Three weeks after structural columns buckled at the former Pfizer Building, New York City building officials issued a stop-work order at another office-to-residential conversion.
Construction work has been halted over at 222 Broadway, where developer GFP Real Estate is in the process of converting the 32-story tower, a former home to Bank of America and WeWork, into a luxury residential building with nearly 800 units, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The shutdown in Lower Manhattan takes place after city inspectors discovered that the project’s contractor, Leeding Builders Group, and the engineering firm, DeSimone Consulting Engineers, failed to report cracks that had developed in two concrete beams on the building’s newly added top floor.
The cracks on the 32nd floor initially appeared in March and were promptly repaired, according to a GFP spokesman. The developer declined to comment to the publication on whether the added weight from the new rooftop features contributed to the beam cracks. The contractor and the engineers decided the damage was minor and did not report it to the city.
A disagreement over when the damage should have been reported, not “safety issues of any kind,” is the only reason for the project’s shutdown, according to GFP. The building is stable, the developer said.
The Department of Buildings is currently reviewing engineering reports for 222 Broadway and will not lift the halt until safety is assured, the agency told WSJ. Despite the delay, GFP expects to complete the project within the next year, with apartment leasing already underway.
The enforcement at 222 Broadway is part of a broader inspection blitz by the DOB, triggered earlier this month with a potential partial collapse at another massive office-to-apartment conversion at the former Pfizer headquarters in Midtown. On July 7, two steel columns collapsed in the Metroloft’s 37-story tower at 235 East 42nd Street.
A week later, the city sent building safety inspectors across five boroughs to conduct safety reviews of unidentified construction sites.
— Simon Galkevich
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