- Year built
- 1940
- Financing
- 33⅓% maximum
- Flip tax
- 3%, buyer-paid
930 Fifth Avenue is Emery Roth's transitional 1940 building — the moment Paul Goldberger, in his 1978 New York Times Roth retrospective, identified as the architect's pivot from "historicist to modern Art Deco" alongside Roth's 875 Fifth. The building was developed by the Uris Brothers — Percy and Harold D. Uris — whose broader 20th-century residential portfolio places 930 Fifth, alongside 2 Sutton Place and 880 Fifth Avenue, "among the city's best residential addresses today," per a 1981 New York Times feature on Harold Uris's residential corpus.
The structural identity rests on three features. First, the transitional Roth architectural composition — Greek volutes, a bracketed loggia, balustrades, pilasters, broken pediments, and cherubs' faces in a "restrained Italian Renaissance" idiom that Goldberger described as showing "a gradual disappearance of the old ornament." Second, the Conservatory Water exposure — the building faces directly onto Central Park's Sail Boat Pond, one of the most-photographed exposures on the avenue. Third, the cultural resident roster — Woody Allen's duplex penthouse (sold for $14 million in 1999 per the New York Observer), Cornelius Vander Starr (the AIG founder), Patrick Dennis (the author of Auntie Mame), Risë Stevens (Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano), and Nancy Hanks (NEA Chair under Nixon).
Architecture and unit composition
The site previously held three Gilded Age mansions: Gordon S. Rentschler (the Citibank chair), Jacob Schiff's son-in-law's family, and Simeon B. Chapin — purchased and razed by the Uris brothers (New York Times, "3 More Mansions on Fifth Ave to Go," August 14, 1939).
Paul Goldberger, in his 1978 Times retrospective on Roth, identified 930 Fifth — alongside 875 Fifth — as the Roth firm's transitional moment from "historicist to modern Art Deco." Goldberger wrote that "buildings such as 930 Fifth Avenue and 875 Fifth Avenue of 1940 show a gradual disappearance of the old ornament." The facade carries Greek volutes, a bracketed loggia, balustrades, pilasters, broken pediments, and cherubs' faces. Entrance is on East 74th Street.
A 1981 New York Times feature on Harold Uris's residential corpus called 930 Fifth, 2 Sutton Place, and 880 Fifth Avenue "among the city's best residential addresses today." The 19-story building (210.44 feet tall) carries 139 apartments and operates under the corporate entity Fifth Avenue Apartments, Inc.
Carter Horsley describes the building's facade composition as "a restrained Italian Renaissance style." The exterior identity — limestone base, brick-clad upper floors, classicizing-modern ornament — places 930 Fifth at the seam of pre-war Roth and the postwar Roth & Sons transition.
Building operations
930 Fifth operates as a full-service Upper East Side cooperative with the following operational baseline:
- Full-time doorman
- Elevator operators
- Live-in resident manager
- Fitness center
- Bicycle room
- Private storage
- Managed by Douglas Elliman Property Management
The 139-unit scale supports a substantial operational baseline relative to the smaller boutique Fifth Avenue cooperatives north of 79th Street.
Recent sales
Active 2024-2025 listings include unit 11A at $5,250,000 (William Raveis). Median trades in the low-to-mid single-digit millions for non-trophy units. Apartment-level closing detail should be sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers for full transactional context.
What to know if you’re buying
The Goldberger transitional reading is structurally distinguishing. 930 Fifth and 875 Fifth are the two Roth buildings cited as the architect's pivot from historicist to modern Art Deco — real architectural-history institutional context.
The Conservatory Water / Sail Boat Pond exposure is structural. The building faces directly onto one of the most-photographed Central Park exposures on Fifth Avenue.
The 33⅓% financing maximum is among the more restrictive on Fifth Avenue. Plan for substantial down payment; verify post-closing liquidity expectations at application.
The no-pets policy is structural. Verify intent at the application stage; the board enforces this consistently.
The permitted-pied-à-terre policy is structurally distinguishing for a 33⅓% financing Fifth Avenue coop. Plan flexible use cases accordingly.
The cultural resident overlay — Woody Allen, Cornelius Vander Starr, Patrick Dennis, Risë Stevens — supports the building's institutional Fifth Avenue identity.
Closing timelines are cooperative-standard. Plan for 6 to 10 weeks from contract through board approval to closing.
What to know if you’re selling
Marketing should emphasize the Roth transitional architectural composition, the Goldberger framing, and the Conservatory Water exposure. All three are real structural advantages over peer Fifth Avenue cooperative inventory.
The Uris Brothers developer pedigree is real institutional context. The 1981 New York Times feature on Uris's residential corpus placed 930 Fifth among "the city's best residential addresses."
The cultural resident overlay supports premium positioning. Reference where appropriate.
The permitted-pied-à-terre policy expands the buyer pool. Position accordingly.
Pricing should reference current 11A asking and median Fifth Avenue cooperative comparables. Apartment-line-specific data should anchor positioning.
Closing timelines are cooperative-standard.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 930 Fifth Avenue, also evaluate:
- 875 Fifth Avenue — Emery Roth 1940; same-architect transitional Roth peer
- 950 Fifth Avenue — Fifth Avenue peer
- 960 Fifth Avenue — Fifth Avenue peer
- 944 Fifth Avenue — Fifth Avenue peer
- 920 Fifth Avenue — Carpenter 1922; nearby Fifth Avenue peer
The Roebling Team at 930 Fifth Avenue
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 Fifth Avenue cooperative buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architectural attribution, board posture, transactional mechanics, and pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 930 Fifth, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Corey Cohen · The Roebling Team at Compass 646.939.7375 · c.cohen@compass.com
Sources: CityRealty (Carter Horsley review); Wikipedia (930 Fifth Avenue); Corcoran building page; Douglas Elliman Property Management building page; New York Times, "3 More Mansions on Fifth Ave to Go," August 14, 1939 (Uris assemblage); Paul Goldberger, New York Times Roth retrospective, 1978 (transitional reading); New York Times, 1981 Harold Uris residential-corpus feature; New York Observer, July 25, 1999 (Woody Allen sale); New York Post, October 6, 2021 (Ira Millstein listing); NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers.