World's Skinniest Tower Halted Due to Cost Blowout

The world's skinniest tower, located on "billionaire's row" in Manhattan, is in danger of never being completed due to cost overruns and a recently-filed lawsuit.

Construction of the planned 433-metre tower at 111 West 57^th Street has reached 20 floors.

Reportedly over budget by $50 million, a lawsuit has been filed against Michael Stern’s JDS Development Group and Kevin Maloney’s Property Markets Group and another lender by investment group AmBase in an attempt to save their equity. The suit seeks to block a foreclosure by a mezzanine lender, Spruce Capital, until those claims are sorted out or a solution is reached to reimburse AmBase.

Dezeen reports that the lawsuit claims that Maloney and Stern "omitted some very significant items in their budget including cranes, which are very expensive in New York and can run into the millions of dollars", according to AmBase's attorney Stephen Meister.

New York firm SHoP Architects designed the tower to reach 1,421 feet (433 metres and 80 levels) tall and have a height-to-width ratio of 24:1 – giving it claim to the title of world's skinniest skyscraper.

The category of "supertall" towers describes buildings measuring from 980 feet (300 metres) tall to 2,000 feet (600 metres) tall.

[Related reading: Skinny Towers Take Manhattan... And Now, Brooklyn]

The New York Post reported that the construction budget of the building known as Steinway Tower was $855 million in June 2015, according to court papers.

AmBase is believed to have invested around $70 million in the tower.

Images sourced from SHoP Architects