When the project began last year, it was overseen by 235 GC LLC, a single-purpose entity general contractor created specifically to deliver the project by Metro Loft and co-developer David Werner Real Estate Investments. 

Only two subcontractors on the project, the fire protection and elevator installation firms, were union contractors, which is unusual for major construction in Manhattan. 

There were a total of seven project safety violations totaling $32,000 issued by the city's Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings in 2025, according to New York City Dept. of Buildings. These included citations for a worker falling 6 ft off a ladder, one for not reporting the accident to department officials, one for a piece of debris falling onto the street below and one for work not adhering to construction documents on the project.

More than a dozen workers have filed lawsuits against the contractor, alleging they were seriously injured on the job in different incidents.

Cliff Johnsen, a business agent for Steamfitters Local 638 in New York City, told ENR his union's crews were on the project doing fire protection installation when the buckling columns were discovered.

"All we want is responsible construction in the City of New York, we want them to be union workers," Johnsen says. "They did not shore up the job correctly. The beams started crumbling, the floors started crumbling."

According to documents filed with the department, the conversion of 235 E. 42nd Street involved adding four new floors, raising the building from 33 stories to 37. The project also called for 19 new floors atop the adjoining building, a 10-story tower at 219 E. 42nd Street, reportedly built in 1905.

Metro Loft did not immediately respond to questions for this story, but Nathan Berman, its founder and managing principal, told The Wall Street Journal that "at some point, the design team identified that the existing structure, perhaps with some minor reinforcement, could support the addition above," he said. "Clearly, based on what we're seeing, that's not the case."

Complex Conversions, Faster Turnarounds

A rendering of the planned office-to-residential conversion of the former Pfizer headquarters in midtown Manhattan.  
Image courtesy Gensler

Unlike other large cities, incentives for office-to-residential conversions in New York City that were passed during former Mayor Eric Adams' administration—and backed at the state level by Gov. Kathy Hochul—are focused almost entirely on tax breaks and abatements at the end of a conversion project, rather than on money from tax increment financing or other public money to support conversions. 

One particular incentive is New York City's rule 467-m, which allows tax abatements for up to 35 years. To qualify for the tax benefits, at least 25% of housing units have to be affordable, which the Pfizer conversion was approved to obtain. 

In the Bloomberg interview, Berman said the speed and ability to get conversions done quickly, compared to new construction, is what makes them attractive.

 "That’s what makes conversions exciting for us—the immediacy of it. You buy a building and maybe 18 months later, you’re renting apartments. That type of schedule doesn’t exist for ground up. You’re lucky if it’s year seven that you rent it," he told Bloomberg. 

Construction lenders are concerned that the incident will affect the popularity of office-to-residential conversions beyond New York City. 

"It’s going to make everyone a little bit more conservative," Paul Rahimian, CEO of Parkview Financial, a real-estate lender that has financed both office-to-residential and hotel-to-residential projects, told Fox News. "Maybe we do the easy ones, but let’s not do the super complex ones."