820 Fifth Avenue is a luxury

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

located at the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and East 63rd Street on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, United States.

Design and apartments

The 12 story limestone-clad neo-Italian Renaissance palazzo is one of the most expensive and exclusive apartment houses in the city. It was designed by Starrett & van Vleck and built by Fred T. Ley in 1916. The land upon which it was built was previously occupied by the Progress Club. The frontage was on Fifth Avenue and on 63rd Street. Construction cost was $1 million, exclusive of the land (which cost another million). The building comprises 12 apartments. There are ten apartments that are full-floor. These apartments are lavish in scale, each containing roughly . The lower two floors consist of two duplex maisonettes, one 7500 SF, the other . There is also a superintendent's apartment on the first floor, roughly 750 SF. All apartments feature marble floors, and fireplaces in all major rooms. The outer walls are two and a half feet thick and ceiling height is 11 feet (3.35m). The public rooms all face Central Park, and are accessed via the 44-foot-long gallery. The five bedrooms found in each apartment all have windows on 63rd Street and the numerous (usually seven) (7) servants rooms are in the back. The facade is broken into five sections by four string courses and the centers of the east and south facades feature

balustraded A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

balconies.

Co-op and amenities

Originally a rental, 820 Fifth Avenue was converted into a

in 1949. There are 2 duplex maisonette apartments on the first and second floors, and 10 full-floor apartments on each of floors 3 through 12. Potential buyers must pay entirely in cash. No mortgage financing is allowed. The cooperative board requires potential buyers to possess liquid assets ten times the value of the apartment that they wish to purchase. The building features a lounge for chauffeurs on the ground floor and a private, gated, holding area in back for cars. Other features include sidewalk landscaping, including Magnolia trees, and a canopied entrance flanked by bronze lanterns. Amenities include full-time doormen, concierge, elevator operators, laundry and storage rooms in the basement, and storage rooms on the roof which are sometimes used as servants' quarters, as they include baths and small kitchen facilities. Each apartment also has a spacious private wine cellar in the basement, which can accommodate thousands of bottles. Each of the ten full-floor apartments has three private elevators which open directly into the apartment: a regular passenger elevator, a "party" elevator for moving groups of guests in and out quickly, and a larger cargo "service" elevator that opens into the Servants Hall. The service elevator is for moving furniture, luggage, package and flower deliveries, groceries and catering supplies, and for domestic servants, who are not permitted to use the regular passenger elevator. 820 Fifth Avenue has been known to reject very wealthy prospective buyers, including some billionaires. On the rare occasion that the building's apartments are sold, the sale price can exceed $40 million.

Notable residents

These include both current and former residents: * William Acquavella (President of Acquavella Galleries, and Donna Acquavella) * Louise Crane ( Crane & Co. stationary heiress) and her companion

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* Kenneth C. Griffin *

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* Ara Hovnanian & Rachel Hovnanian (Real Estate development) *

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(Partner at Centerview Partners) *

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and Kathryn Murray *

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(Greek shipping magnate) *

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and

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(President of CBS) * Ellis L. Phillips (Long Island Lighting Company) *

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* Emilia Saint-Amand (Widow of the late H. Fred Krimendahl, II. (Partner at Goldman Sachs, President and CEO of Petrus Partners LBO firm)) *

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and Jane Semel (Former CEO of Yahoo) * Ravi Mahase CFO at BoA *

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(chairman of General Motors) * Governor Alfred E. Smith * John North Willys ( American automotive pioneer and statesman * Jayne Wrightsman (widow of the oil baron Charles Wrightsman) *

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)

References

{{Fifth Avenue Upper East Side Residential buildings in Manhattan Residential buildings completed in 1916 Fifth Avenue 1916 establishments in New York City