- Year built
- 1906
- Type
- Cooperative
- Pets
- Permitted — cats and dogs allowed
- Subletting
- Permitted in the event of job relocation
- Pied-à-terre
- Allowed
- Flip tax
- 2% of gross sale price, payable by the Seller
The Orwell House is a 1906 Mulliken & Moeller prewar cooperative on the southwest corner of 86th Street and Central Park West — directly across from Central Park, with the Onassis Reservoir, the Great Lawn, and the broader Upper West Side cultural infrastructure within blocks. The 12-floor building combines the Central Park West prewar building register with a permissive policy posture relative to the broader CPW prewar cooperative cohort: both pets (cats and dogs) and pied-à-terre purchases are explicitly welcomed, and financing up to 75% of purchase price is permitted — meaningfully broadening the qualifying buyer pool relative to the more restrictive trophy CPW prewar inventory.
The crown jewel of the building's amenity stack is the fully furnished rooftop deck — among the most spectacular in Manhattan — with unobstructed views over Central Park, the Onassis Reservoir, and the broader Manhattan skyline. The amenity package additionally includes a fitness center, central laundry, bike room, package room, and private storage; the operating staff includes 24-hour doormen, full-time concierge, and a live-in superintendent.
Building operations
The Orwell House operates as a full-service prewar cooperative with the Central Park West white-glove operational standard:
- 24-hour doormen
- Full-time concierge
- Live-in superintendent
- Full building staff
- Elevator
- Fitness center
- Central laundry
- Bike room
- Package room
- Private storage (locker/cage)
- Fully furnished rooftop deck with unobstructed views over Central Park, the Onassis Reservoir, and the skyline
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
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 →Inside The Orwell House
Recent sales
The retrade record
Lines that have traded more than once in the public record — the building’s appreciation arc, apartment by apartment.
Recent transfers at this building, sourced from NYC Department of Finance records. Apartment-level detail (line, condition, asking-price context) verified upon consultation request.
| Date | Unit | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 10, 2026 | 9A | $5,100,000 |
| Mar 4, 2026 | 7F | $2,800,000 |
| Oct 30, 2025 | 5B | $1,610,000 |
| May 8, 2025 | 11F | $1,950,000 |
| Aug 23, 2024 | 11AB | $9,100,000 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | 10C | $2,325,000 |
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 1-01199-0036) 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.
What to know if you’re buying
The 75% financing cap is unusually flexible for the cohort. Most Central Park West prewar cooperatives cap financing at 50–70%; the 75% cap at The Orwell House is a substantive structural feature for buyers using debt-side leverage.
Both pets and pied-à-terre purchases are permitted. The more permissive policy posture relative to the broader CPW prewar cohort makes The Orwell House a meaningfully easier entry point for buyers requiring either or both dimensions.
The rooftop deck is a substantive amenity differentiator. The fully furnished rooftop with unobstructed Central Park views, Reservoir views, and skyline views is among the more substantial amenity offerings in the CPW prewar cooperative cohort and is a meaningful daily-use building feature.
Apartment-line variation is substantial. 1906-period prewar floor-plate variation produces meaningful differences between apartment lines on light, exposure, layout, and ceiling height. Apartment-level diligence should be apartment-line-specific.
Still to verify against the by-laws and proprietary lease. Working-capital-contribution mechanics, board-application timeline, and alteration-agreement processing framework should be confirmed against the by-laws and proprietary lease during diligence.
Get the full picture on this building.
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