The Belnord (225 West 86th Street)
225 West 86th Street, New York, NY 10024
- Type
- Condominium
- Units
- 95
- Floors
- 13
- Landmark
- Designated
- Pets
- Pet-friendly
Every recorded sale at this building, 2018–2026
Price-per-square-foot over time, the line- and floor-premium curves, and every recorded sale.
- Median $/sf
- $2,074
- Listing discount
- 8.1%
- Recorded sales
- 127
- On record
- 2018–2026
The Belnord at 225 West 86th Street is one of the most architecturally consequential surviving courtyard apartment buildings in New York City. Constructed in 1908–1909 by H. Hobart Weekes of the firm Hiss & Weekes — at an original cost of $1.8 million (approximately $64 million in 2025 dollars) — the full-block building was, at completion, characterized as the largest apartment building in the United States. The 22,000-square-foot interior courtyard, approximately 231 feet long by 94 to 98 feet wide, was reportedly the largest interior court in the world at the building's completion.
The Belnord's architectural lineage situates it among the consequential pre-war courtyard apartment buildings of New York: the Dakota (1 West 72nd Street, Henry Hardenbergh 1884), the Apthorp (390 West End Avenue, Clinton & Russell 1908), Graham Court (1923 Seventh Avenue, Clinton & Russell 1901), and the Belnord itself. Of these, the Belnord remains among the most architecturally distinct — the only one of the four with a courtyard at the full 22,000-square-foot scale, the only one designed by Hiss & Weekes, and the building whose Italian Renaissance Revival exterior produced one of the most coherent architectural compositions on the early-20th-century Upper West Side. The building was designated a New York City Individual Landmark in 1966 — the first designated landmark building on the Upper West Side — and was subsequently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The building's twentieth-century rental tenancy produced a literary and cultural register among the deepest in Manhattan apartment history. Isaac Bashevis Singer — Nobel laureate in Literature (1978) — lived in the building and was famously known for jogging laps around the courtyard in a three-piece suit. Lee Strasberg, the founder of method acting, lived in the building during the 1950s; Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Marlon Brando visited him at the Belnord during that period. Zero Mostel lived in the building (and was famously struck by the 86th Street crosstown bus in January 1960 in front of the building). Walter Matthau and Art D'Lugoff (founder of the Village Gate jazz club) also lived in the building during the rental era.
The condominium conversion was sponsored by HFZ Capital Group (Ziel Feldman), which acquired the building from Extell Development in 2015 for $575 million. Robert A.M. Stern Architects led the conversion design, with the projected sellout approved by the New York Attorney General at approximately $1.35 billion. Sales launched in 2018; the conversion produced 95 condominium residences (2-bedroom through 5-bedroom configurations) while preserving the historic exterior, the courtyard, and a balance of remaining rent-stabilized rental units within the broader building envelope.
The building's contemporary cultural footprint extends beyond residential. The Belnord serves as the exterior for "The Arconia" in Hulu's Only Murders in the Building (the interior scenes are filmed on a soundstage); the exterior shots of The Arconia are immediately recognizable as the Belnord's West 86th Street facade and courtyard arches.
For buyers, The Belnord represents a particular position in the Upper West Side trophy market: 1908 Hiss & Weekes architectural pedigree, the structural distinction of the surviving courtyard, RAMSA conversion to contemporary luxury standards, the Upper West Side Broadway-corridor position, and the deep cultural register that the building's literary and theatrical history has produced.
Architecture and unit composition
The 95 condominium residences distribute across the building's 13 stories in configurations from 2-bedroom through 5-bedroom apartments. RAMSA's interior architectural vocabulary — calibrated to the building's pre-war fabric and to Stern's broader body of pre-war-influenced contemporary residential work — produces interiors that reference the original 1908 architectural detailing while delivering contemporary luxury finish specifications.
The 22,000-square-foot interior courtyard garden remains the building's defining outdoor amenity and its primary architectural identity feature.
