down).
Compiled by The Roebling Research Desk from the building’s offering plan, amendments, and related building documents (primary source dated 2026). Board policies can change by amendment — confirm at the offer stage.
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 3BR median
- $8.9M
- Recent range
- $6.5M – $21M
- Listing discount
- 4.7%
- Recorded transfers
- 27
920 Fifth Avenue is the architecturally most distinguished J.E.R. Carpenter cooperative on Fifth Avenue prior to his AIA Gold Medal-tier work and is the only Fifth Avenue building Carpenter himself chose as his personal residence — a fact unique among the Fifth Avenue cooperatives. Carpenter lived at 920 Fifth from approximately 1924 until his death in 1932.
At the center of the building's identity is its Carpenter-as-resident architectural pedigree — no other Fifth Avenue cooperative carries the personal-residence imprimatur of the architect at peak form. The scale he built for is itself rare: a boutique 26-apartment configuration across fourteen stories, yielding full-floor and large-half-floor plates with private elevator vestibules, multiple wood-burning and gas fireplaces, and the configuration profile of trophy pre-war inventory. That inventory has held a resident roster to match, its most documented names including Gloria Swanson during the filming of Sunset Boulevard (1949-1950) and Sister Parish, the legendary American interior designer who founded Parish-Hadley with Albert Hadley.
Architecture and unit composition
Built in 1922 to J.E.R. Carpenter's design and converted to cooperative ownership in 1948, 920 Fifth Avenue is fourteen stories, limestone-clad, in the Italian Renaissance palazzo idiom that defines Carpenter at peak. The composition is more reserved than Carpenter's later 1115 and 1120 Fifth work but is generally considered the most architecturally distinguished of his pre-AIA Gold Medal corpus on Fifth.
public records (December 23, 2011 rating 78) calls Carpenter "the foremost architect of luxury residential buildings in the city of his generation" and 920 Fifth one of "his most sumptuous designs."Architectural records note the elegant canopied side-street entrance on East 73rd Street, with attractive sidewalk landscaping, as a structural exterior identity feature.
The twenty-six apartments distribute across the building's fourteen stories with typical six-to-nine-room configurations, three to four bedrooms, private elevator vestibules, multiple wood-burning and gas fireplaces, and oversized windows characteristic of Carpenter's intended grand proportions. The apartment-level interior infrastructure persists through the building's century-long ownership cycle.
Carpenter's choice of 920 Fifth as his personal residence is the most-cited resident fact in the building's institutional history. The architect lived in the building he designed from approximately 1924 until his death in 1932 — a feature unique among the Fifth Avenue cooperatives.
Building operations
920 Fifth operates as a full white-glove cooperative with the following operational baseline:
- 24-hour doormen
- Resident manager
- Comprehensive security infrastructure
- White-glove staffing consistent with the trophy pre-war Fifth Avenue tradition
The boutique 26-unit scale and the Carpenter design legacy produce an operational identity defined by white-glove service rather than amenity-maximalism.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $18,012/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $58
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available filing classified the facade as SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program: the engineer identified conditions requiring monitoring or repair before the next inspection cycle. The scope, timeline, and how the building funds the work are building-specific — we review the filings and board materials for you.
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 →Management & transfer contacts
- Flip tax
- 2% of purchase price, paid by Buyer at closing
- Notable fees
- Max financing 50%; Managing Agent Fee $900 ($1000 estate); Fidelifacts credit report $871/applicant
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 2026 | 10B | 4 BR · 4 BA | $6,500,000 | +0.0% | |
| Jan 16, 2025 | 8A | 5 BR · 4 BA | $15,000,000 | -11.8% | |
| Aug 21, 2024 | 5A | 4 BR · 4.5 BA | $17,077,500 | -5.1% | |
| May 20, 2024 | 14 | 5 BR · 5.5 BA · 4,500 sf | $21,000,000 | $4,667/sf | -10.6% |
| Jan 4, 2024 | 11B | 3 BR · 3.5 BA | $6,787,500 | -3.0% | |
| Aug 15, 2023 | 2A | 3 BR · 5 BA | $11,000,000 | -4.3% | |
| May 25, 2022 | 3A | 4 BR · 4.5 BA | $12,500,000 | -7.4% | |
| Aug 15, 2018 | 6B | 3 BR | $9,452,500 | off-mkt |
Market read. $/sf is measured on the latest sales with reliable square footage (2024): a median $4,667/sf across 1 sale. The building has traded as recently as 2026. Median listing discount 6.8% 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 15, 2003 | 4B | $8,775,000 |
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 1-01387-0069) 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 selling
Marketing should emphasize the Carpenter-as-resident architectural pedigree. No other Fifth Avenue cooperative carries the same positioning; this is the building's single most-cited differentiator.
The Gloria Swanson / Sister Parish cultural resident overlay supports premium positioning. Reference in positioning materials.
The full-floor configuration with private elevator vestibule and multiple wood-burning and gas fireplaces is a real structural advantage versus the postwar Fifth Avenue cooperative inventory and many peer pre-war buildings.
Pricing should reference the $17.0775 million 5A close (August 2024) and the 14A asking at $26.9 million. Apartment-line-specific comparables should anchor positioning.
Closing timelines are cooperative-standard.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 920 Fifth Avenue, also evaluate:
- 810 Fifth Avenue — J.E.R. Carpenter 1926; same-architect Fifth Avenue peer
- 907 Fifth Avenue — J.E.R. Carpenter 1916; same-architect AIA Gold Medal-tier Fifth Avenue peer
- 825 Fifth Avenue — Sloan & Robertson 1926; immediate Fifth Avenue peer
- 834 Fifth Avenue — Rosario Candela 1931; trophy Fifth Avenue peer
- 875 Fifth Avenue — Emery Roth 1940; nearby Fifth Avenue peer
Sources: The Roebling Research Library (offering plans, house rules, financial statements, board minutes, internal transaction records); NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers; publicly recorded NYC building data.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Fifth Avenue — read The Roebling Team Guide to Fifth Avenue.
The full playbook — what goes in the package, how boards read your financials, the interview, and the timeline — plus sample cover, reference, and personal letters you can adapt.
Considering a move at 920 Fifth Avenue?
Request a private building brief with the relevant comparable sales, current and off-market availability, and an apartment-specific view of value.
Own an apartment here? See what it would sell for.
A Private Pricing Opinion — what your apartment at 920 Fifth Avenue would likely sell for today, what it costs to sell, and what you’d walk away with — reviewed personally against condition, exposures, renovation quality, and the competition actually on the market.