$2.6M Paid for Carnegie Hill Co-op at 40 East 88th Street

The Upper East Side co-op at 40 East 88th Street owned by renowned bookseller Madeline B. Stern was sold by her estate this week. Stern passed away last year at the age of 95.


Alice Zimet, who maintains that she “pioneered sponsorship marketing in the United States,” bought the apartment for $2.6 million, according to New York City public records.

Although this blog isn’t sure whether she was the broker for this deal, Corcoran real estate agent and Senior Vice President Jackie Vincent recently had a listing for a 7-room, 2400 sq. ft. apartment in the building priced at $2,395,000.

If this actually was Vincent’s exclusive, it suggests that there must have been a serious bidding war to push the co-op’s final sale price up $205,000, particularly in this market.

The 15-story Art Deco style building was erected in 1930. Today, it is prime real estate in the heart of Madison Avenue’s tony shopping district, New York City’s ‘Museum Mile,’ close to Manhattan’s elite private schools, and steps from Central Park.

Shareholders in this co-op expect a high-level of service for living here, and their maintenance reflects it. The staff includes full-time doormen, a hallman, porter, service-elevator attendant, and live-in building superintendent.

The co-op is located in the Carnegie Hill historic district on the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and 88th Street. Carnegie Hill ranges North from East 86th Street to East 98th Street, and East from Fifth to Lexington Avenues. The area got is name from Andrew Carnegie, the rags-to-riches Scottish immigrant who made his fortune in the steel industry during the golden age of industrialism and the continued growth of American railroads. In 1901, Carnegie built a mansion at Fifth Avenue and 91st Street. Today it is home to the Smithsonian Institute’sCooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.