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While attempting to patch a leak on a sublevel of the building in June, a contractor mistakenly drilled into electrical wiring, causing an explosion “which threw the contractor backwards, several feet through the air,” knocked out the power for some residents, and shut down the air-conditioning system. The suit said the decision to go public was a result of the developers inadequate “band-aid approach” to resolving many of the issues. Another resident said the trash chute “sounds like a bomb” when garbage is tossed.
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The suit claims that even Richard Ressler, a founder of CIM Group and a unit owner, once said the sound and vibration issues were “intolerable,” and made it difficult to sleep during inclement weather. Noise complaints related to the quality of construction were frequent. Some 35 units and common areas were damaged by water, causing millions in damages, and one flood disabled two residential elevators for weeks. There have been a number of floods and leaks, both on high floors and in the subbasement, which the board attributes to poor plumbing installation. Residents have been trapped “on several occasions” for hours in stalled elevator cars, at least in part because of the building sway that occurs in towers of such immense height, the suit said. The complaint cited defects in a number of interrelated systems in the building, many of which present “life safety” issues. “Far from the ultraluxury spaces that they were promised, however, Unit Owners were sold a building plagued by breakdowns and failures that have endangered and inconvenienced residents,” the complaint said. Buyers have included Saudi retail magnate Fawaz Alhokair, who purchased an $88 million apartment on the 96th floor a member of the Beckmann family that owns the Jose Cuervo Tequila brand and the one-time pairing of Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, who bought a 4,000-square-foot apartment for $15.3 million in 2018, and sold it about a year later. Macklowe Properties, the other developer, did not return requests for comment.īuilt in 2015 with a projected sellout value of $3.1 billion, the pencillike tower marked a pinnacle in luxury condo development in the city - much of it geared toward part-time residents and investors who hid their identities behind shell companies. “Each and every commitment and term contained in the 432 Park Offering Plan and Declaration has been honored,” a spokesman for the sponsor, which includes CIM Group, said in a statement, adding that some of the remaining “maintenance and close-out items” have been obstructed by the condo board. “This is a work in progress in ascertaining what’s wrong.”
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“It’s almost like peeling an onion,” he said, referring to defects that may yet be uncovered.