New York City has paused construction at several office-to-apartment conversions after structural problems were discovered at one of the city’s largest such projects. The pause is part of an effort to ensure the safety of these conversions, which are seen as a way to help relieve the city’s housing shortage.
Structural Problems
The issues began when structural columns buckled and floors sagged at the former Pfizer headquarters on East 42nd Street, which is being converted into roughly 1,600 apartments. This incident prompted city officials to evacuate several surrounding buildings and reroute nearby bus lines over fears of a partial collapse.
Since then, regulators have intensified scrutiny of these conversions, and three more Manhattan office conversion projects have been ordered to partially pause or halt construction this month. The projects are located at 750 Third Avenue, 77 Water Street, and 222 Broadway.
The pause at 750 Third Avenue was due to unapproved modifications to several steel columns in the building. The project is located not far from the former Pfizer headquarters and is undergoing a conversion into roughly 678 apartments.
The city’s Department of Buildings has ramped up inspections at other construction sites, and officials are racing to ensure older office buildings can be safely transformed into apartments. The department can issue thousands of stop-work orders per year, and the recent string of work stoppages reflects heightened scrutiny of one of New York City’s primary housing strategies.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
