{"id":295031,"date":"2026-07-14T00:12:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/295031\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T00:12:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T00:12:49","slug":"red-flags-every-urban-homebuyer-must-check-after-a-near-disaster-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/295031\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Flags Every Urban Homebuyer Must Check After a Near Disaster in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the country facing a housing supply crunch<\/a> and no easy answers in sight, projects like the conversion of the Pfizer office buildings in Midtown Manhattan<\/a> into a mixed commercial-residential complex should be well-received.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, last week, one building was evacuated<\/a> after workers found that some of the steel support columns on the 21st floor were buckling. Disaster was averted by emergency personnel, and the building is now considered \u201csafe and stable.\u201d But buyers might not be lining up to buy in with the same excitement as before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This avoided collapse may have a ripple effect among buyers and owners going forward: As more commercial buildings undergo transformations<\/a>, older structures get updates, and new housing is built, how can you ensure you\u2019re buying into, or living in, a safe building?<\/p>\n

True disasters are rare<\/p>\n

First, for some good news: In general, buildings don\u2019t fall down. When they are built, they rely on rigorous engineering math, testing, inspections, and monitoring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are defects, and there are total freak anomalies. This is a total freak anomaly,\u201d says Steven Sladkus, a co-founding partner at Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg Atlas LLP and real estate attorney in New York<\/a>. \u201cI would be shocked if the developer didn’t do everything they had to do with engineers and calculations to make sure that the load bearing was fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Immediately following the emergency, Ahmed Tigani, commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, said that the building conversion had undergone \u201cextensive, exhaustive review\u201d for two years before construction began.<\/p>\n

Engineers will now work<\/a> to determine what caused the buckling, by reviewing original drawings, contractor records, and postfailure photographs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But no matter what the answer is, the damage\u2014in terms of the building wooing potential buyers\u2014 is already done, and similar trepidation may be found around the city and beyond.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If somebody is buying into a 40- or 50-year-old co-op, and the steel beams behind the wall started to corrode, could the building fall down? Highly, highly unlikely. I don’t think we’ve ever seen that happen,\u201d says Sladkus. \u201cIt might just put people’s antennae up a little higher when buying into a relatively new building.\u201d<\/p>\n

You should be able to spot, or uncover, damage<\/p>\n

For the most part, visual inspections that reveal large cracks will tell you a lot about the building\u2019s structural safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally, if the structure is damaged, you\u2019ll see signs of it right away,\u201d says MIT professor<\/a> and structural engineering specialist Jerome Connor.<\/p>\n

That said, potential buyers of a condo or co-op in a new or updated building have to do their due diligence on both the unit they want and the building at-large.<\/p>\n

\u201cA buyer should understand the condition of the building itself. That means reviewing engineering reports, board meeting minutes, reserve studies, pending special assessments, financial statements, insurance information, and any reports discussing deferred maintenance or major capital repairs,\u201d says Jacqueline Salcines, a real estate attorney and licensed Florida<\/a> real estate agent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Construction crews working on the former pharmaceutical company building, a high-profile housing project, were evacuated after it was determined that it was at risk of collapse.Michael M. Santiago\/Getty ImagesWho can buyers rely on?<\/p>\n

Buyers should know that other parties in their purchase, such as their lender, will be in their corner when it comes to identifying structural issues. But they need to have a role in the purchasing process, which likely won\u2019t start until the building is complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA situation like what happened at [the Pfizer building] is a different animal because it happened midconstruction, before the building ever had buyers in it. There’s no certificate of occupancy yet, so there’s no financing conversation happening at all. At this stage, the research burden sits almost entirely on the buyer and the buyer’s attorney, not the lender,\u201d says Ashley Harris, director of homebuyer education at Neighbors Bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you become aware that a building you\u2019re interested in has some history of issues, no matter how minor and even if the issue was resolved, know that the record of it won\u2019t fade. Even if neighboring properties sued because of the issue, it can jeopardize your ability to obtain financing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAppraisers are trained to look for anything that could affect value or marketability. If a building has a publicly documented structural event on its record, the appraiser may call it out, which can trigger additional review before the loan moves forward, and it’s ultimately the underwriter’s job to decide whether that risk is acceptable and what conditions to attach to the loan,\u201d says Harris.<\/p>\n

The insurance ripple effect<\/p>\n

Another cost that can show up for buyers and owners alike when there is a structural or safety issue is insurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA documented structural event often pushes a building’s master insurance premium up at renewal, sometimes substantially, because the carrier now sees a claims history or elevated risk on that address,\u201d says Harris. \u201cSome carriers require an updated engineering report before renewing. Others decline to renew altogether, pushing the HOA into the surplus insurance market, which tends to be pricier and less comprehensive. Higher premiums flow straight into monthly HOA dues, so the cost of a structural incident doesn’t stop at a one-time special assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is where the fallout of an issue like what happened to the Pfizer Building can reverberate. For buyers, does this mean it will be harder to sell their unit if they end up buying in that building or one with a similar issue? It\u2019s possible\u2014because even if you find an interested buyer, lenders and insurance providers will have a different perspective.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Know a building\u2019s history<\/p>\n

In general, dealing with structural flaws and their aftermath should be a rare circumstance. If you\u2019re a buyer or a new owner of a condo or co-op, any issues you run into should be or should have been revealed in the regular course of business. But for those looking for a way to avoid these issues entirely, one tactic is to start with taking a strong look at new construction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my construction litigation over the years have been with new construction or buildings that have been gut-rehabilitated,\u201d says Sladkus. \u201cNow, when we look at developments going up, it’s \u2018How fast can I get it up, and how fast can I sell to get out of this project?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Buyers don’t need to assume the worst about new construction or dismiss older buildings as risks waiting to happen. What they do need is a clear picture of a building’s history: who built it, how it was reviewed, and what’s happened since. That’s the kind of research that protects a purchase after the news cycle moves on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the country facing a housing supply crunch and no easy answers in sight, projects like the conversion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[112496,17488,8964,83854,32129,75,84,83,9,24,63,83856,1115],"class_list":["post-295031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-buying-a-condo","tag-co-op","tag-condominiums","tag-daily-email","tag-homebuying","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-slot-04","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}