The Beresford

Emery Roth's Beresford design extended the twin-tower vocabulary he had established the same year at The San Remo into a three-tower configuration unique among Manhattan luxury apartment houses. The 22-story building occupies the full block face along Central Park West between 81st and 82nd Streets, with three octagonal towers rising from the corner positions — the northeast, southeast, and southwest corners — each capped by a copper-clad lantern that crowns the building's silhouette.

The three-tower configuration was a structural design choice calibrated to the building's specific site. Where The San Remo's two-tower configuration capitalized on the full blockfront and the lot's substantial depth (allowing towers at the northern and southern corners of a single avenue frontage), The Beresford's site at the corner of 81st Street offered exposure on three sides — Central Park West, 81st Street, and 82nd Street — which Roth's design exploits with the three-tower placement. The fourth corner (the building's northwest corner, on the interior of the block) is the only corner without a tower.

The building's exterior register is Italian Renaissance with substantial Northern European Gothic elements — a vocabulary characteristic of Roth's prewar luxury work. The substantial limestone-and-brick exterior, the decorative cornice work, the deeply set windows, and the building's massing produce a register that anchors the broader Roth Central Park West tradition.

Compare actual measured floor plans; the profile does not establish the largest floor plates among prewar buildings on CPW north of 79th. Apartments range from compact one-bedrooms (typically the smaller north-facing or rear units, in the 800–1,200 sf range) up to full-floor configurations exceeding 5,000 sf. The most prized units in the building are the corner Park-facing apartments at the southeast and northeast — full Park views with cross-light from side streets — and the various tower units, which offer 360-degree views from the building's highest floors.

Pre-war signatures throughout: high ceilings (10–13 feet in primary rooms), formal entry galleries, hardwood floors, original moldings and architectural detail. Original ceiling heights are approximately nine to eleven feet; apartment layouts include the entry foyer, separate dining room, library, and primary bedroom suite configurations that defined Roth's prewar luxury work. The most-significant apartments — the tower-floor units with three-exposure-or-more sight lines and the substantial corner configurations — include direct sight lines into Central Park, the American Museum of Natural History, and the broader Upper West Side cultural-and-residential infrastructure. Most units have been renovated at least once in the past 30 years; renovation quality varies meaningfully unit to unit, and a buyer's diligence should evaluate the apartment's specific finish quality.

The building is co-op, so financing is constrained: typical building cap is 70% LTV; some apartments may be subject to lower caps depending on the unit's history. Post-close liquidity expectations are significant; the building's board is among the more conservative on CPW.

The Beresford operates as a full-service cooperative with the institutional amenity package consistent with its architectural and cooperative tier — 24-hour doorman, concierge, full-time superintendent, full-service residential management. The building's substantial size (approximately 175 apartments across the podium and towers; city tax records list 183 residential units) supports a comprehensive operational infrastructure.

Application review at The Beresford applies the cooperative's financial and personal criteria; confirm the board's current financing, liquidity, occupancy and subletting requirements from its governing documents and application instructions.

Building policies on financing percentages, subletting, pied-à-terre use, alteration agreements, and pet permissions should be confirmed directly with the managing agent during due diligence. The building's financial profile — the underlying mortgage structure, the reserve position, recent assessment history, and the building's Local Law 97 planning — should be examined at the application stage.

Recent sales

Recent transfers at this building, from The Roebling Research Library. Prices are the transfer amounts recorded with the NYC Department of Finance; apartment-level detail is checked against the building’s own file in The Roebling Research Library before publishing.

Market read. Most recent trades (2026 to date) cleared a median $2,396/sf (floor-adjusted) across 2 sales. Floor-adjusted means each sale is restated to a constant mix of floors, so the figure can differ from the plain median of the sales listed above. Median listing discount 4.8% from the last ask — a recurring negotiation gap worth pricing into any offer or listing strategy.

Sales sourced from NYC Department of Finance recorded transfers (BBL 1-01195-0029). Apartment-level facts (line, condition, asking-price context) curated and cross-verified in The Roebling Research Library. 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.

The architectural distinction is the structural feature. The Beresford's combination of Emery Roth's three-tower design — unique among Manhattan luxury apartment houses — the building's substantial Central Park West frontage, and the direct American Museum of Natural History adjacency together constitute the building's structural premium.

