Situated on an oak-tree-shaded street lined with postwar apartment buildings, 77 East 12th Street is adjacent to the famous New York City institution, The Strand. (Far from the bookstore’s main entrance in the stunning limestone Renaissance-Revival building, which is around the corner on Broadway.) Completed in 1963, the 20-story structure is clad in red brick with white-aluminum-framed casement windows and punctuated by a series of undulating vertical setbacks. The full-service co-op offers accessibly priced units with reasonable monthly maintenance fees starting at $725,000. “The building has the properties of a condo, but at the price of co-op,” says Margaret Heffernan, a broker at Corcoran.
One hundred seventy-five residences across 20 stories range from one- to two-bedrooms. The midcentury floorplans were designed to maximize space with open floor plans connecting the kitchen, dining area and living room. As most units have double exposures, either in the living room or bedroom, the apartments are drenched in natural light. Heffernan, who has sold multiple units and lives in the building, says it is becoming increasingly occupied by combination units: “People move in, and the love affair begins,” she says. “Over twenty shareholders bought an additional unit to expand their home.” For example, #9EF, a gut-renovated two-bedroom with a laundry room, an office alcove and built-in shelving and custom storage throughout, sold for $1.73 million in the last quarter of 2024. Heffernan’s unit, #12D, a one-bedroom with a renovated kitchen plus new windows, went on the market for $739,999 in the last quarter of 2024; it is a non-sponsor unit that doesn’t require board approval. Perhaps the grandest unit, #12HJK, a four-bedroom, 3-bathroom combination unit with a private office, a 20-by-12-foot en-suite primary bedroom and a 21-by-21-foot grand room, sold for $2.65 million in the last quarter of 2023.
Heffernan says the top three floors have a larger, more luxurious layout. “The 18th floor sets back to accommodate terraces,” she says. “They are larger apartments with private outdoor spaces.” (With just five apartments per floor, compared to ten apartments per level on floors one through 17.) “The units have great light because they are surrounded by low-rise apartments on Fourth Avenue, which are six floors or less.”
The elevator building has a live-in superintendent and part-time maintenance staff. On the lower level, residents can find laundry facilities with folding tables and wire basket carts, personal storage lockers and a bike room. But the star amenity, by far, is the “absolutely stunning rooftop garden.” She says: “It is remarkably open. You can see in every direction because you are surrounded by low rises from the top of a 20-story building.”
Heffernan adds that the building offers central air, a bonus to living in a midcentury building rather than a prewar building. Hint: Heat and AC are more cost-effective and conveniently controlled by the tenant.
Heffernan says the board is easy to work with. “The policies are liberal,” she says. The board allows unlimited subletting after two years, as well as co-purchases, guarantors, and pieds-à-terre. Plus, in-unit wash-dryers and pets are permitted. Twenty percent financing is required; comparable co-ops in the West Village usually need between 30 and 50 percent.
Fun fact: when the rental building became a co-op in 1985, the first tenants negotiated a by-law allowing first-time residents to resell without board approval. This is why, occasionally, one can find non-sponsor apartments not subject to board approval.
According to Heffernan, the intersection of East 12th Street and Broadway is “the single most convenient location to live in Manhattan.” She says living near Union Square is commodious because “everything you could ever need is here.” Besides public transit, there are branches from every major banker, multiple big-name pharmacies, and shops galore, including Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Nordstrom, Sephora and Staples. There are also many major grocery and home goods stores, like Target, Trader Joe’s (plus the adjoining wine store) and Whole Foods. Additionally, some great New York neighborhood staples are hard not to name in a list-like fashion, including the Daryl Roth Theatre, Regal Union Square and Union Square Green Market. Meanwhile, on any given day, one will see Parsons and NYU students moving to and fro around the sprawling, multi-building campuses. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to witness many designers and creative directors from big agencies stopping by all the shops at lunch or before going home. Tourists are also thrown into the mix, usually on their way to the park and the metronome countdown clock.
Residents can walk out to the lobby and around the corner to 14th Street to access Union Square station. They have access to eight subway lines: the 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R and W trains. Major thoroughfares — 14th Street, the FDR and the West Side Highway — are nearby, making getting around Manhattan and to other boroughs easy. For local trips, there is a Citi Bike station at East 11th Street and Broadway.
77 E 12th St is a condominium located in New York and the 10003 ZIP Code. This area is served by the New York County attendance zone.
