But owners and residents have since complained of numerous construction issues, including more than 20 water leaks since 2017, according to the complaint. In 2021, the condo board filed a lawsuit alleging a range of defects, from malfunctioning elevators and poor energy efficiency to a trash chute that sounds “like a bomb” when used.
The new lawsuit meanwhile claims that the tower’s facade is “plagued with thousands of severe cracks, spalling, and other forms of deterioration,” including a 10-inch-deep crack in the building’s core. As well as causing flooding, the damage has corroded some of the steel in the tower’s reinforced concrete columns, the complaint alleges.
While the 2021 complaint also detailed “substantial cracking,” the condo board said it filed its most recent action after claiming it uncovered evidence that defendants had “conspired” to conceal the extent and seriousness of the defects.
In statements provided to CNN, both CIM Group and SLCE Architects, the project’s architect of record, said they “vehemently” deny the claims and are moving to have the complaint dismissed. Engineering firm WSP declined to comment. McGraw Hudson Construction Corp did not respond to CNN’s inquiries.
The lawsuit attributes cracking to the building’s “experimental” facade, which is made from white concrete. The material is, it says, “typically used for aesthetic purposes” and had to be strengthened to withstand the supertall building’s structural load — especially during high winds.
Among the suit’s allegations are claims that CIM Group ignored concerns raised by various concrete consultants, as well as the project’s late architect Rafael Viñoly about the strength of the concrete mix. The condo board claims that mockup tests showed the material’s use would result in cracking. But CIM Group and its contractors “bulled forward” with “complete disregard for… the inevitable problems it would cause for the building and its future residents,” the suit adds.