159 Madison Ave

159 Madison

Behind the limestone façade of 159 Madison Avenue is a bit of unexpected history. Built in 1911, the building was originally home to an undergarment manufacturer, until General Electric purchased the space in 1957. In the late 1970s it was converted to house rental units before becoming a co-op in 1988. The building exudes a prewar charm befitting its historic underpinnings, and inside the units, owners have chosen to customize and update their spaces to individual tastes. While 159 Madison Avenue is light on amenities, its unique location, between East 32nd and 33rd Streets places it near Koreatown and NoMad; a residential building with easy access to both Midtown and Madison Square Park. The building’s 118 units offer variety, depending on how owners have customized their residences throughout the years. A loft-like studio with a walk-in closet, private outdoor terrace and kitchen with a breakfast bar can cost $450,000. A roomy two-bedroom with an additional home office and updated kitchen with a wine fridge can fetch $1 million or more. A gut-renovated one-bedroom with large casement windows, Italian marble countertops and updated high-end appliances might run $750,000. Studios and one-bedrooms are the most common, though two-bedrooms can also be found, along with some rare three and four-bedroom residences, created by combining multiple units. While fixtures and finishes run the gamut, most residences include hardwood flooring and limited views of the surrounding buildings. As a full-service co-op, 159 Madison Avenue’s residents have a 24-hour doorman and a live-in super. Laundry rooms can be found on each floor, and owners are allowed to install their own in-unit washers and dryers, with board approval. Pets are allowed and units can be used as pieds-a-terre. While the building is not big on frills and parking is not available, there is a small roof deck that serves as a private escape for residents, offering Midtown views. 159 Madison Avenue’s location near Koreatown, NoMad and Kips Bay give it a special appeal. “It’s an interesting location actually because it’s not automatically a place that people would think of as residential, but people that move here really like it because it is very central,” says Jesse Rosenthal, a licensed associate real estate broker with the Holly Parker team at Douglas Elliman, “It has a very good neighborhood feel, even though people don’t really anticipate that.” Residents are less than a 10-minute walk from the respite of Madison Square Park and within view of the Empire State Building. Murray Hill Market and D’Agostino Supermarket, as well as Trader Joe’s, are all just a few blocks away, putting grocery shopping within reach. Transit options are easy to find, as the building is one block from the 6 train on 33rd Street and four blocks from the 34th Street-Herald Square station, which has the B and D and F and M trains and N and Q and R and W trains. While the location is very central, a fair amount of street and traffic noise is to be expected.