For the second time this month, New York City has halted a major office-to-residential conversion, issuing a total stop-work order at 222 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, as adaptive reuse projects face increased scrutiny following the structural emergency at the former Pfizer headquarters in Midtown.
Records reviewed by ENR show the July 24 enforcement action followed an inspection by the New York City Department of Buildings’ Forensic Engineering unit the day before. The department alleged that the permit holder did not immediately notify the DOB of an incident involving cast-in-place concrete elements and said that changes to the repair plan were not properly submitted, resulting in a full stop-work order while the project undergoes additional engineering review.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the stop-work order, said two concrete beams on the project’s new 32nd floor cracked in March.
The DOB told ENR in an email that contractors informed inspectors about the previous crack in the beam during a proactive enforcement inspection on July 11. Inspectors found the beams had already been repaired using bars installed in concrete and steel plate girders that completely wrap the damaged members under a repair plan developed by engineer of record DeSimone Consulting Engineers.
The department said inspectors also received certification from DeSimone that the building was stable and that the repaired beams did not pose any safety concerns.
The project, developed by GFP Real Estate and TPG Real Estate, will convert the former office tower into 788 apartments. The redevelopment includes a newly added 32nd floor with rooftop amenities. Leeding Builders Group is serving as the general contractor and DeSimone Consulting Engineers is the structural engineer of record.
GFP Real Estate told The Journal that the problem was a “discrepancy in reporting time,” not an ongoing safety concern, and that project engineers didn’t believe immediate notification to the city was necessary.
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DOB records also show the full stop-work order followed by two previously unreported partial stop-work orders issued on July 13 following a July 11 inspection by the same Forensic Engineering unit.
One complaint alleged that the work did not conform to approved construction documents. The second alleged that the project failed to provide the professional engineer design drawings required by Chapter 33 of the building code. Both led to partial stop-work orders.
These orders prohibited additional loading of the concrete and steel structure, along with non-structural framing and finishing work while structural problems were assessed.
The full stop work command increases execution
An aerial view identifies 222 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, where the New York City Department of Buildings issued a full stop-work order on the office-to-residential conversion after alleging the permit holder failed to immediately report an incident involving cast-in-place concrete elements at the site.
Courtesy of Google Maps
In its response to ENR, the DOB said inspectors found no conditions during either the July 11 or July 23 inspections that warranted the issuance of a cease-and-desist order. Instead, the department said contractors and engineers failed to notify the DOB when they noticed the beam crack and failed to properly submit repair plan revisions.
During the July 23 follow-up inspection, DOB engineers again requested a full package of engineering reports explaining how the cracks developed. The department upgraded the partial stop-work order issued earlier to a full stop-work order pending documentation showing the project could safely proceed.
DeSimone submitted the remaining engineering reports on July 24; DOB said its engineers are auditing those documents before determining if construction can safely resume. The agency said it will not lift the order until it is fully satisfied that construction can safely continue.
Broader scrutiny of Office conversions
The application comes less than three weeks after the DOB halted work on the former Pfizer headquarters conversion in Midtown Manhattan, where two buckled structural columns prompted an emergency evacuation and stabilization effort.
Pfizer’s emergency has prompted city officials to increase scrutiny of office-to-residential conversion projects as investigators work to determine the cause of the structural failure.
Office-to-residential conversions have become an increasingly important redevelopment strategy in New York and other cities, but Pfizer’s emergency has raised industry-wide questions about structural due diligence, construction sequencing and oversight of complex adaptive reuse projects. Insurance executives and construction specialists previously told ENR that the results of Pfizer’s research could influence future regulation and risk assessments for similar projects.
Representatives for the project team did not immediately respond to requests for comment after hours.
