- Year built
- 1917
- Type
- Cooperative
- Landmark
- No
927 Fifth Avenue is one of the Avenue's most exclusive small cooperatives — a 1917 Warren & Wetmore limestone palazzo of just twelve residences, one full floor each, directly facing Central Park and the Conservatory Water. The architects are the same office that gave New York Grand Central Terminal, and the building carries that pedigree in its proportions and detailing: a restrained, Renaissance Revival façade designed to belong permanently to the most prestigious residential corridor in the country.
Scarcity defines it. With one apartment per floor across twelve stories, 927 is among the most intimate buildings on Fifth Avenue, and its homes are full-floor residences with the grand entertaining scale that the corridor's most demanding buyers require. The roster of past owners reflects the building's standing — figures from fashion, jewelry, and entertainment have made their homes here — and the building entered the city's wider consciousness as the longtime nesting site of Pale Male, the red-tailed hawk whose ornamental ledge above the upper floors became a New York landmark of its own.
The location is as good as the Avenue offers: directly on Central Park opposite the Conservatory Water, a short walk from the Frick, the Met, and Madison Avenue's flagship retail, with the 6 train at 77th Street and the Q at 72nd within easy reach. This is trophy Fifth Avenue living in its most concentrated form.
Architecture and unit composition
Warren & Wetmore designed 927 Fifth Avenue as a limestone palazzo in the Renaissance Revival manner — disciplined, symmetrical, and built to age into the Avenue rather than to stand apart from it. The façade's quiet authority is the point: this is a building whose distinction is read by the knowledgeable rather than broadcast to the street.
The interiors are the rarest part of the proposition. Each of the twelve residences occupies a full floor, with the gracious foyers, enfilade entertaining rooms, high ceilings, and separated service wings that the era and the buyer demanded. Layouts run to large multi-bedroom homes built for formal living, and the building's full-floor configuration means private elevator-landing arrival and complete privacy on every level. Renovation levels vary, but the underlying architecture — proportion, light, and ceiling height — is consistent throughout.
Building operations
927 Fifth Avenue runs a white-glove operation appropriate to its standing: a full-time doorman, elevator operators, and a tightly held set of building amenities including a fitness facility, a wine cellar, and storage. For a twelve-unit building, the staffing and service ratio is exceptional, reserved for a dozen households.
The building's rules reflect its top-of-market positioning, and buyers should understand them as facts going in. 927 Fifth Avenue is an all-cash cooperative — financing is not permitted, so purchases must be made without a mortgage. The building is not pet-friendly. Purchases require board approval, a comprehensive financial and personal package, and an in-person interview, and the board operates at the most exacting end of the Fifth Avenue spectrum, with a primary-residence orientation. Monthly maintenance covers the building's underlying mortgage, real-estate taxes, staff, heat, and reserves. We help qualified buyers understand exactly what the board expects before they engage.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $10,563/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $73
Facade safety — Local Law 11
Safe to live in today — but the last inspection flagged repairs that are due on a deadline, so facade work and its cost are coming. Whether that’s a real concern depends on the scope, the timing, and how the building plans to pay for it — reserves or an assessment — which is exactly what we’d dig into 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 →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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 11, 2024 | 9 | 6 BR · 5 BA · 5,740 sf | $24,500,000 | $4,268/sf | -5.6% |
| Sep 21, 2011 | 11 | 5 BR | $34,602,000 | +9.8% | |
| Dec 22, 2010 | 11 | 4 BR | $29,101,891 | +11.9% | |
| May 26, 2005 | 8 | 3 BR · 5,740 sf | $18,000,000 | $3,136/sf | -2.7% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2024) cleared a median $4,268/sf across 1 sale. Median listing discount -9.8% over ask.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2013 | 1S | $3,250,000 |
| Dec 12, 2012 | 5 | $26,000,000 |
| Apr 9, 2012 | 1N | $7,700,000 |
| May 25, 2005 | S1S | $2,500,000 |
Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01388-0068) 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 buying
Buying here is an all-cash, top-of-market Fifth Avenue transaction with one of the most rigorous boards in the city. There is no financing path, so liquidity must be demonstrable; the package and interview will be exacting; and the building expects primary-residence buyers who will treat a full floor on the Park as a long-term home. The reward is the rarest kind of inventory in Manhattan: a full-floor residence in a twelve-unit Warren & Wetmore building facing Central Park. Availability is exceedingly scarce, so the right buyer should be fully prepared — financially and personally — before an apartment ever lists. We guide qualified buyers through positioning, valuation, and the board.
What to know if you’re selling
A sale here is among the most rarefied in the city, and it is sold on irreplaceable attributes: a Warren & Wetmore pedigree, a full-floor footprint, a direct Central Park frontage, and the scarcity of a twelve-unit building. The buyer pool is small, all-cash, and discerning, and the marketing is a matter of reaching the right households quietly rather than broadly. We benchmark to the narrow trophy comparable set, present the residence to qualified buyers with discretion, and prepare the seller for a board that vets every purchaser thoroughly.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 927 Fifth Avenue, also evaluate these nearby Fifth Avenue cooperatives:
- 907 Fifth Avenue — McKim-era full-service Fifth Avenue cooperative to the south
- 920 Fifth Avenue — pre-war Park-front cooperative nearby
- 930 Fifth Avenue — full-service Fifth Avenue co-op a block north
- 944 Fifth Avenue — intimate Park-front cooperative
- 960 Fifth Avenue — one of the Avenue's most prestigious pre-war buildings
The Roebling Team at 927 Fifth Avenue
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Fifth Avenue, Central Park frontage, and the most exclusive tier of the cooperative market. We publish this profile because the rare buyer or seller engaging with a building like 927 Fifth Avenue deserves building-specific intelligence — the all-cash structure, the board's expectations, the value of a full floor on the Park, and where pricing sits against the narrow comparable set. If you're considering a transaction here, a discreet 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Get the full picture on this building.
Current availability including off-market, the full comp set, and the board & financials read most listings don't show.