270 Riverside Dr

270 Riverside

Around West 96th Street, Riverside Drive becomes two roads: the main thoroughfare with two-way traffic and a one-way section lined with prewar residences. The 12-story condo building at 270 Riverside is one of those addresses, and the location is one reason buyers choose it, according to Jack Isquith, an agent at Brown Harris Stevens who recently sold a unit at 270 Riverside to a family from the Midwest. “It’s a very specific corner,” he says. “It’s green, peaceful, gentle. You can exhale when you get home to your block.” Once inside, residents are met by the full-time staff in a marble lobby “that feels like it’s been there 100 years and has been well-preserved,” Isquith notes. “But that’s not the case.” The space was part of a rehabilitation of the 1920 limestone-clad building that honored all the best prewar details while modernizing its systems and floorplans — and the lobby. Every effort was made “to bring 270 Riverside up to the highest standards to make it a compelling alternative to new development,” the agent adds. It reopened in 2016, and only a handful of similar condo buildings are north of West 86th Street. “For people who like to live in this kind of building, who want to be tethered to the history of a neighborhood from an architectural standpoint, this is one of the best choices,” Isquith says.