A six-room unit in Washington Heights’ most under-the-radar co-op building just listed for sale.
Located on a quiet corner of Riverside Drive, the Grinnell is a little-known pre-war co-op made up of 83 units that hardly ever go on sale. Now, one of these supremely rare residences asks $1.85 million.
The three-bed, two-bath corner unit is located on the fifth floor, with communal rooftop access to views of the Hudson River and George Washington Bridge. The corner apartment features a lacquered entry gallery and an airy, east-facing living room with hardwood floors and high ceilings.
Located at 800 Riverside Drive, the Grinnell takes up a full triangle-shaped block between West 157th and 158th Streets. Just six other units there have sold across 2023 and 2024, according to StreetEasy records, meaning savvy house hunters who are on the prowl now have a prime shot at entry into a building where residents tend to live for decades. What’s more, contrary to its luxe appearance — with its porte-cochere entryway to a private courtyard — the nine-story building is actually a part of the city’s affordable housing stock.
No matter how much buyers are willing to shell out for the 115-year-old building’s old-world charm and Hudson River views, buyers must meet special criteria to purchase there. That’s because the Grinnell is one of the city’s 1,100 HDFC co-ops — otherwise known as Housing Development Fund Corporation units. These dwellings come with strict income requirements designed to keep homeownership in the city affordable.
“Affordable,” is a relative term, however. Under HDFC rules, each building has its own income restrictions, and the Grinnell represents the gold standard. Long known as the most expensive of HDFC co-ops in the city, its units can list for more than $1 million; income restrictions can hover around $750,000 per year.
Still, its residents can live like a royalty without paying the princely sums that other prime co-op owners have to cough up. Thanks to a real-estate tax abatement, residents enjoy very low maintenance fees. While the Grinnell has been dubbed “the Dakota of the North,” this listed unit’s $1,695 maintenance fees pale in comparison to the more than $9,700 in fees that a similar owner at the Dakota — on the Upper West Side — would pay.
Needless to say, a prospective owner of this residence stands to inherit a handsome piece of property. French doors lead to a mahogany-paneled dining room, across the hall from a light-filled chef’s kitchen with granite countertops. The spacious master bedroom boasts three walls of windows that brighten the space.
The Beaux-Arts style building was built between 1910 and 1911, and is a part of the Audubon Park Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places just last year. It was designed by the famed architectural firm Schwartz & Gross, which also sculpted the “Ghostbusters Building” at 55 Central Park West.
Grinnell residents tend to stay put, not only for the charm and deep sense of community, but also due to a flip tax that applies when they sell. The caveat of the co-op requires sellers to split the proceeds between themselves and the HDFC, the latter of which goes into capital repairs and building needs.
Joshua Wesoky and Chad Longmore of Compass have the listing.