Office-to-Residential Conversions

New York City is in the middle of the largest office-to-residential conversion wave in its history, driven in part by the city's post-2022 "467-m" tax incentive. Below: real, sourced conversion projects, and — kept deliberately separate — a real, honestly-reported account of structural and safety issues that have surfaced during this construction. See also Office Construction and Residential Construction for live DOB filing data.

• 25 Water Street ("SoMA")

  25 Water Street, Manhattan · GFP Real Estate, Metro Loft Management, Rockwood Capital · Architect: CetraRuddy

  A 1970s Financial District office tower converted into the largest office-to-residential project in U.S. history by unit count, and reported as the first conversion to use the 467-m tax incentive. Leasing launched and largely completed in 2026.

  Status: CompletedProgram: 467-m programUnits: 1,300 apartments — the largest office-to-residential conversion by unit count in U.S. history

  ~1.0–1.1 million sq ft (pre-conversion office area)

  Same team also on1 Whitehall Street, 55 Broad Street, 101 Greenwich Street, 222 Broadway, 61 Broadway, Former Pfizer Headquarters (219–235 East 42nd Street)

  Source: 6sqft, corroborated by The Real Deal's roundup of NYC's largest office-to-residential conversions. · Verified 2026-08-13

• One Wall Street

  1 Wall Street, Manhattan · Macklowe Properties · Architect: SLCE

  A 90-year-old, 564-foot Art Deco tower converted to condominiums, predating the 467-m program. First closings began in March 2023.

  Status: CompletedProgram: Not 467-mUnits: 566 condominium units

  Same team also on432 Park Avenue

  Source: Dezeen, corroborated by The Real Deal. · Verified 2026-08-13

• Former Pfizer Headquarters (219–235 East 42nd Street)

  219–235 East 42nd Street, Manhattan · MetroLoft and David Werner Real Estate Investments · Architect: Gensler

  The former Pfizer world headquarters, two formerly separate buildings combined into one of NYC's largest-ever office-to-residential conversions, targeting 2027 completion. This is the site of the July 2026 structural-column-buckling incident — see Known Structural & Safety Issues below.

  Status: Under ConstructionProgram: 467-m programUnits: More than 1,600 apartments, including 400+ affordable units — reported as the largest conversion in NYC history

  Combined square footage reported inconsistently across outlets (roughly 970,000–1.2M sq ft) — treated as unconfirmed

  Same team also on1 Whitehall Street, 101 Greenwich Street, 160 Water Street ("Pearl House"), 25 Water Street ("SoMA"), 55 Broad Street, JFK Airport Redevelopment (New Terminal One & Terminal 6)

  Source: The Real Deal, corroborated by Gensler's own project page and Wikipedia's Pfizer Building entry. · Verified 2026-08-13

• 5 Beekman Street ("The Beekman Residences")

  5 Beekman Street, Manhattan · GFI Development Company

  Predates the 467-m program by nearly a decade — completed in 2016, adjacent to the landmarked 1883 Temple Court building.

  Status: CompletedProgram: Not 467-mUnits: 68 residential condo units (in a new 51-story tower; lower floors are a 287-room hotel, not residential)

  Source: Wikipedia, corroborated by CityRealty's building profile. · Verified 2026-08-13

• 160 Water Street ("Pearl House")

  160 Water Street, Manhattan · Vanbarton Group · Architect: Gensler

  A 1970s 24-story office tower converted into a 30-story residential building — explicitly reported as not eligible for 467-m benefits. More than half leased as of May 2024.

  Status: CompletedProgram: Not 467-mUnits: 588 market-rate apartments

  533,000 sq ft

  Same team also onFormer Pfizer Headquarters (219–235 East 42nd Street), JFK Airport Redevelopment (New Terminal One & Terminal 6)

  Source: New York YIMBY, corroborated by Commercial Observer. · Verified 2026-08-13

• 55 Broad Street

  55 Broad Street, Manhattan · Silverstein Properties and Metro Loft · Architect: CetraRuddy

  Former Goldman Sachs headquarters, acquired June 2022 for $180M; leasing launched September 2024.

  Status: CompletedProgram: 467-m unconfirmedUnits: 571 apartments, including a 143-unit mixed-income lottery component opened June 2025

  410,000 sq ft

  Same team also on1 Whitehall Street, 25 Water Street ("SoMA"), 101 Greenwich Street, 2 World Trade Center, 3 World Trade Center, 61 Broadway, Former Pfizer Headquarters (219–235 East 42nd Street)

  Source: The Real Deal, corroborated by 6sqft. · Verified 2026-08-13

• 61 Broadway

  61 Broadway, Manhattan · RXR Realty and One Investment Management · Architect: CetraRuddy

  A 33-story tower; construction began March 2026 on a $475M debt package, targeting first-unit delivery H1 2028.

