Hurricane shreds NYC high-rise condo crane

Editor's note: Inman News Publisher Brad Inman is in Manhattan, waiting out Hurricane Sandy. He will be filing stories as they relate to real estate over the next couple of days.

By BRAD INMAN

NEW YORK CITY -- A life-threatening danger looms at a new high-rise condominium development in New York City's Midtown area after a construction crane was dislodged at 2:30 pm and now is facing gale-force winds from Hurricane Sandy.

Currently under construction in Midtown Manhattan, the 75-story One57 tower skyscraper is billed as a luxury "Wall of Glass."

In the last six months, the mysterious building has become a symbol of the booming Manhattan real estate market, as moneyed buyers allegedly paid top dollar for signature buildings before construction was even complete.

Upon scheduled completion in 2013, it will stand at 1,004 feet tall, making it one of the tallest buildings in the city. The mixed-use tower developed by the Extell Development Company, will have 135 residential units on top of a Park Hyatt Hotel with 210 rooms.

Reportedly, buyers including fashion executives, movie stars, tech titans and Middle Eastern oil czars, have paid more than $90 million per unit. Since specific buyers have never been disclosed, this has given the building a certain mystique in the marketing of the building.

According to the New York Daily News, "Hurricane Sandy blew over a rooftop crane, leaving it dangling over W. 57th St. and terrifying passersby who feared it would come crashing to the ground. Firefighters were called to the site of the One57 tower, as the crane swayed from the 70th floor. Police blocked off nearby streets and several buildings between Sixth and Seventh Aves. were evacuated."

The snarky real estate blog Curbed reported earlier in the day:

"Things are getting real out there, folks. A One57 construction crane has collapsed and is now dangling in the wind outside the Midtown building. 'Just happened,' notes the tipster. The building is in the midst of getting glassed. As for the unfinished apartments that wind is whistling through, one of 'em sold for more than $90 million."