Midtown West
205 West 57th Street
Two-bedroom, two-bath, 1,500-square-foot co-op. Asking: $1.39 million. Selling: $1.15 million. Maintenance: $1,990. Time on market: four weeks.

"We were ambitious in our pricing," admits Terry Herbert, a broker for the Corcoran Group. They must have been, given the fact that this place took a month to sell at the height of the market. An understated 1885 Chicago School building with extravagant ornamentation inside, the Osborne is a kind of Dakota across the street from Carnegie Hall and hence within walking distance of midtown offices. But once the buyers, a magazine publisher and a businessman, saw the three working fireplaces and the spectacular lobby, they decided the high price was worth it. (The Osborne has attracted residents such as Bobby Short, though it's a slightly longer commute to the Café Carlyle, and Leonard Bernstein lived there for a while.) "Everything clicked," says Herbert, especially when the couple passed the Osborne's persnickety co-op board. The seller, who uses a wheelchair, is moving to a newer building that's more accommodating.
CHRISTOPHER BONANOS