- Year built
- 1929
- Type
- Condop
- Units
- 700
- Floors
- 19
- Landmark
- No
- Pets
- Pets permitted
- Subletting
- Permitted after two years of ownership, one year at a time, with a sublet fee; no short-term rentals
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
- Financing
- Up to 80% permitted (minimum 20% down); guarantors allowed; flip tax on sale
Every recorded sale at this building, 2003–2026
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 1BR median
- $993K
- Recent range
- $435K – $3.9M
- Listing discount
- 3.5%
- Recorded transfers
- 616
London Terrace is one of the great set-pieces of New York apartment history. When developer Henry Mandel assembled the full block between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, from West 23rd to West 24th Street — land that had belonged to Clement Clarke Moore, author of A Visit from St. Nicholas — he built, between 1929 and 1931, a complex of fourteen buildings containing well over 1,600 apartments. It was among the largest apartment developments in the world at completion: a self-contained "city within a city" with its own shops, restaurants, messenger service, and internal telephone system. Its most enduring flourish was theatrical — the doormen were dressed as London "bobbies," a pun on the name that gave the complex a civic personality from the day it opened.
The complex has always had two parts, and the distinction is essential for a buyer. The four corner towers — the taller, nineteen-story buildings at the four corners of the block — are London Terrace Towers, the for-sale ownership building and the subject of this profile. The ten interior mid-block buildings are London Terrace Gardens, a separate rental. The two have been under separate ownership since 1948, and the corner towers converted to ownership in 1986. When people speak of "buying at London Terrace," they almost always mean the corner towers.
The architectural posture is prewar monumentality. Farrar & Watmough designed the complex in buff brick with Romanesque and Art Deco detailing, deep setbacks, and ornamented tower crowns — a clifflike, full-block mass built in the last era before the Multiple Dwelling Law reshaped how large New York apartment buildings could be configured. Inside the block sits a private landscaped garden; above it, the rooftop London Terrace Club, with its block-spanning pool and river-view sun deck, remains one of the most distinctive amenity packages of any prewar building in the city.
Architecture and unit composition
The four corner towers rise nineteen stories in buff brick, with terracotta and Romanesque ornament, prominent setbacks, and decorated crowns that read across the Chelsea skyline. Built as a courtyard complex around a block-long interior garden, the towers were among the last large New York apartment buildings constructed before the Multiple Dwelling Law of 1929 changed the rules for such projects.
The cooperative spans roughly 700 residences across the four towers — on the order of 178 per tower — ranging from studios through larger combined homes. Layouts reflect the building's prewar bones: solid masonry walls, generous proportions in the larger lines, and the room counts that define value in a co-op of this vintage. Because the building is large and the lines vary substantially tower to tower, room count, exposure, and floor are the variables that drive pricing.
Building operations
London Terrace Towers operates as a full-service prewar cooperative. Each of the four towers has a 24-hour attended lobby and doorman staff, and the complex maintains a live-in superintendent. The signature amenity is the rooftop London Terrace Club: a swimming pool roughly 75 by 35 feet, the largest in Manhattan when it was built, with sauna and steam rooms; a health club and gym; and a roof garden and sun deck with Hudson River views, open seasonally. The complex also offers the block-long private interior garden, storage, bicycle rooms, and laundry. Certain club amenities carry resident membership or guest fees.
The building's policies are those of a traditional prewar co-op. Financing is permitted up to 80% (minimum 20% down), guarantors are allowed, and a flip tax applies on sale. Subletting is permitted after two years of ownership, one year at a time and subject to a sublet fee, with no short-term rentals. Pets are permitted and pied-à-terre ownership is allowed, subject to building rules. A board-approval process governs purchases. Note the structural nuance flagged at the top of this page: city records carry the towers under a condominium designation, while the building operates as a cooperative — a pattern consistent with a condop structure. The precise legal form, along with current house rules, financing terms, and the maintenance and capital posture, should be confirmed against the offering plan and the managing agent at offer stage.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- Per unit / month range
- —
Facade safety — Local Law 11
The latest available FISP filing classified the facade as Safe — no repairs were required at that inspection. Facade inspections run on a fixed five-year cycle; future inspection, repair, and any assessment decisions remain building-specific.
