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432 Park Avenue is a residential
skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
at 57th Street and
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...
in
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, overlooking
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
. The tower was developed by
CIM Group CIM Group invests in commercial property on behalf of large institutions such as pensions. As of December 31, 2020, the company owned $29.2 billion worth of commercial property. History The company was founded in 1994 by Shaul Kuba, Richard Ressl ...
and
Harry B. Macklowe Harry B. Macklowe (born 1937) is an American real estate developer and investor based in New York City. Early life Macklowe was born to a Jewish family, the son of a garment executive from Westchester County, New York. He graduated from New Roc ...
and designed by
Rafael Viñoly Rafael Viñoly Beceiro (born 1944) is a Uruguayan architect. He is the principal of Rafael Viñoly Architects, which he founded in 1983. The firm has offices in New York City, Palo Alto, London, Manchester, Abu Dhabi, and Buenos Aires. Viñ ...
. A part of Billionaires' Row, 432 Park Avenue has some of the most expensive residences in the city, with the median unit selling for tens of millions of dollars. At the time of its completion, 432 Park Avenue was the third-tallest building in the United States and the tallest residential building in the world. , it is the sixth-tallest building in the United States, the fifth-tallest building in New York City, and the third-tallest residential building in the world. 432 Park Avenue has 84 numbered stories and a
mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...
above ground. The tower's exterior is a lattice of poured-in-place concrete made from white
Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th c ...
. The tower is segmented into 12-story blocks separated by open double-story mechanical spaces that allow wind gusts to pass through the building. It features 125
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
s and amenities such as a private restaurant for residents. The skyscraper has received mixed reviews from both professionals and the public, with commentary about both its slenderness and its symbolism as a residence for the ultra-wealthy. 432 Park Avenue is located on the site of the former Drake Hotel, which was sold to Macklowe in 2006. The project faced delays for five years because of lack of financing as well as difficulties in acquiring the properties on the site. Construction plans were approved for 432 Park Avenue in 2011 and excavations began the next year. Sales within 432 Park Avenue were launched in 2013; the building topped out during October 2014 and was officially completed in 2015. After the building's completion, residents complained of mechanical and structural problems, leading to a lawsuit in late 2021.


Site

The building is located in the
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
neighborhood of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It is in the middle of the block bounded by 56th Street to the south,
Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...
to the west, 57th Street to the north, and
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...
to the east. The roughly L-shaped lot encompasses . The tower is centered within the block, while its base extends east along 56th Street to Park Avenue. The base has a frontage of on Park Avenue, though its main entrance is on 56th Street. Nearby buildings include
Park Avenue Tower Park Avenue Tower (also 65 East 55th Street) is a building on Park Avenue, between 55th Street and 56th Street, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The office building developed by Park Tower Realty opened in 1986 and has a height of . Park Ave ...
to the south,
550 Madison Avenue 550 Madison Avenue (formerly known as the Sony Tower, Sony Plaza, and AT&T Building) is a postmodern skyscraper at Madison Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Philip Johnson ...
to the southwest,
590 Madison Avenue 590 Madison Avenue, also known as the IBM Building, is a skyscraper at 57th Street and Madison Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and Associates the 41-story, -tall tower was dev ...
to the west, the
Fuller Building The Fuller Building is a skyscraper at 57th Street and Madison Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Walker & Gillette, it was erected between 1928 and 1929. The building is named for its original main occ ...
and
Four Seasons Hotel New York Four Seasons Hotel New York is a luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that opened in 1993. The luxury hotel stopped booking paying guests in March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, instead offering free housing for medical ...
to the north,
Ritz Tower The Ritz Tower is a luxury residential building at 465 Park Avenue on the corner of East 57th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It was built from 1925 to 1926 as an apartment hotel and was designed by Emery Roth an ...
to the northeast, and
425 Park Avenue 425 Park Avenue is an office building in New York City redeveloped by L&L Holding and GreenOak Real Estate, with a design by architectural firm Foster + Partners. Work on the new structure began in 2016, and the building was completed in Octobe ...
to the east.


Architecture

432 Park Avenue was designed by
Rafael Viñoly Rafael Viñoly Beceiro (born 1944) is a Uruguayan architect. He is the principal of Rafael Viñoly Architects, which he founded in 1983. The firm has offices in New York City, Palo Alto, London, Manchester, Abu Dhabi, and Buenos Aires. Viñ ...
, and
SLCE Architects SLCE Architects is an American architecture firm which provides architectural services in both the public and private sector. Between 2010 and 2015, the firm received the most commissions for residential developments in New York City. The firm is ...
served as the architect of record. The interiors are designed by
Deborah Berke Deborah Berke (born 1954) is an American architect and academic. She is the founder of Deborah Berke Partners, a New York City-based design firm. Berke is the J.M. Hoppin Professor at the Yale School of Architecture, where she has taught since 198 ...
and the firm Bentel & Bentel. Other firms involved in construction included structural engineer WSP Cantor Seinuk and general contractor
Lendlease Lendlease is a globally integrated real estate company that creates and invests in communities, workplaces, retail, and infrastructure projects, headquartered in Barangaroo, New South Wales, Australia. History Founding The company was establ ...
. The project was developed by
Harry B. Macklowe Harry B. Macklowe (born 1937) is an American real estate developer and investor based in New York City. Early life Macklowe was born to a Jewish family, the son of a garment executive from Westchester County, New York. He graduated from New Roc ...
's company, Macklowe Properties.