  Status: Under ConstructionProgram: 467-m programUnits: 796 rental apartments, ~200 designated affordable (80% AMI)

  Same team also on1 Whitehall Street, 175 Park Avenue (The Commodore), 25 Water Street ("SoMA"), 55 Broad Street, JFK Airport Redevelopment (New Terminal One & Terminal 6)

  Source: The Real Deal, corroborated by Commercial Observer. · Verified 2026-08-13

• 222 Broadway

  222 Broadway, Manhattan · GFP Real Estate

  A 1962-built former Western Electric HQ near City Hall, under a stop-work order as of July 2026 — see Known Structural & Safety Issues below.

  Status: Under ConstructionProgram: 467-m unconfirmedUnits: Reported inconsistently across outlets (~300 to ~800 units) — treated as unconfirmed

  Same team also on25 Water Street ("SoMA")

  Source: The Real Deal. · Verified 2026-08-13

• 1 Whitehall Street

  1 Whitehall Street, Manhattan · MetroLoft (Nathan Berman) and Quantum Pacific (Idan Ofer) · Architect: CetraRuddy

  Acquired for roughly $100–104.5M, deal closed July 1, 2026 — the same developer's next project after the Pfizer-building incident.

  Status: PlannedProgram: 467-m unconfirmedUnits: Not yet publicly disclosed — pre-construction

  322,000 sq ft

  Same team also on101 Greenwich Street, 25 Water Street ("SoMA"), 55 Broad Street, 61 Broadway, Former Pfizer Headquarters (219–235 East 42nd Street)

  Source: The Real Deal, corroborated by Gothamist. · Verified 2026-08-13

• 101 Greenwich Street

  101 Greenwich Street, Manhattan · Quantum Pacific and Metro Loft

  A 26-story tower bought from BentallGreenOak in February 2025 for $100M+; $218M in financing arranged by Newmark. Not yet under vertical construction.

  Status: PlannedProgram: 467-m unconfirmedUnits: 614 units per filed DOB plans

  Same team also on1 Whitehall Street, 25 Water Street ("SoMA"), 55 Broad Street, Former Pfizer Headquarters (219–235 East 42nd Street)

  Source: Commercial Observer. · Verified 2026-08-13

Known Structural & Safety Issues

Kept as a separate section from the project roster above so a reader doesn't conflate "conversions in general" with "conversions that have had a reported problem" — most conversions on this page have no entry below at all, which is the normal, expected case, not a gap. Every entry here is a real, named-outlet- reported incident, not an inferred or general safety concern.

A recurring design constraint, not an incident: NYC Building Code §1205 requires every legal bedroom to have natural light/ventilation from an exterior window. Typical 1960s–70s office towers place the elevator/mechanical core 40–50 feet from the window line, making large swaths of floor plate unusable for bedrooms without major floor-plate surgery — trade press describes this "dark space" problem as a leading predictor of which office towers can feasibly convert at all, distinct from any specific building's reported incident below.

• Structural columns buckle at the former Pfizer headquarters, triggering multi-block evacuation

  Former Pfizer Headquarters, 235 East 42nd Street

  Construction workers converting the 37-story former Pfizer headquarters spotted buckling support columns on the 21st floor, prompting evacuation of the tower and at least nine neighboring buildings. An engineer warned a one-to-two-foot floor drop could leave the top ten stories misaligned.

  Cause: Not publicly confirmed at the time of the incident — under review.

  Outcome: Emergency shoring stabilized the structure within a day; DOB later declared it safe. Construction continues toward a targeted 2027 completion.

  Source: CBS News New York · 2026-07-08 · Related project: Former Pfizer Headquarters (219–235 East 42nd Street)

• Cracked concrete beams found unreported at 222 Broadway conversion, halting work a third time

  222 Broadway, 222 Broadway

  DOB inspectors found two cracked concrete beams on the newly constructed 32nd floor that had been repaired with steel strapping/thru-rods without the contractor or engineer reporting the damage to the city or filing amended repair plans when first discovered in March 2026.

  Cause: Failure to report/file amended plans for a repair already made — described by the developer as a reporting/paperwork dispute, not a structural safety issue; DOB said the building remained stable.

  Outcome: Full stop-work order issued July 27, 2026 — the building's third in a matter of weeks.

  Source: The Real Deal · 2026-07-27 · Related project: 222 Broadway

• Unapproved steel column welds halt work at SL Green's 750 Third Avenue conversion

  750 Third Avenue, 750 Third Avenue

  Inspectors found steel columns welded together in ways potentially not shown on DOB-approved plans, at SL Green's roughly $805 million conversion targeting ~680 residential units.

  Cause: Not publicly confirmed — SL Green said there were "no structural issues with the building."

  Outcome: DOB ordered a stop to structural steel work on the 9th floor and above pending an engineer's stability report; the order was reportedly rescinded days later after the report was submitted.

  Source: Commercial Observer · 2026-07-28

Curated 2026-08-13. Not a comprehensive incident database — only real, named-outlet-reported events found during research; a conversion with no entry above simply has no publicly reported issue found, not a clean bill of health independently verified by this site.