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When it comes to 432 Park Ave., one of Manhattan’s most expensive addresses, the cracks aren’t just in the concrete — they’re in the trust.
The board at the famed Billionaires’ Row supertall is accusing its developers of orchestrating a “deliberate and far-reaching fraud” by concealing thousands of defects, many of which they claim compromise the building’s structure and safety, according to the New York Times.
In two lawsuits — one filed in 2021, the other in April 2025 — unit owners allege a cover-up that spans nearly a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars.
“This matter extends beyond negligence into an alleged calculated scheme, driven by greed, that eroded trust,” Terrence Oved, an attorney representing the condo board, told The Post in a statement.
At the center of the newest legal complaint is the building’s signature white concrete façade, a design element that doubles as a load-bearing structure for the 1,396-foot-tall tower, according to the Times.
The April lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, claims that developers CIM Group and Macklowe Properties knew the concrete mix would not hold up under pressure but forged ahead with construction anyway — ignoring internal warnings, failed tests and mounting evidence of structural deficiencies.
“It is difficult to know the impact of cracking in a fully loaded building,” Viñoly Architects noted in a 2012 field report cited in the filing.
Also cited in the suit: Another engineering firm, WSP, echoed the concern and advised developers to “hold the pour” until a “valid” mix was confirmed. Both cautions were allegedly dismissed.
The lawsuit claims cracks appeared in nearly every mock-up and persisted well into the construction phase, with more than 1,800 identified by 2016 — many categorized as “life safety items.”
Problems ranged from surface blemishes to “large voids, spalls of unknown origin, unfilled cracks, opened cracks and other serious deficiencies,” the board alleges. Despite four separate consultants being brought in, residents say developers routinely chose cheaper or cosmetic fixes over meaningful repairs.
The 432 Park tower opened in 2015 with fanfare and a projected value exceeding $3 billion. Touted as the pinnacle of vertical luxury, the 96-story tower attracted celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and international buyers cloaked behind anonymous shell corporations.
Units were marketed as pristine sanctuaries in the sky, with prices ranging from $10 million to $35 million and amenities such as a private restaurant, a pool and a library with a woodburning fireplace.
But residents claim life in the clouds has been less than serene.
Both lawsuits detail ongoing floods, water infiltration in the sub-basement, malfunctioning elevators, loud noises from trash chutes and severe vibration issues.
One resident allegedly had to move out for 19 months during the pandemic due to unremedied noise and construction-related issues.
“Using the trash chute sounds ‘like a bomb,’” unit owners alleged in the 2021 complaint, which also accused the developers of delivering a building “riddled with over 1,500 identified construction and design defects to the common elements … leaving aside the numerous defects within individual units.”
Among those alleged defects: sliding doors that don’t shut, fogged-up windows, baseboards detaching from walls and repeated circuit breaker failures.
The lawsuits charge that both developers and contractors made fraudulent misrepresentations in filings to the Department of Buildings and state regulators, downplaying or concealing the extent of the damage to avoid costly delays.
Developers deny the allegations.
In a statement to the Times, a spokesperson for CIM Group said the firm “vehemently” denies the claims and plans to seek dismissal.
SLCE Architects, another defendant, issued a similar denial. WSP and Macklowe Properties did not respond to requests for comment.
Even with the legal cloud overhead, agents say the building hasn’t yet suffered a full-blown pricing collapse.
“It’s hard to prove a negative,” broker Jason Haber, who is currently listing a five-bedroom unit on the 55th floor for $29.5 million — down from $33 million in 2022 — told Business Insider. “I only know the people who contact me about the building.”
For now, the board at 432 Park is seeking at least $165 million in damages in its latest filing, citing not only the repair costs, but also diminished resale value and reputational harm.
The city’s Department of Buildings told the Times it had not received any notice of “immediately hazardous conditions” from engineers working at the site.
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