520 Fifth Avenue: Midtown's 1,002-Foot Condominium Tower

520 Fifth Avenue is a 1,002-foot tower at the corner of Fifth Avenue and West 43rd Street, with 100 condominium residences stacked above office floors and a private members' club.

Developed by Rabina and designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, it began residential closings in early 2026. Here is how the building is put together and what buying there involves.

1. What the Building Is

520 Fifth Avenue stands at the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and West 43rd Street, beside the clubhouse of the Century Association. Developer Rabina acquired the site in 2019, construction rose above the street in 2023, and the tower topped out in October 2024 at 1,002 feet, with residential closings following in early 2026.

It is a mixed-use building. Offices occupy the 9th through 34th floors, the Moss members' club sits at the base, and the 100 condominium residences begin on the 42nd floor and fill the top 40 floors, with a residents-only amenity floor on the 88th. That arrangement gives even the smaller apartments a place in the upper part of the tower.

Interiors are by Charles & Co, the firm led by Vicky Charles, with one material palette running through the residences, lobby, amenities and club. Residences range from one to four bedrooms, with full-floor penthouses at the top and a 24-hour attended lobby at street level.

The location is on Google Maps.

2. How the Tower Is Stacked

Splitting one tower between offices, a club and homes changes how a building is run. On the city's tax roll the office and commercial space are held as separate condominium units, so the residences share the site, the structure and some systems with commercial owners, and the declaration sets how shared costs are divided.

Moss, the members' club at the base, opened in November 2025 with a restaurant, Babette, and wellness facilities that include a hammam and saunas. Residents also have their own amenity floor at the top, with a glass-walled solarium, lounge, dining room, library and game room, so the building offers two very different kinds of shared space.

Residents' access to Moss, and what it costs, is a contractual matter. Ask whether those rights sit in the condominium by-laws or in a separate agreement with the club, because a separate agreement can change on terms the residential board does not control. Ask too what happens to those rights on resale.

Request the declaration and by-laws early and read how shared costs are split between the residential and commercial units.

3. Design and Location

KPF designed the tower as a series of tiered setbacks, which design principal James von Klemperer described as a modern interpretation of the stepped towers shaped by New York's 1916 zoning. Glazed terracotta arches frame 10-by-10-foot windows, a motif drawn from Grand Central Terminal, the New York Public Library and the Century Association.

Ceiling heights in the residences run from about 10 feet to more than 14 feet, and the arched openings define the rooms. Because outlook varies by floor and exposure, compare floor plans and views line by line rather than relying on a building-wide impression or on renderings made before the tower was built.

The location is the centre of Midtown. Grand Central is two blocks away, Bryant Park and the New York Public Library's main building are a short walk south, and Fifth Avenue's shops and Rockefeller Center are within walking distance. For an owner who splits time between cities, that concentration of transit and services is the case for the address.

Visit on a weekday and again at the weekend, because Midtown changes character between the two.

4. Buying Here as an Overseas Purchaser

520 Fifth Avenue is a condominium, so there is no co-op board approval and foreign buyers can purchase. With closings under way since early 2026, a purchase now may be from the sponsor if any units remain or a resale from an individual owner, and the contract terms, closing costs and timelines differ between the two.

Financing for foreign nationals is available from some lenders, but expect larger deposits and fuller documentation than a US borrower would face. At closing the buyer pays New York's mansion tax on residential purchases of $1 million or more, charged on the whole price at graduated rates from 1% between $1 million and $2 million up to 3.9% at $25 million and above.

On a later sale, a foreign owner is subject to FIRPTA withholding of 15% of the gross price unless an IRS withholding certificate reduces it. A non-resident who is not a US citizen also has only a $60,000 US estate tax exemption on US-situs assets, so decide the ownership structure with tax counsel before signing.

Fix the ownership structure before contract, then negotiate.

Recorded Sales: What the Public Record Shows

NYC's Department of Finance records every sale with its address and price. Between January 2023 and September 2026 it recorded 82 sales of apartments at 520 Fifth Avenue, at a median price of $3.46 million. Half of them closed between $2.13 million and $4.97 million; the highest was $12.5 million.

A median across a whole building mixes small and large apartments, low floors and high ones, so it describes the building rather than any one residence. Use it to see how often apartments here change hands and where the building's prices sit. Price a specific apartment from recorded sales on the same line and floor range, which can be pulled from the deed records before you make an offer.

These are recorded deed prices, not asking prices, and none of them is a Reinvent NY transaction. A sale appears in the record weeks after closing, and a deed price can include a parking space or storage unit bought at the same time.

Final Thoughts: A New Tower on Old Fifth Avenue

520 Fifth Avenue offers new-construction condominium living at the centre of Midtown, with residences that start high above the street and a club and amenity floor built into the tower. The mixed-use structure is both its appeal and the thing to understand before buying. Judge it on location and services rather than on rental yield.

Residential closings only began in 2026, so the building has little operating history yet. Read the offering plan, the first budgets and any board minutes available, and compare recorded sales on the same line rather than relying on asking prices or an early price list. First-year budgets in a new tower are estimates until the building has run a full cycle.

For an overseas buyer the appeal is straightforward: condominium title, a central Midtown address and a building with a 24-hour attended lobby already in operation. The diligence is the same as for any new tower, starting with the offering plan amendments and what the sponsor still owes the building.

Request the offering plan and the current budget before you schedule a viewing.

Figures here describe the building, not any one apartment. Asking prices, monthly carrying costs, tax abatement status and sublet rules are established unit by unit from the offering plan, the most recent financial statement and the managing agent. Real estate services are provided through R New York.

Reinvent NY Inc. provides real estate and business expansion consulting in New York. Real estate brokerage services are provided through R New York. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax or investment advice.

More buildings worth knowing: 100 Eleventh Avenue, 111 West 57th Street, 130 William. The full set is indexed under New York building profiles.