Form and facade

432 Park Avenue has a
mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...
and 84 numbered stories. Five two-story windbreaks, spaced every 12 floors from the top, are unenclosed and serve to reduce the tower's
wind load Wind engineering is a subset of mechanical engineering, structural engineering, meteorology, and applied physics that analyzes the effects of wind in the natural and the built environment and studies the possible damage, inconvenience or benefits w ...
. The windbreaks contain modular mechanical services for the six floors above and below to reduce required ducting. The floor numbering system includes mechanical levels near the building's base, so the top story is numbered as floor 96. When 432 Park Avenue officially
topped out In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...
at , it became the second-tallest building in New York City after
One World Trade Center One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Mer ...
and the fifteenth-tallest building in the world. By roof height, 432 Park is the tallest building in the city , as it surpasses the rooftop of One World Trade Center. The building is so tall, even compared to others in New York City, that its construction required approval from
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
. , 432 Park Avenue is the sixth-tallest building in the United States, the fifth-tallest building in New York City, and the third-tallest residential building in the world when topped-out buildings are included. At 15:1, the height-to-width ratio of 432 Park is one of the most slender in the world. The building's height was permitted by the city's zoning regulations partly because nearly a quarter of the building's floor area is devoted to structural and mechanical equipment, which is excluded from
floor area ratio Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of a building's total floor area (gross floor area) to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built. It is often used as one of the regulations in city planning along with the building-to-land ratio. The ...
calculations. Due to its slenderness, the building has been characterized as part of a new breed of New York City "
pencil tower A pencil tower (also known as a skinny skyscraper, pencil-thin tower, super-slender tower, or super-slim tower) is a high-rise building or skyscraper with a very high slenderness ratio that is very tall and thin. There is no universal definition ...
s". The tower's exterior is a lattice of poured-in-place concrete made from white
Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in the early 19th c ...
that forms a regular grid of apertures. Each usable floor features six windows per face, and each double-story windbreak features twelve unglazed openings per face. The base is clad with limestone, but no additional finishes were applied to the tower. Viñoly said that the regular lattice was inspired by a 1905 trash can by Austrian designer
Josef Hoffmann Josef Hoffmann (15 December 1870 – 7 May 1956) was an Austrian- Moravian architect and designer. He was among the founders of Vienna Secession and co-establisher of the Wiener Werkstätte. His most famous architectural work is the Stoclet P ...
.


Structural features

The superstructure is composed of a square reinforced concrete core with walls and an outer shell of columns that taper from wide at the bottom of the tower to at the top. The core houses the elevator shafts and mechanical services. The distance between the tower's core and the exterior is on all sides. The floor plates of the tower stories are square with sides, giving each floor a usable area of . The floor-to-floor height of each story is , of which at least is the depth of the floor slabs. Upper floors have slabs up to thick to add more mass, which dampens acceleration from wind loads. To finalize the structural design prior to construction, engineers performed a dynamic analysis for stresses, deflections, and horizontal movements to revise the tower's lateral force resisting system against wind and seismic motion. The foundation of the building contains about 60 rock anchors that descend into the underlying bedrock, providing stability. To mitigate swaying further, the top of the tower contains two
tuned mass dampers A tuned mass damper (TMD), also known as a harmonic absorber or seismic damper, is a device mounted in structures to reduce mechanical vibrations, consisting of a mass mounted on one or more damped springs. Its oscillation frequency is tuned ...
, and several additional dampers are located in the outriggers of some of the mechanical floors.


Interior

The finalized plans called for 147 apartments in total: 122 luxury
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
units of one to six bedrooms between floors 34 and 96, and 25
studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...
units on floors 28 and 29. The penthouse units, on floors 91 through 96, contain layouts that differ from those of the units on the floors below. The tower's condominium units feature -high ceilings. The smallest unit is a studio, while the largest unit is the , six-bedroom, seven-bath penthouse on floor 96, with its own library. A sample medium-sized unit, #35B, covers with three bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths, facing south and west with views of Central Park. Macklowe initially placed thick frames on some of the windows, as he wanted to highlight the views of Central Park, but some tenants removed these frames because they took up interior space. The building's amenities include ceilings, golf training facilities, and private dining and screening rooms. On floor 12 is an private restaurant with a private terrace, which has been led by chef Shaun Hergatt . Floors 12 through 16 comprise a "club unit" with a fitness center; a swimming complex with a pool, whirlpool, sauna, and steam room; private meeting rooms, including a 14-seat boardroom; and a library curated by
Assouline Publishing Assouline Publishing is a book publisher and luxury lifestyle company founded in 1994 by Prosper and Martine Assouline. It has published more than 1,700 titles on subjects including architecture, art, design, fashion, gastronomy, lifestyle, phot ...
.


