another long report<\/a> over the weekend on the troubled Billionaires\u2019 Row supertall and its many, many issues,\u00a0this time focusing on the possibly long-term implications of its badly cracking fa\u00e7ade that could, in the words of one expert in the article, result in \u201cconcrete hand grenades\u201d launching from 1,400 feet. And why? Because, per court documents, engineering experts interviewed by the paper, and construction reports, the developers wanted the 102-story tower to be white.<\/p>\nDeveloper Harry Macklowe said he wanted an \u201cabsolutely pure building\u201d in 432 Park and tapped the Uruguayan modernist architect Rafael Vi\u00f1oly to help execute that vision. On top of being one of the tallest and slimmest buildings in the world, the perfectly rectilinear tower would also be a stark, clean white. But that signature aesthetic, which apparently helped sell out the building\u2019s 125 units for more than $2.5 billion \u2014 A-Rod and Jennifer Lopez were among the early buyers \u2014 now appears to be the source of some major\u00a0problems, per the Times. To achieve the color developers wanted would mean \u201cgoing down a dangerous and slippery path that I believe will eventually lead to failure and lawsuits to come,\u201d one director at Vi\u00f1oly\u2019s firm wrote in a July 2012 email to other architects on the project. How prescient.<\/p>\n
It turns out that the same additives that give cement its darkened color are also good for durability. During a visit that December by architects, engineers, and developers to a Brooklyn concrete yard, they found the cement mix used in the mock columns riddled with cracks and \u201cbug holes\u201d more than an inch wide. A structural engineer working on the project suggested adding a by-product of coal combustion called fly ash to address the cracks. He was then told that the developers would not accept that fix because it would make the coloring of the fa\u00e7ade too dark. The structural engineer replied that the choice was \u201ccolor or cracks.\u201d Later, when cracks emerged after construction started and the cement had been poured, consultants who recommended covering the fa\u00e7ade with a rubbery coating to seal the cracks were similarly dismissed.\u00a0(The extremely slim, rectangular design of the tower apparently isn\u2019t helping things, either. 432 Park is facing real stress from wind, one engineer who has studied the building told the Times.)<\/p>\n
In 2021, the condo board filed a lawsuit against Macklowe and another developer, CIM Group, alleging more than 1,500 defects, including \u201clife safety\u201d issues, while a second suit, filed in April of this year, alleged that the building\u2019s developers had been warned about the cracking and had tried to hide the structural issues from city inspectors and would-be buyers.\u00a0But it\u2019s not just residents who seem worried. A second engineer who had consulted on an early bid for the building\u2019s design noted to the Times that the continued cracking could lead to bigger issues, including falling chunks of concrete, unusable elevators, and, ultimately, an \u201cuninhabitable\u201d building. (The developers\u2019 representatives have called the complaints exaggerated, adding that many of the construction issues have been addressed and that developers believe the condo board hasn\u2019t done its part when it comes to maintaining the fa\u00e7ade.)<\/p>\n
A firm hired by the condo owners to conduct a review of the building said in April in filings to the city\u2019s Department of Buildings that 432 Park was in \u201cfair condition\u201d but noted the presence of new cracks, shoddy patch jobs, and \u201cmissing chunks\u201d of concrete. Also, per the report, the loose concrete had to be removed from parts of the fa\u00e7ade, including on very high floors. Andrew Rudansky, a spokesman for the DOB, told the paper that it was not unusual for \u201csmall amounts of loose materials\u201d to be removed during inspections and an inspection in February 2023 hadn\u2019t turned up any safety issues.<\/p>\n
Experts the Times spoke to seemed more alarmed. \u201cThere\u2019s no sidewalk shed that\u2019s going to protect you from chunks of concrete popping off a 1,400-foot building,\u201d an engineer who consulted on the early design bid for the building told the paper. And then there are plenty of other issues at 432 Park dogging the luxury apartments\u2019 owners, including the fact that they\u2019re being asked to cover a $5.3 million renovation to the private restaurant, rising common charges, and the mystery behind the water damage to a $135,000 rug owned by Jacqueline Finkelstein-LeBow, a real-estate investor and member of the condo board.<\/p>\n
So it only makes sense that some buyers are trying to get out. According to StreetEasy, 11 of the building\u2019s 125 apartments are currently on the market, while so far this year, only one sale has gone through. Even Macklowe had plans this past summer to list his three apartments in the building but ended up scrapping that effort because he had defaulted on the loans he used to buy the units.<\/p>\n
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