

The nearly 1,400-foot tower at 432 Park Avenue, briefly the tallest residential building in the world, was the pinnacle of New York’s luxury condo boom half a decade ago, fueled largely by foreign buyers seeking discretion and big returns.

Resident complaints at 432 Park, once the tallest residential building in the world, and a symbol of the luxury condo boom of the last decade, are revealing strife inside one of the city’s most secretive and exclusive Moran for The New York Times The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, BreaksĤ32 Park, one of the wealthiest addresses in the world, faces some significant design problems, and other luxury high-rises may share its fate.The Down Side to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, BreaksĤ32 Park, one of the wealthiest addresses in the world, faces some significant design problems, and other luxury high-rises may share its fate. Less than a decade after a spate of record-breaking condo towers reached new heights in New York, the first reports of defects and complaints are beginning to emerge, raising concerns that some of the construction methods and materials used have not lived up to the engineering breakthroughs that only recently enabled 1,000-foot-high trophy apartments. The building, a slender tower that critics have likened to a middle finger because of its contentious height, is mostly sold out, with a projected value of 3.1 billion. Engineers privy to some of the disputes say many of the same issues are occurring quietly in other new towers. The 96th floor penthouse at the top of the building sold in 2016 for nearly 88 million to a company representing the Saudi retail magnate Fawaz Alhokair. “They’re still billing it as God’s gift to the world, and it’s not.” “I was convinced it would be the best building in New York,” said Sarina Abramovich, one of the earliest residents of 432 Park. Many of the mechanical issues cited at 432 Park are occurring at other supertall residential towers, according to several engineers who have worked on the buildings.Īll buildings sway in the wind, but at exceptional heights, those forces are stronger.

The Down Side to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks 432 Park, one of the wealthiest addresses in the world, faces some significant design problems, and other luxury high-rises may share its fate. A management email explained that “a high-wind condition” stopped an elevator and caused a resident to be “entrapped” on the evening of Oct. Leaks, creaks, breaks: The downside to life in a super-tall condo tower. Wind sway can cause the cables in the elevator shaft to slap around and lead to slowdowns or shutdowns, according to an engineer who asked not to be named, because he has worked on other towers in New York with similar issues. Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, BreaksFebru5:31 PM Subscribe.

THE nearly 1,400-foot tower at 432 Park Avenue. Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks. 432 Park, one of the wealthiest addresses in the world, faces some significant design problems Residents of the exclusive tower are now at odds with the developers, and each other, making clear that even. One of the most common complaints in supertall buildings is noise, said Luke Leung, a director at the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. He has heard metal partitions between walls groan as buildings sway, and the ghostly whistle of rushing air in doorways and elevator shafts.