History


Macklowe acquisition and financial crisis

The 21-story, 495-room Drake Hotel had been constructed in 1926 at the corner of
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...
and 56th Street. In January 2006, the hotel's owner,
Host Hotels & Resorts Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in hotels. As of February 19, 2021, the company owned 80 upscale hotels containing approximately 46,500 rooms in the United States, Brazil, and Canada. History I ...
, was intending to sell the property "in the mid-$400 million range", primarily marketing the site with the prospect of replacing the aging hotel with a mixed-use skyscraper. Harry Macklowe purchased the Drake in 2006 for $418 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Following his acquisition of the hotel, Macklowe paid French delicatessen company
Fauchon Fauchon is a French gourmet food and delicatessen company that was founded in 1886 in Paris, France. Fauchon is considered a major reference in contemporary French gourmet foods, and it had 81 outlets in operation around the world as of 2019. ...
$4 million to shorten the terms of their lease on the ground floor of the Drake Hotel and vacate in April 2007 instead of 2016. Shortly after the agreement was reached, Fauchon sued Macklowe in New York Supreme Court claiming that the developer was harassing the store to leave by blocking their entrance with scaffolding and threatening to cut off air conditioning and access to the hotel's bathrooms. In April 2007, Macklowe purchased the
Buccellati Buccellati Holding Italia is an Italian jewellery and watch company formed by the merger of two previous companies with existing brands ''Mario Buccellati'' and ''Gianmaria Buccellati'', which corresponded to the names and surname of two master ...
store at 46 East 57th Street for $47.5 million. This followed Macklowe's purchase of the
Audemars Piguet Audemars Piguet Holding SA () is a Swiss manufacturer of luxury watches and clocks, headquartered in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The company was founded by Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet in the Vallée de Joux in 1875, acquiring th ...
store at 40 East 57th Street for $19.2 million, the
Franck Muller Franck Muller is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer, named after its founder. The company's estimated total sales (in 2010/2011) were €290 million in watches with an average unit price of €38,000. Franck Muller's watches are worn by various ...
store at 38 East 57th Street for $60 million, as well as 44 and 50 East 57th Street for $41 million. Following over 14 months of negotiations, Macklowe also had to pay Audemars Piguet $16.6 million to end their lease early and move across the street to 137 East 57th Street. The total cost of additional nearby parcels and
air rights Air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the earth's surface. Generally speaking, owning, or renting, land or a building includes the right to use and build in the space above the land without interference by others. This legal ...
brought the acquisition cost to over $724 million and yielded a large L-shaped site between 56th and 57th Streets. In early 2007, Macklowe Properties secured a $543 million mortgage from
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
on the site. Macklowe was said to be planning a 65-story
Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...
-branded tower that would consist of three stories of retail, offices until the 20th floor, topped by a 10-story hotel and 33 floors of residential space. Additionally,
Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...
had signed a
letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a contract, legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a Heads of agreement ( ...
to open their first New York store, a flagship, at the building's base. Macklowe had been in contract to purchase the
Turnbull & Asser Turnbull & Asser is a British shirt-maker that was established in 1885. The company has its flagship store on Jermyn Street in the St James's area of London, and its bespoke store around the corner on Bury Street. Turnbull & Asser also has a l ...
storefront at 42 East 57th Street for $33 million but the company's owner executed a
call option In finance, a call option, often simply labeled a "call", is a contract between the buyer and the seller of the call option to exchange a security at a set price. The buyer of the call option has the right, but not the obligation, to buy an ...
in the store's lease to allow him to buy the building for $31.5 million instead.
Jacob & Co Jacob & Co. is an American privately held jewelry and wristwatch retailer founded in 1986 by diamond designer Jacob Arabo. Its flagship boutique and corporate headquarters are located in Manhattan, New York City. History After graduating early ...
's founder
Jacob Arabo Jacob Arabo (born Yakov Arabov or Jacob Arabov on June 3, 1965; also frequently known as "Jacob the Jeweler") is an American jewelry and watch designer who founded Jacob & Company in 1986 and grew it to become an international luxury brand. He be ...
also demanded $100 million for the store's building at 50 East 57th Street, a price Macklowe was unable to pay. These holdouts meant Macklowe was unable to connect the other buildings he owned on East 57th Street, depriving Nordstrom of the space needed for the store's ground floor entrance. Nordstrom also reportedly required a ceiling, which was not feasible at the site. This caused Nordstrom to back out of the deal and instead open their flagship in
Central Park Tower Central Park Tower is a residential supertall skyscraper at 225 West 57th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, along Billionaires' Row. Designed by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the building rises with 9 ...
several blocks west on 57th Street. In October 2007, the
New York City Department of Buildings The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) is the department of the New York City government that enforces the city's building codes and zoning regulations, issues building permits, licenses, registers and disciplines certain construction tra ...
issued demolition permits for the site; at the time, the demolition cost was estimated at $6 million, or roughly . During the
financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
, Macklowe defaulted on the Deutsche Bank loan which was due in November 2007. In October 2007, Harry Macklowe personally repaid $156.3 million of Macklowe Property's debt on the site, bringing his personal investment in the project to over $250 million. The repayment included $38 million of mezzanine loans with a 15 percent interest rate that were held by
Vornado Realty Trust Vornado Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust formed in Maryland in 1982, with its primary office in New York City. The company invests in office buildings and street retail in Manhattan. Investments Notable properties owned by the ...
. In May 2008, hotelier
Kirk Kerkorian Kerkor Kerkorian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գրիգորեան; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverl ...
and investment company
Dubai World Dubai World ( ar, دبي العالمية) is an investment company that manages and supervises a portfolio of businesses and projects for the Government of Dubai across a wide range of industry segments and projects that promote Dubai as a hub ...
reportedly considered purchasing the site for $200 million in addition to assuming the existing debt on the property. The bank sued in August 2008 to begin
foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...
on the loan (which had
amortized In computer science, amortized analysis is a method for analyzing a given algorithm's complexity, or how much of a resource, especially time or memory, it takes to execute. The motivation for amortized analysis is that looking at the worst-case r ...
down to $482 million at the time) and take control of the development site. Deutsche Bank had divided the loan into 21
tranche In structured finance, a tranche is one of a number of related securities offered as part of the same transaction. In the financial sense of the word, each bond is a different slice of the deal's risk. Transaction documentation (see indenture) u ...
s and sold much of the debt to ten different investors including
Highland Capital Management Highland Capital Management is an alternative investment management firm that manages hedge funds, structured investment vehicles and mutual funds. The firm invests in global public equities, as well as fixed income markets with a focus on lev ...
and Sorin Capital Management, earning tens of millions of dollars in fees. The bank retained just $12 million of the loan on its own
balance sheet In financial accounting, a balance sheet (also known as statement of financial position or statement of financial condition) is a summary of the financial balances of an individual or organization, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a business ...
. During the height of the recession in November 2008, one of the investors, iStar Financial, was unable to find any buyers for its $224 million tranche of the debt for $160 million, representing just over 71 cents on the dollar. Initially, over 20 bidders were believed to be interested including
Apollo Global Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, ...
,
The Related Companies The Related Companies, L.P. is an American real estate firm in New York City, with offices and developments in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, Abu Dhabi, London, São Paulo and Shanghai. Related has more than 3,0 ...
, and
Silverstein Properties Silverstein Properties, Inc. (SPI) is a family held, full-service real estate development, investment and management firm based in New York City. Founded in 1957 by Chairman Larry Silverstein, the company specializes in developing, acquiring, an ...
. Only a half-dozen bidders eventually offered between $100 million and roughly $130 million, or 45 and 58 cents on the dollar respectively.


Paul Manafort and CMZ Ventures

In late 2007,
Joseph Sitt Joseph J. Sitt (born 1964) is an American real estate investor, founder of the retail chain Ashley Stewart, and founder of global real estate company Thor Equities. Early life and education Sitt was born in 1964 near Coney Island, Brooklyn
, founder of
Thor Equities Thor Equities is a real estate development, leasing and management firm, with headquarters in New York City, London and Mexico City. Thor Equities owns property in the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia, India and Latin America, including Londo ...
, introduced Macklowe to an investment firm named CMZ Ventures. The letters "CMZ" represented
Arthur G. Cohen Arthur George Cohen (April 23, 1930 – August 9, 2014) was an American businessman and real estate developer in New York City. Early life and education Cohen was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Frances (née Kostic ...
, a New York real estate developer;
Paul Manafort Paul John Manafort Jr. (; born April 1, 1949) is an American lobbyist, political consultant, and attorney. A long-time Republican Party campaign consultant, he chaired the Trump presidential campaign from June to August 2016. Manafort served ...
, a former lobbyist, political consultant, and lawyer; and Brad Zackson, a frequent partner of Manafort and
Fred Trump Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and businessman. A member of the Trump family, he was the father of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. In partnership w ...
. In 2008, CMZ Ventures agreed to pay $850 million for the development site which would fully pay off the Deutsche Bank loan and represent a small profit on top of Macklowe's total acquisition price. In fact, the purchase price was higher even than the appraised value of $780 million, a premium of over 10 percent which was unheard of for development site purchases. The partners wanted to build a 65-story building with a
Bulgari Bulgari (, ; stylized as BVLGARI) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1884 and known for its jewellery, watches, fragrances, accessories, and leather goods. While the majority of design, production and marketing is overseen and exec ...
-branded luxury hotel, condominiums, a private club, and a vertical mall. In late 2008,
Dmytro Firtash Dmytro Vasylovych Firtash ( uk, Дмитро́ Васи́льович Фі́рташ; born 2 May 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman who heads the board of directors of Group DF. He was highly influential during the Yuschenko administration and th ...
, a Ukrainian natural gas oligarch and alleged associate of
Russian organized crime Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) Gr ...
, agreed to fund $112 million in equity and paid Manafort a deposit of $25 million. The deposit was
wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
from a
Raiffeisen Zentralbank Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich A.G. was the central institution of the Raiffeisen Banking Group Austria (RBG). The central bank was merged with its subsidiary Raiffeisen Bank International in 2017. It functions as the group centre for the ...
account that U.S. officials alleged was a front for Russian organized crime "
boss of bosses ''Boss of Bosses'' is a 2001 American made-for-TV movie about the life of former Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano directed by Dwight H. Little. It stars Chazz Palminteri as Paul Castellano, Patricia Mauceri as his wife Nina, Mark Margol ...
"
Semion Mogilevich Semion Yudkovich Mogilevich ( uk, Семен Юдкович Могилевич, Semén Yúdkovych Mohylévych ; born June 30, 1946) is a Ukrainian-born Russian organized crime boss. He quickly built a highly structured criminal organization, in ...
. Manafort had met Firtash while consulting for the pro-Russia
Party of Regions The Party of Regions ( uk, Партія регіонів, Partiia rehioniv, ; russian: Партия регионов, Partiya regionov) was a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine formed in late 1997 that then grew to be the biggest party of Uk ...
, at the time the ruling political party in Ukraine. French fund Inovalis also agreed to arrange another $500 million of equity for the project from various backers. Ultimately, the bid fell apart when CMZ could not arrange the necessary financing. In 2011, the former prime minister of Ukraine,
Yulia Tymoshenko Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko ( uk, Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, ; Hrihyan ();United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a United States district court, federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York (state), New York ...
that Firtash violated the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...
. Specifically, Tymoshenko stated that Firtash had used CMZ as a
front organization A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy gro ...
for funds that he skimmed unlawfully from
RosUkrEnergo RosUkrEnergo is a Swiss-registered venture company that transports natural gas from Turkmenistan to East European countries. 50% of the company is owned by Gazprom, through its daughter Swiss-registered Rosgas Holding A.G., and another 50% by Swiss ...
, the natural gas company that he jointly controlled with Russian
state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a Government, government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn Profit (econom ...
Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...
. Tymoshenko also alleged that Firtash planned to use the money for political purposes, rather than as a real estate investment; specifically, she claimed that the money would go to help her opponent,
Victor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of Di ...
, who became Ukraine's president in 2010. Another CMZ Ventures investor was
Oleg Deripaska Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska (russian: Олег Владимирович Дерипаска; born 2 January 1968) is a Russian billionaire and an industrialist. Deripaska enriched himself on previously state-owned assets that were privatized in ...
, a
Russian oligarch Russian oligarchs (Russian language, Russian: олигархи, Romanization of Russian, romanized: ''oligarkhi'') are business oligarchs of the Post-Soviet states, former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Priv ...
and leader of the world's second-largest aluminum company
Rusal United Company RUSAL, international public joint-stock company (russian: МКПАО «ОК РУСАЛ», MKPAO «ОК RUSAL») is the world's second largest aluminium company by primary production output (as of 2016). It was the largest until ov ...
, who was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2017. Deripaska agreed to invest $56 million into 432 Park Avenue through an investment fund named Pericles which was managed by Rick Gates, a Manafort partner who has since pleaded guilty to
conspiracy against the United States Conspiracy against the United States, or conspiracy to defraud the United States,§ 92318 U.S.C. § 371—Conspiracy to Defraud the United States U.S. Department of Justice's ''United States Attorneys' Manual''. is a federal offense in the United ...
and
making false statements Making false statements () is the common name for the United States federal process crime laid out in Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code, which generally prohibits knowingly and willfully making false or fraudulent statements, or ...
in
the investigation ''The Investigation'' (original title ''Śledztwo'') is a science fiction/ detective/ thriller novel by the Polish writer Stanisław Lem. The novel incorporates a philosophical discourse on explanation of unknown phenomena. It was first publis ...
into
Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections The Russian government interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with the goals of harming the campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the candidacy of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. Acc ...
.


CIM Group investment

In January 2010,
CIM Group CIM Group invests in commercial property on behalf of large institutions such as pensions. As of December 31, 2020, the company owned $29.2 billion worth of commercial property. History The company was founded in 1994 by Shaul Kuba, Richard Ressl ...
agreed to pay $305 million for the complete development site including 434 Park Avenue and 38, 40, 44 and 50 East 57th Street while keeping Macklowe involved as a partner. The investment by CIM allowed Macklowe to repay the senior-most tranche 90 cents on the dollar while the junior-most tranches were completely wiped out. At the time, the site was considered one of New York's most valuable due to its location between East 56th and 57th Streets on the west side of
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...
.
Citigroup Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
's private banking arm raised an additional $415 million in equity for the project from
high-net-worth individual High-net-worth individual (HNWI) is a term used by some segments of the financial services industry to designate persons whose investible wealth (assets such as stocks and bonds) exceeds a given amount. Typically, these individuals are defined ...
s who invested $1 million to $5 million each. Another $100 million in equity came from CIM's existing
institutional investor An institutional investor is an entity which pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked co ...
clients. Following the investment, CIM continued to expand the development site, purchasing 46 East 57th Street for $42.5 million in January 2011. CIM and Macklowe were sued by
Franck Muller Franck Muller is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer, named after its founder. The company's estimated total sales (in 2010/2011) were €290 million in watches with an average unit price of €38,000. Franck Muller's watches are worn by various ...
in September 2010 after the company tried to evict the watch retailer from their space at 38 East 57th Street that Macklowe had purchased several years earlier for over $60 million. The building was master-leased to a real estate investment company, Sovereign Partners, who in turn had subleased the ground floor and mezzanine space to Franck Muller until 2018. CIM and Macklowe had purchased that master lease for $5.35 million in November 2008, making a CIM-owned company Franck Muller's new landlord. Subsequently, CIM and Macklowe had the building reappraised by
Cushman & Wakefield Cushman & Wakefield plc is a global commercial real estate services firm. The company's corporate headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois. Cushman & Wakefield is among the world's largest commercial real estate services firms, with revenues ...
who determined that the fair market rent for the space was $1.4 million per year, higher than the rent initially agreed to by Sovereign Partners. However, the CIM-owned company that had purchased Sovereign Partner's lease failed to pay this increased rent, leading to an
event of default Default is the occurrence of an event or circumstance against which a party to a contract seeks protection. For example, a contract may state that the recording of a lien against certain property is a default. If the default is left uncured a ...
under the lease and allowing CIM and Macklowe to begin the eviction process. Franck Muller objected, claiming that CIM was essentially choosing not to pay itself the increased rent and manufacturing an excuse to evict the CIM-owned master lessee and in turn Franck Muller, the sublessee. In October, a
New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...
ordered the case be determined through
arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...
instead. The developers received a $30 million mortgage from Pacific Northwestern Bank on the site in early April 2011. Later that month, CIM filed dummy permits for a 5-story office building in order to begin excavation work on the site and by the following month had hired Rafael Viñoly to design the new tower. Macklowe, speaking at a real estate conference in New York, claimed the building would be "monumental" and a "capstone" to his career. In October, plans were revealed for a tall condominium tower on the site using the address 432 Park Avenue. Previously, CIM had reportedly considered using the building's lower floors as a luxury hotel similar to nearby
One57 One57, formerly known as Carnegie 57, is a 75-story, supertall skyscraper at 157 West 57th Street (Manhattan), 57th Street between Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Sixth and Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenues in the Midtown Manhattan, Midtow ...
and spoken to operators including
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group International Limited (MOHG) is a Hong Kong hotel investment and management group focusing on luxury hotels, resorts, and residences, with a total of 33 properties worldwide, 20 of which are fully or partially ow ...
,
Taj Hotels Taj Hotels is a chain of luxury hotels and a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, headquartered in Mumbai, India. Incorporated by Jamsetji Tata in 1902, the company is a part of the Tata Group, one of India's largest business conglom ...
, and One&Only Resorts. The next month, CIM purchased Turnbull & Asser's storefront at 42 East 57th Street for $32.4 million and concurrently sold the nearby 50 East 57th Street to the clothier for $31.5 million, allowing CIM to expand their development site and Turnbull & Asser to remain on the same block. In December 2011,
LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...
reportedly considered investing in the site for an expansion of the company's "Cheval Blanc" luxury hotel chain, creating a campus with the company's nearby
LVMH Tower The LVMH Tower is a 24-story skyscraper on 57th Street, near Madison Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Designed by Christian de Portzamparc, the building opened in 1999 as the overseas headquarters of Paris-based LVMH Moët Hennessy ...
.