Building operations
The Belnord operates as a full-service condominium under the managing agent. "The Belnord Club" — approximately 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities — includes two concierges, valet parking, cold storage, private dining room, fitness center, teen lounge with pool table, yoga room, children's playroom, laundry room, and the central courtyard garden. The amenity program is among the more substantial in the Upper West Side trophy historic-conversion tier.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $0 (under cap)
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $200,257/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $0 – $81
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
Recent closings 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 2026 | 317 | 3 BR · 3.5 BA · 2,220 sf | $5,650,000 | $2,545/sf | -2.2% |
| May 21, 2026 | PHQ | 1 BA · 464 sf | $900,000 | $1,940/sf | -36.2% |
| Mar 24, 2026 | PHS | 1 BR · 1 BA · 646 sf Closed Mar 6, 2026 at $930K (recorded transfer). Penthouse-S storage/staff configuration. | $930,000 | $1,440/sf | off-mkt |
| Feb 19, 2026 | 604 | 7 BR · 4.5 BA · 3,000 sf Closed Feb 11, 2026 at $5,770,912 (recorded transfer; no public public listing data listing on record at this closing — likely off-market or sponsor stipulated value). 6th floor 6-line in the building's mid-tier inventory. | $5,770,912 | $1,924/sf | -26.4% |
| Feb 19, 2026 | 303 | 4 BR · 4.5 BA · 3,134 sf Closed Jan 30, 2026 at $6,916,325 (recorded transfer; no public public listing data listing on record). 3rd floor 3-line — the same building's #303 (sqft 3,134, 4BR/4.5BA, interior courtyard exposure) configuration that has historically anchored the lower-floor 3-line tier. | $6,916,325 | $2,207/sf | -15.1% |
| Jan 30, 2026 | 1009 | 3 BR · 3 BA · 2,169 sf Closed Jan 27, 2026 at $4.9M — 5.77% under the $5.2M asking. 1009 — 3BR at 2,169 sqft = ~$2,259/sqft. | $4,900,000 | $2,259/sf | -5.8% |
| Aug 14, 2025 | 708 | 2,256 sf Closed Aug 7, 2025 at $3,698,306 (recorded transfer). | $3,698,306 | $1,639/sf | off-mkt |
| Aug 19, 2025 | 810 | 4 BR · 4+ BA · 2,829 sf Closed Aug 5, 2025 at $7.25M — 3.33% under the $7.5M asking. 810 — 4BR at 2,829 sqft = ~$2,563/sqft. | $7,250,000 | $2,563/sf | -3.3% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2026) cleared a median $2,074/sf across 6 sales. Median listing discount 8.1% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 11, 2019 | 315 | $2,741,445 |
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 1-01234-0101) 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 from recorded condo declarations and offering plans.
What to know if you’re buying
The architectural pedigree is structurally distinguishing. Hiss & Weekes 1908; one of New York City's defining courtyard apartment buildings; NYC Individual Landmark.
The 22,000-square-foot courtyard is the building's structural identity. The full-block courtyard, the West 86th Street arches, and the historic facade are protected by the landmark designation.
The RAMSA conversion is high-quality. Stern's architectural vocabulary at the Belnord is consistent with the firm's broader pre-war-influenced contemporary residential body of work.
The condominium ownership form is structural. Right-of-first-refusal mechanism; 30–45 day pacing; condominium financial flexibility.
Mixed-tenancy character. The building includes both condominium residences and a balance of remaining rent-stabilized rental units; the structural relationship between the two populations should be understood by purchasers.
What to know if you’re selling
Marketing should emphasize the architectural pedigree and the courtyard identity. Hiss & Weekes 1908, the surviving courtyard, the RAMSA conversion, the literary register, and the Only Murders in the Building cultural footprint are the structural marketing arguments.
Pricing requires apartment-level comparable analysis. The variation between courtyard-facing units and street-facing units, between standard-floor configurations and the higher-floor units, produces meaningful pricing variation.
Closing timelines are condominium-fast. 30–45 days.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The Belnord, also evaluate:
- The Apthorp (390 West End Avenue) — Clinton & Russell 1908; courtyard apartment peer
- The Dakota (1 West 72nd Street) — Hardenbergh 1884; pre-war courtyard cooperative peer
- The San Remo (145 Central Park West) — Roth 1930; Central Park West pre-war trophy peer
- The Beresford (211 Central Park West) — Roth 1929; Central Park West pre-war trophy peer
- 15 Central Park West — Stern 2008; uptown new-construction Stern peer
- 220 Central Park South — Stern 2018; uptown new-construction Stern peer
The Roebling Team at The Belnord
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Upper West Side trophy corridor as part of our broader Park-facing Manhattan practice. We publish this building profile because Belnord buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architectural attribution, board context, apartment-line comparable analysis — not generic neighborhood commentary.
The neighborhood
For the full corridor — architecture, schools, transit, and pricing across Upper West Side — read The Roebling Team Guide to Upper West Side.
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