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
London Terrace Towers trades as a prized prewar Chelsea ownership building. Its appeal is the combination of monumental prewar architecture, full-service doorman operation, the block-long private garden, and the rooftop pool-and-club amenity that almost no prewar building can match. The cooperative spans a wide range of homes, from studios to combined apartments, so pricing is best read on a per-room basis and at the specific line and exposure. The complex has a long and well-documented residential history, including figures covered in the press in connection with London Terrace. Comparable analysis should be anchored to the building's own transaction history rather than neighborhood averages. Unit-level transaction history is maintained in The Roebling Research Library and shared with clients during diligence.
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 18, 2026 | 4E | 1 BR · 1 BA · 865 sf | $1,100,000 | $1,272/sf | -4.3% |
| Jun 4, 2026 | 2C | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,385,000 | -1.1% | |
| May 27, 2026 | 19D | 3 BR · 2 BA · 1,600 sf | $3,308,692 | $2,068/sf | -1.2% |
| May 4, 2026 | 19C | 1 BA | $675,000 | -2.9% | |
| Apr 27, 2026 | 5H | 1 BR · 1 BA · 500 sf | $895,000 | $1,790/sf | +0.0% |
| Mar 25, 2026 | 11L | 2 BR · 1 BA | $1,300,000 | -13.0% | |
| Mar 24, 2026 | 4J | 2 BR · 2 BA | $1,555,000 | -8.3% | |
| Mar 9, 2026 | 4L | 1 BR · 1 BA · 600 sf | $790,000 | $1,317/sf | -8.7% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $1,383/sf across 5 sales. Median listing discount 1.8% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.
Other recent transfers
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 30, 2011 | 7F | $462,000 |
| Feb 1, 2006 | 15C | $450,000 |
| Oct 6, 2005 | 17C | $595,000 |
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 1-00721-7501) 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
Know which London Terrace you are buying. Only the four corner towers — London Terrace Towers — are for sale. The interior mid-block buildings (London Terrace Gardens) are a separate rental. Confirm that any unit under consideration is in the cooperative corner towers.
Confirm the legal structure in diligence. City records and market practice describe the ownership differently — a likely condop. The distinction affects financing, taxes, and transfer mechanics. Confirm the precise structure against the offering plan and counsel before you commit.
Price on rooms, and on the line. In a large prewar co-op, room count, exposure, floor, and which tower drive value. Use the building's own history, not a neighborhood average, to position an offer.
Understand the co-op rules. Board approval applies; subletting is restricted to after two years of ownership; a flip tax applies on resale; financing is capped at 80%. These shape both your purchase and your eventual exit.
Value the amenity package. The rooftop London Terrace Club — pool, gym, river-view sun deck — and the block-long garden are rare for a prewar building and central to the building's appeal. Tour them.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with the prewar story and the club. The Mandel-era "city within a city" history, the full-block architecture, the private garden, and the rooftop pool and sun deck are the differentiators — and they are difficult to replicate anywhere in Chelsea.
Price on a per-room basis. Comparable sales should be drawn from the building's own history and matched on line, exposure, floor, and tower — not from condominium price-per-foot benchmarks.
Prepare buyers for the co-op process. Board approval, the financing cap, the sublet restriction, and the flip tax should be communicated early so the right buyer is prepared for the cooperative's framework.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering London Terrace Towers, also evaluate:
- 252 Seventh Avenue (The Chelsea Mercantile) — large full-service Chelsea condominium conversion
- 121 West 19th Street — Chelsea condominium
- 130 West 19th Street — a 2005 full-service Chelsea condominium
- 250 West 27th Street — Chelsea loft condominium
- 420 West 25th Street — prewar Chelsea loft conversion near the gallery district
- 315 West 23rd Street — full-service Chelsea building on the same corridor
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Chelsea — read The Roebling Team Guide to Chelsea.
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 London Terrace Towers?
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 London Terrace Towers 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.