Construction

Excavation for the building's foundations began in early 2012. In March, CIM filed plans for the full building, revealing its 82-story, height. The
New York City Department of Buildings The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) is the department of the New York City government that enforces the city's building codes and zoning regulations, issues building permits, licenses, registers and disciplines certain construction tra ...
issued the construction permit two months later. By September 2012, the building's concrete foundation had been completed and the
tower crane A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy objects and transpor ...
had been installed. The building passed street level by the end of the year. As construction progressed, 432 Park's developers raised asking prices for the building's units several times. A brochure in June 2012 indicated that units would cost , but that rate had increased to by September 2012. By March 2013, asking prices had reached . The project's second crane was installed in early 2012. In October 2012, the development also received $400 million in construction financing from hedge fund
The Children's Investment Fund Management The Children’s Investment Fund Management (UK) LLP (TCI) is a London‐based hedge fund management firm founded by Chris Hohn in 2003 which manages The Children’s Investment Master Fund. TCI makes long‐term investments in companies globally ...
. The construction loan carried a low
loan-to-value ratio The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is a financial term used by lenders to express the ratio of a loan to the value of an asset purchased. In Real estate, the term is commonly used by banks and building societies to represent the ratio of the first mo ...
of under 40 percent but an unusually high interest rate of over 10 percent per year. However, the loan was also nonrecourse meaning that the lender could not go after CIM or Macklowe's other assets if they defaulted on the construction loan. Construction was temporarily halted in February 2013 after crews damaged a neighboring building and the Department of Buildings gave the project several safety violations. Though work resumed within the month, a worker was injured in an on-site construction accident that March, when a piece of wood dropped from the fifth story. In mid-2013, developers filed a revision to the plan to add another floor. This was achieved by converting floor 95, a formerly double-height story, into two separate stories of standard height. Also in March, sales officially launched from an office at the nearby
General Motors Building A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
, with units being listed at between $20 million to $82.5 million apiece. At the time, the developers claimed more than a third of the building's units were already under contract. To assist with marketing, Macklowe spent $1 million on a four-minute film that would air exclusively in the sales center. The film, directed by
Danny Forster Daniel Keith Forster (born September 19, 1977) is an American designer, television host, film and television producer, director, professor, and speaker. He is best known as the host of the Science Channel series ''Build It Bigger''; as the crea ...
and filmed at
Silvercup Studios Silvercup Studios is one of the largest film and television production facilities in New York City. The studio is located in Long Island City, Queens, with another facility in the Port Morris, Bronx, Port Morris neighborhood of the Bronx. The stu ...
, follows a young woman leaving her
English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
in a 1957
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
and taking a Learjet to her new home at 432 Park Avenue. The film also featured famed
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
high-wire artist
Philippe Petit Philippe Petit (; born 13 August 1949) is a French high-wire artist who gained fame for his unauthorized high-wire walks between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and of Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973, as well as between the Twi ...
dangling from a helicopter, music by
Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...
, references to
Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...
’s
Barcelona Pavilion The Barcelona Pavilion ( ca, Pavelló alemany; es, Pabellón alemán; "German Pavilion"), designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, was the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, Spain. This building w ...
and the
Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
, and depictions of
King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
,
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
,
Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...
, and
Anna May Wong Wong Liu Tsong (January 3, 1905 – February 3, 1961), known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood, as well as the first Chinese-American actress to gain intern ...
. 432 Park Avenue passed the mark in June 2014. The
topping out In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...
ceremony was held on October 10, 2014, signifying that the building had reached its maximum height. 432 Park Avenue was nearly completed in January 2015 when work was temporarily halted again after another construction accident. In November 2015, Macklowe added a team from brokerage
Douglas Elliman Douglas Elliman is an American real estate company. Douglas Elliman employs more than 7,000 agents and has 113 offices in New York City and across the country. The company also has a number of subsidiaries related to real estate services such as ...
to supplement the developer's internal sales team tasked with selling the tower's units. By early 2016, several websites reported that 432 Park had been officially completed on December 23, 2015.