Board approval is a serious filter. The package requires substantial reference letters and detailed documentation of source of funds, and buyers should expect substantive board review of the application. Subletting and pied-à-terre use are permitted with conditions. Confirm the building's current financing, liquidity, ownership, occupancy and subletting requirements from its governing documents and application instructions.

Pied-à-terre approval is uncommon. The board generally prefers primary-residence buyers. Pied-à-terre cases are evaluated individually and approval is not the default outcome.

The apartment inventory is heterogeneous. Podium apartments and tower apartments operate on substantially different pricing logics; tower penthouses with direct Park views and exposure on multiple sides command the building's most substantial premiums. Pricing requires apartment-specific comparable analysis at the apartment-line level.

Review the current financial and capital position. Obtain audited statements, reserve balances, engineering reports, the Local Law 97 plan and assessment notices. Compare maintenance with specific peers on a consistent basis; the building’s reputation does not establish strong reserves, funded compliance work or protection from future assessments.

Renovation requires care. Original architectural detail and the building's landmark status mean alteration applications are scrutinized. Buyers planning substantial renovation should review the alteration agreement before contract and engage an architect familiar with Beresford alteration approvals.

Views depend on the apartment. Central Park is on the eastern flank; West 81st and West 82nd are residential streets. Views vary by floor, position and exposure, and no view is protected without a recorded instrument.

Financing rules and post-closing liquidity requirements are calibrated to the building's cooperative culture. Both should be confirmed with the managing agent before structuring the offer.

Subletting and pied-à-terre policies are restricted. The building operates as a community of resident shareholders; buyers whose use case is not aligned with primary-residence intent should consider alternative buildings or building categories.

Confirm specifics directly with management. Pet policy, alteration-agreement scope, working-capital contribution, flip-tax structure, and recent capital-assessment history should all be confirmed against the offering plan and current board policies during due diligence.

Marketing should emphasize the architectural and resident-history pedigree. Emery Roth's three-tower design, the building's American Museum of Natural History adjacency, the resident demographic, and the apartment's specific position within the building's inventory. Apartment-specific marketing should foreground the floor, exposure, view, configuration, condition, and (for tower apartments) the multi-exposure characteristics that distinguish the unit.

Pricing is tier-one within CPW. Sellers should expect the apartment to compete primarily with the San Remo, the Eldorado, the Majestic, and (for non-co-op alternatives) 15 CPW. Pricing strategy benefits from the building's name recognition; broker selection benefits from CPW-specialist familiarity with the board's approvability profile.

Pricing requires apartment-level comparable analysis. Unit-to-unit variation between podium, tower, corner, and other configurations is substantial; recent comparables on the specific apartment line, exposure, and configuration should anchor the marketing approach.

The qualified buyer pool is narrower. The board's financial and application requirements limit who qualifies; confirm the building's current financing, ownership and occupancy requirements before marketing. This narrows the marketing audience but increases the conviction of qualified offers.

Mansion tax cliff effects routinely matter. Beresford apartments commonly transact above the $5M threshold and not infrequently above $10M. Run pricing through the Mansion Tax Calculator to model cliff effects before pricing.

Board approvability is the second pricing dimension. Marketing should calibrate the buyer evaluation in tandem with the price discussion to avoid extended marketing time on offers that cannot close.

Closing timelines are co-op standard. Expect 4–8 weeks from contract signing to closing, including board package preparation, board interview scheduling, and post-approval administrative steps.

If you're considering The Beresford, also evaluate:

• The San Remo (145 CPW) — twin-tower Roth landmark, similar tier, slightly different aesthetic
• The Eldorado (300 CPW) — Art Deco twin-tower landmark, comparable prestige
• The Majestic (115 CPW) — Art Deco landmark; companion building to the Eldorado
• 15 Central Park West — newer condo alternative with similar architectural seriousness; condo rather than co-op
• 101 Central Park West — pre-war co-op, slightly less stringent board, lower price basis
• The Dakota (1 W 72nd) — adjacent CPW co-op, very different aesthetic
• 740 Park Avenue — Park Avenue Gold Coast equivalent, even more rigorous