- Year built
- 1945
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 102
- Landmark
- Designated
926 Madison Avenue occupies a precise slot in the Upper East Side timeline: completed across 1945–1947, in the brief immediate-postwar window when Manhattan apartment construction resumed but had not yet shifted to the white-brick towers of the 1960s. Designed by Sylvan Bien — whose mid-century New York practice spanned hotels, apartment houses, and commercial work — the building reads as a transitional object. It keeps the masonry discipline of the pre-war tradition while shedding the heavy classical ornament of the 1920s, and Bien resolved the corner with beveled, angular limestone edges that the Landmarks Preservation Commission's designation report flagged as a defining feature of the building's Modern style.
The address is, above all, about location. Madison Avenue in the low 70s is the spine of the Upper East Side's gallery and luxury-retail district — the blocks where the avenue's flagship boutiques and art dealers meet the residential side streets of Lenox Hill. A residence here puts a buyer at the center of the Madison shopping corridor, two blocks from Central Park to the west and a short walk from the Frick and the Fifth Avenue museum cluster.
At roughly 102 apartments across 16 stories, 926 Madison is a mid-scale cooperative — large enough to support full doorman staffing and a steady transaction cadence, small enough to keep a defined building character. The ground-floor retail frontage is characteristic of the avenue, where Madison's commercial economy occupies the base and the apartments begin above.
For buyers, the appeal is a postwar full-service co-op in the heart of the Madison corridor, typically more accessible per square foot than the pre-war Fifth and Park Avenue tier a few blocks west, with the convenience of the avenue's retail and the crosstown reach of the 70s.
Architecture and unit composition
The roughly 102 apartments span the 16 stories in configurations from one-bedrooms to larger family layouts, consistent with a postwar building of this scale. Apartments of 1947 vintage typically carry somewhat lower ceiling heights than the 1920s luxury norm — generally in the 8.5-to-9.5-foot range — with more efficient floor plans than the service-wing-heavy pre-war buildings to the west.
The Madison-facing flank looks across the avenue's retail corridor; cross-street and rear exposures deliver the quieter outlooks. As at most avenue-fronting Upper East Side buildings, higher floors carry the open-sky and partial-view premium. The Modern lobby and the beveled corner give the building a more streamlined presence than its pre-war neighbors.
Building operations
926 Madison operates as a full-service cooperative with full-time doorman coverage, elevator service, an on-site superintendent, and central laundry. The ground-floor retail space is a structural feature of the building's economics, as it is for most residential buildings on the Madison spine — and any storefront alteration runs through Landmarks Preservation Commission review given the building's place in the Upper East Side Historic District.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $20,154/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $16
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
Sales context at 926 Madison:
- Turnover is steady given the ~102-unit scale — typically a handful of closings per year across the cooperative.
- Pricing spans the configuration range, with one-bedrooms at the accessible end and larger and combined family apartments at the upper end; per-square-foot pricing generally sits below the pre-war Fifth and Park Avenue tier a few blocks west.
What to know if you’re buying
The Madison corridor location is the central asset. Few addresses sit more squarely in the gallery-and-retail heart of the Upper East Side. Confirm which exposures face the avenue versus the quieter cross-street and rear.
The postwar vintage is structural. Layouts, ceiling heights, and mechanical systems reflect 1947-era design — more efficient and lower-ornament than the pre-war buildings nearby, and a different value proposition.
Pricing is typically more accessible than the pre-war Fifth/Park tier. Buyers who want the location without the pre-war premium often find the postwar co-op format compelling.
Board approval follows full-service Upper East Side co-op norms. Strong financials, clean post-closing liquidity, and primary-residence intent are typically central.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with location. The Madison gallery-corridor address and full-service postwar format are the marketing core; copy should foreground the walkability and convenience the corridor delivers.
Pricing requires apartment-level comparable analysis. Floor altitude, exposure (avenue versus quiet), configuration, and renovation history all move value materially across a 102-unit building.
Closing timelines are co-op standard. Generally 6–10 weeks from contract signing to closing, subject to board package and interview pacing.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 926 Madison Avenue, also evaluate:
- 955 Madison Avenue — postwar Madison-corridor co-op nearby
- 1178 Madison Avenue — pre-war Madison-corridor co-op to the north
- 1217 Madison Avenue — pre-war Carnegie Hill Madison co-op
- 976 Lexington Avenue — postwar full-service East Side co-op
- 1091 Lexington Avenue — postwar full-service East Side co-op
The Roebling Team at 926 Madison Avenue
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper East Side, Madison and Fifth Avenue, Central Park West, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this profile because Madison-corridor buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architecture, board culture, transactional mechanics, and pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 926 Madison, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Get the full picture on this building.
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