Post-opening


2010s

In June 2016, Macklowe Properties agreed to pay $411.1 million to acquire the building's retail component from CIM. Several months later, it was announced that boutique watch store
Richard Mille Richard Mille is a Swiss luxury watch company founded in 2001 by Dominique Guenat and Richard Mille, and based in Les Breuleux, Switzerland. The brand specialises in ultra-high-end luxury watches. Company history Introduction After studying m ...
would occupy part of the ground-floor retail space. The , two-story store opened in October 2018. At the time, Richard Mille was the only retail tenant. Two months later, auction house Phillips signed a contract for retail space, consisting of at the base of the building, as well as underground, with plans to move into the space in May 2020. By the end of 2018, John Barrett also agreed to open a salon on the building's second floor and boutique perfumery Amaffi leased on the ground floor. Joanne Podell, broker for Cushman & Wakefield, stated in 2019 that she had to promise lower rents in order to attract retail tenants. In 2016, Linda Macklowe filed for divorce from Harry Macklowe. As part of the divorce proceedings, she filed a lawsuit in September 2017 claiming that Harry illegally shrunk a condo on the building's 78th floor that Linda had agreed to purchase for $14.4 million. The couple initially agreed to purchase "his and hers" condominiums on the 78th floor in 2013, with Linda occupying the smaller "A" unit and Harry purchasing the larger "B" unit. After paying a deposit of $2.2 million, Linda claimed that the developers delayed closing four times and shrunk her unit from to , giving the additional space to Harry's neighboring "B" unit. The divorce court judge ordered the tower's developers to give Linda until December 21, 2017, to decide whether to purchase the downsized unit. Linda instead chose to remain at the couple's penthouse in the nearby
Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, a ...
and dropped her lawsuit over the unit's shrinkage in exchange for the return of her $2.2 million deposit. The divorce trial also revealed that Macklowe earned just $2.5 million from his investment in 432 Park Avenue and held only a $15.7 million equity stake in the retail portion of the development. Following his subsequent marriage to Patricia Landeau, Macklowe installed a portrait of the couple taken by
Studio Harcourt Studio Harcourt is a photography studio founded in 1933 by Cosette Harcourt at 11, rue Christophe-Colomb in Paris. In 1934, she joined forces with the Lacroix brothers, press bosses and Robert Ricci, son of Nina Ricci to found the Harcourt stu ...
on the northwest corner of the tower's retail space in March 2019. The wedding's 200-person reception took place on the building's 78th floor in a condo that was turned into a temporary ballroom. The building also hosted an event for theater director Robert Wilson's Watermill Center as part of the
Park Avenue Armory __NOTOC__ The Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, generally known as Park Avenue Armory, is a nonprofit cultural institution within the historic Seventh Regiment Armory building located at 643 Park Avenue on New York City's Upper East Side. The inst ...
's "Armory Week" of art sales in January 2018. The event, attended by Macklowe,
Zac Posen Zachary E. Posen (; born October 24, 1980) is an American fashion designer. Early life Posen was born and raised in a Jewish family in New York City, residing in the SoHo neighborhood of lower Manhattan. He is the son of Susan (née Orzack), ...
, and Claude Grunitzky, was notable for employing multiple nude performers in a departure from the more classically focused events of Armory Week which centered on 18th and 19th century art.


2020s

Allegations of defects and complaints by residents were published by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in early 2021. According to the report, a leak at a mechanical floor forced two elevators out of service for several weeks in 2018. Flood damage has been reported in several apartments, and at least one would-be buyer reneged due to that issue. Other complaints have included high wind trapping a resident inside an elevator and causing "creaking, banging and clicking noises", which, according to structural engineers, are issues that have been affecting multiple supertall skyscrapers. A study commissioned by a group of residents found 73 percent of mechanical, plumbing, or electrical infrastructure in the building was not built to plans. In response, general contractor Lendlease said they had contacted CIM and Macklowe about the issues. Residents have also taken issue with the high annual costs of the private restaurant service (which rose from $1,200 per household in 2015 to $15,000 in 2020) as well as the 300 percent increase in insurance costs during a two-year period. Due to these and other issues with the building, the condo board sued CIM Group and Macklowe Properties in September 2021. An engineer hired by the board discovered an alleged 1,500 flaws in the building. At the time of the lawsuit, only one apartment sale at the building had been finalized since the beginning of 2021, even though there were 11 vacant units. Prior to
Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
in 2021, the entire building had to be vacated for two entire days for extensive repairs in the building's electrical system. CIM filed its answer to the lawsuit that December, claiming that the safety complaints were "vastly exaggerated".


Residents

As early as 2012, a dozen potential clients were described as being interested in occupying units at 432 Park, and by the next year, tenants had signed contracts for over a third of the units. The following year, that proportion had risen above 50%, with all of the tenants collectively paying an estimated $1 billion. By the end of 2015, close to 90 percent of the apartments had been sold, with almost half of those owned by a foreign citizen, "part of a global elite that collects residences like art." Many of the buyers were wealthy Chinese, though there were also numerous Brazilian and Russian clients. The German newspaper ''
Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' estimated that the majority of the units would remain unoccupied for more than ten months a year. Notable residents include
Lewis A. Sanders Lewis A. "Lew" Sanders is the founder, CEO and Co-CIO oSanders Capital, LLC a value-oriented investment manager serving institutional and high-net-worth clients. Formerly, he was the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of AllianceBern ...
,
Bennett LeBow Bennett S. LeBow is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the current chairman of the board of Vector Group. Education and career LeBow was born to a Jewish family,Ye Jianming Ye Jianming (; born 23 February 1977 − disappeared from public view in March 2018) is a Chinese businessman. He is the founder and former chairman of CEFC China Energy Company Limited, a now defunct company that used to be a Global Fortune 500 ...
, David Chu, Hely Nahmad,
Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...
, and
Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...
. Other wealthy residents include
Bridgewater Associates Bridgewater Associates is an American investment management firm founded by Ray Dalio in 1975. The firm serves institutional clients including pension funds, endowments, foundations, foreign governments, and central banks. It utilizes a globa ...
executive Bob Prince and
Douglas Elliman Douglas Elliman is an American real estate company. Douglas Elliman employs more than 7,000 agents and has 113 offices in New York City and across the country. The company also has a number of subsidiaries related to real estate services such as ...
owner
Howard Lorber Howard Mark Lorber (born September 8, 1948) is an American businessman and investor. Early life and education Lorber was born to a Jewish family in The Bronx, the son of Charles and Celia (née Benrubi) Lorber but grew up in Paramus, New Jersey. ...
.


