Residents luxury Manhattan apartment block at odds with developers

Residents unhappy in luxury Manhattan apartment block

Credit: Gary Hershorn/Corbis News

Approaching 1,400 feet in height, 432 Park Avenue in Manhattan was once the world’s tallest residential building.

But the allure of the luxury block, where apartments sold for millions of dollars, is starting to wear thin after a litany of complaints about water damage and rickety lifts from residents.

The building was just one of the massive towers which were built in the last decade, fuelling an investment boom – which showed signs of slowing down even ahead of the pandemic.

According to the New York Times, the block’s well-heeled residents are unhappy and complaining to the developers.

There have been complaints of the lifts being out of order, flooding, water damage and walls creaking as the building sways in the wind.

It is all very different from the brochure which boasted: “An extraordinary creative collaboration has resulted in a new landmark for the world’s greatest city.”

The block, which was originally built with 106 apartments, is largely sold out and has an estimated value of $3.1 billion.”

 432 Park Avenue

Credit: Michael Orso/Moment RF

Apartment owners have included Jennifer Lopez, although she is understood to have sold since.

“I was convinced it would be the best building in New York,” Sarina Abramovich, one of the disgruntled residents, told the paper. 

“They’re still billing it as God’s gift to the world, and it’s not.”

Ms Abramovich was upset from the day she moved into the apartment in 2016 and was taken up to her still unfinished new home in a service lift.

Since then, she has complained of leaks, in one case causing $500,000 worth of damage.

Other complaints made by residents include a rubbish chute which sounds like a bomb when waste is thrown into it.

Feelings are also running high over a sharp increase in the cost of using the private, Michelin-starred restaurant.

In 2015 the annual fee was $1,500. Currently, it is $15,000 – with opening hours having been cut back because of the coronavirus pandemic.

One resident, Eduard Slinin, is working with 40 other apartment owners to reduce the operating costs and tackle other structural issues.

CIM Group, one of the developers which has a property portfolio worth $23.9 billion, defended the building in a statement.

It said the building was “a successfully designed, constructed and virtually sold-out project.”

The company said it was “working collaboratively” with residents on the condominium board which runs the building.