The St. Urban (285 Central Park West)
285 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024
- Year built
- 1906
- Type
- Cooperative
- Units
- 56
- Floors
- 13
- Landmark
- Designated
- Subletting
- Restrictive; minimum holding period and per-sublet board approval
Every recorded sale at this building, 2005–2025
Bedroom-by-bedroom medians, the full transfer record, and how units trade against ask.
- 4BR+ median
- $7.8M
- Recent range
- $6M – $9.5M
- Avg vs. ask
- -5.6%
- Recorded transfers
- 30
The St. Urban is one of Manhattan's most architecturally distinctive Beaux-Arts residential buildings — a 1906 French Second Empire composition by Robert T. Lyons that has been called among the most exuberant pre-war facades on Central Park West. Its signature is a dramatic domed corner tower topped with a cupola, a curved mansard roof with pronounced dormer windows, and a three-story rusticated limestone base ornamented with sculptural detail. The result is a building that reads as architectural rather than utilitarian — a Parisian residential composition translated to Manhattan apartment-house form.
The St. Urban was also remarkably technically advanced for its era. Among its 1906 innovations was the city's first central refrigeration system — a building-wide infrastructure that allowed each apartment to make its own ice without separate iceboxes per unit. The system represented a meaningful improvement in 1906 residential technology and signaled the building's ambition to compete at the upper tier of luxury Manhattan apartments from the day it opened.
The building's resident roster across nearly 120 years has included substantial cultural and intellectual figures, most notably Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes and the Pulitzer-winning architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable, who grew up in the building. Huxtable's later writing about Manhattan architecture — which shaped generations of critical thinking about urban form — was inflected by an early life lived inside one of CPW's most distinctive Beaux-Arts compositions.
With only 56 apartments distributed two per landing across 13 floors, the St. Urban operates with the intimate institutional culture of the smallest tier-one CPW buildings — comparable in scale to the Brentmore (28 units), the Prasada (47), the Langham (54), and the Kenilworth (40). Its 1966 cooperative conversion places it in the mid-wave of CPW conversions.
For buyers who want an architecturally distinctive Beaux-Arts CPW building, an intimate scale, and a building whose cultural and intellectual significance is part of its identity, the St. Urban occupies a particular position in the canon.
Architecture and unit composition
The St. Urban's two-units-per-landing plan produces apartments at substantial scale relative to typical pre-war Manhattan layouts. Each unit occupies approximately half of a floor — substantial floor plates with multiple exposures, gracious room proportions, and the high ceilings and architectural detail characteristic of 1906 luxury apartment-house design.
Pre-war signatures throughout: 10–12 foot ceilings in primary rooms, formal entry galleries with extensive Beaux-Arts moldings, library-living combinations, kitchens that have been renovated multiple times across the building's 119-year history. The architectural detailing — moldings, paneling, fireplaces — is preserved to varying degrees apartment-to-apartment.
Park-facing apartments occupy the eastern flank with direct Central Park views from low to high floors. Corner Park-facing units (Park + West 89th Street exposure, with the corner tower) command meaningful view premium.
Building operations
The St. Urban operates as a full-service pre-war cooperative with 24-hour doorman, attended elevator service, on-site superintendent, laundry, and private storage. The building's small unit count (56) produces the relational density characteristic of intimate pre-war co-ops — residents see neighbors and staff regularly, and the building's institutional culture is more familial than at the larger CPW landmarks.
The building converted to cooperative ownership in 1966. The building participates in the NYC Cooperative & Condominium Property Tax Abatement Program for qualifying primary-residence shareholders.
Specific policy details (flip tax structure, financing cap, sublet fee) are not publicly published by the building; buyers should review the current proprietary lease and house rules during due diligence.
Recent sales
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 2025 | 2S | 4 BR · 3 BA · 3,400 sf | $7,825,000 | $2,301/sf | off-mkt |
| Sep 20, 2024 | 5N | 4 BR · 3 BA · 3,260 sf · private outdoor | $6,000,000 | $1,840/sf | -29.4% |
| Nov 28, 2023 | 6S | 4 BR · 3.5 BA | $9,488,500 | -4.2% | |
| Aug 15, 2022 | 10S | 4 BR · 4.5 BA · 3,550 sf | $7,300,000 | $2,056/sf | -8.2% |
| Jul 19, 2022 | 7-S | 5 BR · 3 BA · 3,500 sf | $9,500,000 | $2,714/sf | -5.0% |
| Jul 16, 2021 | 8E | 5 BR · 2 BA | $4,419,000 | -1.8% | |
| Mar 14, 2018 | PHA/W | 3 BR · 3 BA · 2,400 sf | $5,995,000 | $2,498/sf | off-mkt |
| Jan 9, 2018 | 1E | 2 BR · private outdoor | $995,000 | -17.1% |
Market read. Most recent trades (2025) cleared a median $2,301/sf across 1 sale. Sales close on average -3.3% below 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 |
|---|---|---|
| May 2, 2012 | 7-S | $6,400,000 |
| Dec 16, 2010 | 8N | $6,250,000 |
| Aug 24, 2006 | PH-A/W | $4,495,000 |
| May 15, 2006 | 4W | $3,825,000 |
| Jan 25, 2006 | 1N | $1,100,000 |
| PHA | $4,495,000 |
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 1-01202-0036) 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; square footage on co-ops is not officially recorded, figures shown are approximate.
What to know if you’re buying
Board approval is rigorous, with intimate institutional culture. The small unit count produces a board review process that emphasizes both financial qualification and lifestyle fit. Strong personal references are advantageous.
Pied-à-terre approval is uncommon. The board generally prefers primary-residence buyers.
The architectural distinction is real. Among CPW pre-wars, the St. Urban's French Second Empire vocabulary — corner dome, cupola, mansard roof — is genuinely singular. Buyers who specifically value architectural distinctiveness will find this rare in Manhattan.
Renovation is constrained by historic district status and pre-war detail. The 1906 vintage means substantial original detail to preserve.
Two-units-per-landing produces unusual privacy. Buyers sharing a landing with one neighbor (rather than three or four) get a quieter daily-life signature than at most pre-war buildings.
View permanence is excellent. Central Park at the eastern flank; West 89th is a residential street with stable building heights.
What to know if you’re selling
The architectural identity is a real marketing advantage. Buyers researching architecturally distinctive CPW pre-wars specifically pursue the St. Urban. The Lyons design is widely cited as one of Manhattan's exuberant Beaux-Arts compositions.
Pricing reflects apartment scale. Two-units-per-landing apartments are substantial; pricing benefits from the configuration's rarity.
Mansion tax effects matter. Apartments routinely transact above $2M and not infrequently above $5M for Park-facing and larger configurations.
Closing timelines are co-op standard. 4–8 weeks from contract signing to closing.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering The St. Urban, also evaluate:
- The Prasada (50 CPW) — 1907 Beaux-Arts co-op, similar French-classical era
- The Langham (135 CPW) — 1907 Beaux-Arts co-op
- The Kenilworth (151 CPW) — 1908 French Second Empire co-op
- The Brentmore (88 CPW) — 1910 pre-war, similar intimate scale
- The Dakota (1 W 72nd) — oldest tier-one CPW co-op
The Roebling Team at The St. Urban
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in Central Park West, the Upper West Side, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this building profile because CPW buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — architecture, board culture, transactional mechanics, and the realities of pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at The St. Urban, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point. We'll bring the full context this page provides plus the transactional specifics your situation requires — financial structuring, board approvability, comparable analysis at the apartment level, and the pacing strategy that fits your timeline.