Apartment selling prices

In 2016, 81 of the 104 units were sold at a median price of $18.4 million; by the following year, the remaining unsold units were put for sale at prices between $6.5 and $82 million. The first sale to be completed was that of apartment #35B, which was reported in January 2016 for $18.116 million, more than the $17.75 million asking price. Ten additional apartments were available at that time, ranging from $17.4 to $44.25 million. The median penthouse units were more expensive than the other units. Two penthouses on floor 91 were sold for $60 million in 2018 to Caryl Schechter, the wife of hedge-fund manager
Israel Englander Israel “Izzy” Englander (born 1948) is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. In 1989, he founded his hedge fund, Millennium Management, with Ronald Shear. The fund was started with million, and as of 2019 had billio ...
, while three penthouse units on floors 92 and 93 were sold in 2017 for a combined $91 million. The 94th-floor penthouse was sold for $32.4 million in 2019, about 25 percent lower than the original asking price. The 95th-floor penthouse, originally listed for $82 million, was split in half in 2018 and the individual units were sold at $30 million. The highest unit, on floor 96, was listed at $95 million but actually sold to Saudi businessman Fawaz Alhokair for $88 million in 2016. The sale of all of the units was expected to bring in a total of $3.1 billion, the highest aggregate sales price of any building in New York City. , almost all of the units had been sold. After the structural issues at 432 Park Avenue were publicized, Alhokair placed his apartment for sale in June 2021 with an asking price of $169 million.


Critical reception

The skyscraper has received mixed reviews from both professionals and the public. 432 Park's slenderness and simplicity have been the subject of both praise and criticism. For example, Jonathan Margolis of the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' said, "I have become obsessed by the almost childlike simplicity of 432 Park Ave". Aaron Betsky of ''
Architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
'' magazine called 432 Park "a gridded tube abstracting and punctuating the more leaden masses of the lesser boxes around it", while James Gardner of ''The Real Deal'' said that "the sense of pure geometry, the almost polemical denial of scale, only enhances the sense of immensity." Conversely, the architecture critic for ''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
'' magazine,
Justin Davidson Justin Davidson (born in Rome, Italy, in 1966) is a classical music and architecture critic. In 1983, he graduated from the American Overseas School of Rome, where his mother was an English teacher. Davidson began his journalism career as a loc ...
, wrote that the building is nothing more than "stacked cubbyhole units" and questioned the creative value of the building. The fashion consultant
Tim Gunn Timothy MacKenzie Gunn (born July 29, 1953) is an American author, academic, and television personality. He served on the faculty of Parsons School of Design from 1982 to 2007 and was chair of fashion design at the school from August 2000 to Mar ...
described the building as "just a thin column. It needs a little cap." Some critics have cited 432 Park Avenue as a representation of New York's increasing cost of living and ostentatious wealth. A critic for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' called the skyscraper an "architectural emblem of rising inequality", while ''New York'' magazine called the building's units "fancy prisons for billionaires". 432 Park's association to wealth inequality was also remarked upon by the building's own architect, Viñoly, who commented that "There are only two markets, ultraluxury and subsidized housing." Several residents of nearby buildings said that the influx of rich residents at 432 Park Avenue would increase the worth of their own properties. Though Viñoly and Macklowe were friends, they often insulted each other over the various perceived flaws in the design. Viñoly called Macklowe "a truck driver with an education in aesthetics", while Macklowe said that Viñoly's supertall design was motivated by "
penis envy Penis envy (german: Penisneid) is a stage theorized by Sigmund Freud regarding female psychosexual development, in which young girls experience anxiety upon realization that they do not have a penis. Freud considered this realization a defining m ...
" among the city's developers, who were vying to build the tallest structures. In 2016, Viñoly reportedly joked that the design had a "couple of screw-ups", such as Macklowe's window frames, the placement of the restrooms, and Berke's interior design; he later apologized for his comments.


See also

*
125 Greenwich Street 125 Greenwich Street (also known as 22 Thames Street) is a residential skyscraper under construction in the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is two blocks south of One World Trade Center on the site of the former ...
*
List of tallest buildings in New York City New York City, the most populous city in the United States, is home to over 7,000 completed high-rise buildings of at least , of which at least 95 are taller than . The tallest building in New York is One World Trade Center, which rises ...
*
List of tallest buildings in the United States The world's first skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885. Since then, the United States has been home to some of the world's tallest skyscrapers. New York City, specifically the borough of Manhattan, notably has the tallest skyline in the cou ...
*
List of tallest residential buildings The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) defines a residential building as one where 85 percent or more of its total floor area is dedicated to residential usage. The tallest residential building in the world is Central Park Tow ...


References


Notes


Citations


External links

* {{Supertall skyscrapers, current 2010s in Manhattan 2015 establishments in New York City Condominiums and housing cooperatives in Manhattan Midtown Manhattan Park Avenue Pencil towers in New York City Rafael Viñoly buildings Residential buildings completed in 2015 Residential condominiums in New York City Residential skyscrapers in Manhattan Skyscrapers on 57th Street (Manhattan) Structures with tuned mass dampers