Six years later, residents of [432 Park Avenue] are now at odds with the developers, and each other, making clear that even multimillion-dollar price tags do not guarantee problem-free living. The claims include millions of dollars of water damage from plumbing and mechanical issues; frequent elevator malfunctions; and walls that creak like the galley of a ship — all of which may be connected to the building’s main selling point: its immense height, according to homeowners, engineers and documents obtained by The New York Times.
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. Engineers privy to some of the disputes say many of the same issues are occurring quietly in other new towers.
Millionaires (and billionaires hidden behind shell companies) discover that being an alpha tester isn't all it's cracked up to be. Where did I put my tiny violin... Translated: "Passed building...
Six years later, residents of [432 Park Avenue] are now at odds with the developers, and each other, making clear that even multimillion-dollar price tags do not guarantee problem-free living.
[. . .]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.
Millionaires (and billionaires hidden behind shell companies) discover that being an alpha tester isn't all it's cracked up to be. Where did I put my tiny violin...
CIM Group, one of the developers, said in a statement that the building “is a successfully designed, constructed and virtually sold-out project,”
Translated: "Passed building codes by greasing palms, it's built and hasn't fallen over, and these people bought it so that counts as success."
She was disappointed with her purchase on day one, she said, when she left her home in London in early 2016 to move into what she expected to be a completed apartment, and found that both her unit and the building were still under construction.
“They put me in a freight elevator surrounded by steel plates and plywood, with a hard-hat operator,” she said. “That’s how I went up to my hoity-toity apartment before closing.”
So it's not yours yet, it's still under construction, and you're surprised? You also had to, * gasp *, ride in a freight elevator? I can only assume that pearls were clutched!
Annual common charges jumped nearly 40 percent in 2019, according to management emails that cited rising insurance premiums and repairs, among other costs.
Read the line from the CIM Group earlier, then read this one. "Everything is fine. Oh, we need to raise the charges to residents because it's falling apart."
Some residents also railed against surging fees at the building’s private restaurant, overseen by the Michelin-star chef, Shaun Hergatt. When the building opened in late 2015, homeowners were required to spend $1,200 a year on the service; in 2021, that requirement jumps to $15,000, despite limited hours of operation because of the pandemic. And breakfast is no longer free.
I am honestly curious how the restaurant justifies this increase other than "y'all ain't spending enough money here". There are 147 units total and if none dined there at all (and received the previously free breakfast) I highly doubt it could be profitable as 147 units multiplied by $1,200 is just $176,400 per year. New charge probably just guarantees minimum operating costs as it bring the 2021 income to at least $2.2M.
73 percent of mechanical, electrical and plumbing components observed failed to conform with the developers’ drawings, and that almost a quarter “presented actual life safety issues,” Mr. Slinin wrote.
SBI did not respond to email or calls for comment. Mr. Slinin, in a phone call, subsequently downplayed the SBI findings, saying that the mechanical issues “were minor things.”
I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle between "life safety issues" and "minor things", but near-as-makes-no-difference 3/4 of failure to comply with the approved design is eye opening at the very least.
?Jacqueline Finkelstein-Lebow, the principal of JSF Capital, a real estate investment firm, and a homeowner who recently won a seat on the board, called other residents’ attempts to “lawyer up” against the developers misguided, in a letter to residents. She also denied claims that she might have a conflict of interest in running for the board. She is married to Bennett Lebow, the chairman of Vector Group, a holding company that controls Douglas Elliman Real Estate — the brokerage that led sales at 432 Park. Howard Lorber, the executive chairman of Douglas Elliman, is also a resident.
Nope, no conflict of interest at all. Nada. Zip. Zilch. No chance at all. Just some good old fashioned billionaire friends that happen to know one another because they run in the same circles. Not trying to stop the valuation collapse before the building does the same or anything like that.
“Everybody hates each other here,” she said, but, for the most part, residents want to keep the squabbling out of the public eye.
Putting aside the whole cyberpunk aspect of this tower I am way to much of a chickenshit to live 1,000 feet in the air, especially when the building is groaning and creaking in the wind. I...
Putting aside the whole cyberpunk aspect of this tower I am way to much of a chickenshit to live 1,000 feet in the air, especially when the building is groaning and creaking in the wind. I understand the engineering, I know their safety factors must be enormous etc. etc. but I think I would have a mental breakdown being on any floor > 20.
Nice to see even the super rich get fucked by real estate developers, not just us ground dwellers. Some things are a universal truth.
From the article:
Millionaires (and billionaires hidden behind shell companies) discover that being an alpha tester isn't all it's cracked up to be. Where did I put my tiny violin...
Translated: "Passed building codes by greasing palms, it's built and hasn't fallen over, and these people bought it so that counts as success."
So it's not yours yet, it's still under construction, and you're surprised? You also had to, * gasp *, ride in a freight elevator? I can only assume that pearls were clutched!
Read the line from the CIM Group earlier, then read this one. "Everything is fine. Oh, we need to raise the charges to residents because it's falling apart."
I am honestly curious how the restaurant justifies this increase other than "y'all ain't spending enough money here". There are 147 units total and if none dined there at all (and received the previously free breakfast) I highly doubt it could be profitable as 147 units multiplied by $1,200 is just $176,400 per year. New charge probably just guarantees minimum operating costs as it bring the 2021 income to at least $2.2M.
I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle between "life safety issues" and "minor things", but near-as-makes-no-difference 3/4 of failure to comply with the approved design is eye opening at the very least.
?Jacqueline Finkelstein-Lebow, the principal of JSF Capital, a real estate investment firm, and a homeowner who recently won a seat on the board, called other residents’ attempts to “lawyer up” against the developers misguided, in a letter to residents. She also denied claims that she might have a conflict of interest in running for the board. She is married to Bennett Lebow, the chairman of Vector Group, a holding company that controls Douglas Elliman Real Estate — the brokerage that led sales at 432 Park. Howard Lorber, the executive chairman of Douglas Elliman, is also a resident.
Nope, no conflict of interest at all. Nada. Zip. Zilch. No chance at all. Just some good old fashioned billionaire friends that happen to know one another because they run in the same circles. Not trying to stop the valuation collapse before the building does the same or anything like that.
Billionaire narcissists aren't fond of other billionaire narcissists? Who'd have thunk it?
Putting aside the whole cyberpunk aspect of this tower I am way to much of a chickenshit to live 1,000 feet in the air, especially when the building is groaning and creaking in the wind. I understand the engineering, I know their safety factors must be enormous etc. etc. but I think I would have a mental breakdown being on any floor > 20.