NYC Issues Partial Stop-Work Order for One Day at SL Green’s 750 Third Avenue Conversion
It’s the third time in under a month the city has halted work at an office-to-residential project
By Isabelle Durso July 29, 2026 5:31 pm
reprints
New York City’s Department of Buildings (DOB) briefly halted construction work at the third office-to-conversion project in Manhattan this month.
On Wednesday, the DOB issued a partial stop-work order at SL Green Realty’s $805 million conversion project at 750 Third Avenue in Midtown East, which is set to result in 680 residential units and potentially see 11 floors added. The order was later rescinded on Thursday following a re-inspection of the site by the DOB.
“The Department of Buildings confirmed that there are no structural issues with the building and that full construction activity may resume,” an SL Green spokesperson told Commercial Observer. “Construction remains on schedule, and we look forward to advancing the project as planned.”
Despite the project resuming promptly, the stop-work order wasn’t the first one at a conversion project in the city this month. It comes after the near-collapse of the former Pfizer headquarters earlier in July, when steel beams at MetroLoft and David Werner’s 235 East 42nd Street project buckled and sparked the evacuation of 10 surrounding Midtown blocks. Then earlier this week, GFP Real Estate’s conversion project at 222 Broadway in the Financial District was also halted after cracks were found on a newly added floor.
In the case of 750 Third Avenue, it seems as if steel columns were not welded properly and inconsistencies were reported, according to the DOB. As a result, inspectors temporarily stopped all steel work above the eighth floor at the 34-story property, according to The New York Times, which first reported the news on Wednesday.
“During our structural reinforcement prep work, prior to beginning any overbuild work, we identified an on-site condition that differed from the plans that were submitted to the city, which was visible only after completing initial preparation work,” an SL Green spokesperson told CO Wednesday.
While the Pfizer buckling certainly spurred a renewed scrutiny of ongoing conversion projects in New York City and an increased focus on safety, these types of partial stop-work orders are not uncommon. The DOB issued 7,000 such stops in 2025, the Times reported.
Update: This story has been updated to reflect that work at 750 Third Avenue resumed Thursday after a re-inspection by the DOB.
Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.
