Developer Pursues FiDi Convert Project After Midtown Disaster
MetroLoft, the developer which specializes in this type of project, is facing questions after their East 42nd Street office-to-conversion project threatened to collapse on July 7 resulting in street closures and evacuations. Now, it has filed a deed for a similar undertaking on Whitehall Street.
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| 16 Jul 2026 | 11:14
MetroLoft is pursuing the residential-to-office conversion at 1 Whitehall Street (above), just as it faces an ongoing investigation in connection with the recent near-collapse of a similar project at the former Pfizer HQ at 235 E. 42nd St. (
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Steel beams in an office-to-residential project on E. 42nd Street buckled, causing floors and ceilings to sag. MetroLoft, the developer behind the project, is eyeing a new office-to-residential conversion downtown. (
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The developer behind the office-to-residential conversion that nearly collapsed in Midtown last week plans to undertake a similar project in FiDi, according to a deed filed with the city just three days after the unsettling event.
The latest conversion being pursued by MetroLoft would take place at 1 Whitehall Street, with the newly-infamous company set to partner with private equity firm Quantum Pacific on the project. The makeover of the 23-story building would be designed by the architecture firm CetraRuddy.
According to the deed, MetroLoft and Quantum Pacific purchased the Whitehall Street building for $104.million from LoanCore, which is led by Mark Finnerman. MetroLoft is headed by David Werner.
In turn, LoanCore had acquired the property during a foreclosure proceeding in January of this year, after the Chetrit Organization defaulted on a $156 million mortgage. Chetrit had purchased the building for $181.5 million in 2019 from the powerhouse Rudin family, which originally developed it in 1962.
In the July 7 incident, multiple structural beams situated on the 21st floor of 235 E. 42nd Street suddenly bent in half causing floors and ceilings to sag in the northwest corner of the building. Initially, 12 city blocks were closed to traffic and nine buildings, including the former Pfizer HQ where the beams buckled
This led to the shuttering of twelve square city blocks and the evacuation of more than a half-dozen buildings, with city officials initally worried about a catastrophic collapse. Fear and frustration among local residents and tourists alike ran rampant, Our Town reported.
Work on the entire conversion project, which is slated to transform the former headquarters of the pharmaceutical giant into 1,600 luxury residential apartments with 11 additional stories capped by a rooftop swimming pool, has remained under a stop-work order since July 7. The building has since reportedly been stabilized, city officials say and streets reopened.
Werner, the CEO of MetroLoft, has since clarified that his company believes that th aedded load was responsible for the bent beams–and has projected plans to completely start over on the 11 story height addition.
“First and foremost, we want to thank the FDNY, NYPD, and DOB for their quick response...We’re thankful there were no injuries, and as the DOB clarified, no debris fell from the building,” Werner said in a statement shortly after. “We want to confirm that the affected area is a small section of one of the two buildings on this site.”
It later emerged that the project, the largest instance of the office-to-residential conversion boom yet, had racked up multiple violations and was employing non-union labor.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the city’s Department of Investigation have since opened investigations into the project, while a truck commissioned by the Carpenter’s Union parked two blocks away and blared the messages “Shame on MetroLoft” and “Crime Scene” to passerby on E. 43rd Street.
MetLife has successfully pursued numerous other office-to-residential conversions in Manhattan. Among others, these include the reworking of a 30-story building at 55 Broad Street and the transformation of a 57-story landmark on Exchange Place.
MetroLoft did not respond to a request for comment on their new plans for a conversion project at 1 Whitehall Street.