NYC Stops Construction On Another Office-To-Residential Conversion As Inspectors Descend On Job Sites
Construction work has been halted at a second Manhattan project as city officials embark on an inspection onslaught at office-to-residential conversions following the near collapse of a Midtown skyscraper.
City inspectors ordered that construction be stopped at GFP Real Estate’s 222 Broadway on Friday, The Wall Street Journal first reported. The issue revolves around a contractor’s failure to notify the Department of Buildings after two newly installed beams on the 32nd floor displayed cracks.
Courtesy of Hayes Davidson
A rendering of Wrey, GFP Real Estate’s luxury conversion project at 222 Broadway
The incident occurred in March, at which point the beams were assessed, repaired and signed off on by a third-party structural engineer, a spokesperson for the project told Bisnow. However, the contractor didn’t know that it was required to immediately report the cracks to the city.
“Last week’s stop work order was issued over a Department of Buildings reporting timeline discrepancy in March for since-addressed work, not safety issues of any kind,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “At no point during construction has the building’s stability been compromised.”
The Lower Manhattan conversion is set to deliver 788 luxury rental apartments and 40K SF of commercial space, and it had already begun move-ins in June. Known as Wrey, the redevelopment includes a 40-foot extension on the roof to support a new pool and sundeck. That addition was where the cracks were found, though the cause of the breaks is unclear.
The incident would likely have gone unnoticed were it not for a construction defect at the former Pfizer headquarters on July 7, which shut down several Midtown Manhattan blocks as emergency responders warned of a potential collapse. Two support columns had buckled in the office building, which is being converted into 1,600 luxury apartments by MetroLoft Management and David Werner.
The structural problems are assumed to be because of additions to the building. An investigation is ongoing. East 43rd Street between Second and Third avenues, where the Pfizer building is located, was closed to vehicle traffic for nearly two weeks.
Adding floors to conversion projects is a tactic commonly used by developers, including by a joint venture between GFP, MetroLoft and Rockwood Capital at 25 Water St. The project added 10 floors and delivered 1,320 luxury apartments to the Financial District last year, the largest completed conversion project in the country.
The industry has declared the situation at the Pfizer building at 235 E. 42nd St. a one-off, but it raised alarms for developers behind dozens of adaptive reuse projects nonetheless. Many feared the accident would draw increased scrutiny from regulators, as well as lenders and insurers, driving construction costs up.
Those concerns were immediately justified after Building Department officials were sent out to reexamine conversion projects, including 222 Broadway. GFP provided certification that the repair had been performed to the satisfaction of the structural engineer, but the DOB still issued a partial stop-work order on July 11 for additional review of the area where the cracks had emerged, according to the spokesperson.
The DOB then requested additional documentation regarding the fix, along with the overall design of the building. A separate DOB concrete enforcement unit visited the site on July 23 to inspect the area. A full stop-work order was issued the next day.
The DOB’s database confirms the stop-work order and that it was issued because of a notification issue. But it says the complaint has since been resolved.
The developer’s spokesperson said the project’s contractor is working to remove the order and GFP is continuing to monitor the issue. They don’t expect the incident to impact the project’s timeline, which is on track to be completed within the next year.
