A Skyline Marvel—Gone Wrong
At first glance, One Seaport (also known as 161 Maiden Lane) seems like just another luxury skyscraper, a sleek glass giant promising million-dollar views of the East River. It was meant to symbolize ambition, wealth, and cutting-edge design.
But look closer. Something is off.
The tower leans—visibly tilting away from the street below.
Instead of a glamorous residential address, One Seaport is now an abandoned eyesore, caught in a web of lawsuits, engineering failures, and broken promises. What went wrong? How did a state-of-the-art skyscraper start tilting before it was even finished?
Let’s dive into the costly mistakes behind one of New York’s most infamous construction failures.
A Risky Foundation: The History of 161 Maiden Lane
To understand why One Seaport is leaning, we have to go back—centuries back.
The eastern edge of Lower Manhattan, where the tower stands, was once part of the East River. This land didn’t exist until the 18th century, when New York expanded its shoreline using landfill. What was once open water became a thriving maritime hub, lined with tall ships along South Street’s “Packet Row.”
Fast forward to the 20th century, and the waterfront fell into decline. Ambitious projects were proposed—a World Trade Center on the river, a submerged highway, even a Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim—but none came to life.
Then came Fortis Property Group, the developers behind One Seaport. They envisioned a 60-story luxury tower, the first residential skyscraper in Lower Manhattan with direct waterfront views. But the land beneath the tower was still historically unstable, built on layers of sand and artificial fill rather than solid bedrock.
And that’s where the trouble began.
The Engineering Gamble: A $6 Million Shortcut
In New York City, most skyscrapers anchor into bedrock, the sturdy foundation that holds up the city’s tallest structures. But at 161 Maiden Lane, the bedrock lies 132 to 166 feet below the surface—a deep and expensive reach.
So, instead of traditional deep drilled piles, the developers took a cheaper approach:
✔ Jet-grout soil improvement—a technique where high-pressure grout hardens the soil to make it more stable.
✔ A giant concrete mat foundation—acting as a raft to spread the weight of the skyscraper across the ground.
✔ 150-foot-long rock anchors—drilled into the soil to keep the mat from shifting.
This method saved an estimated $6 million in construction costs. But it came with risks.
Unlike bedrock, a soil-based foundation can shift over time, especially under the weight of a super-slender skyscraper. And One Seaport is extremely slim, with an aspect ratio of 15:1—making it especially vulnerable to movement.
The First Signs of Trouble
Construction officially began in 2015, but problems arose almost immediately:
🚧 Code violations delayed work before it even started.
🔨 2017: A fatal accident halted construction for months.
🚨 2018: Concrete started falling from the building’s facade.
As delays mounted, buyers—who had already purchased million-dollar condos off-plan—grew anxious. But the real shock came in 2019, when engineers revealed a devastating flaw:
The tower was leaning.
Why Is One Seaport Leaning?
By 2019, One Seaport had developed a three-inch tilt to the north—about the width of a smartphone.
🔎 Cause #1: Uneven Settling
The soil beneath the tower compressed unevenly, causing one side of the foundation to sink slightly more than the other.
💨 Cause #2: Wind Forces
The tower’s slim design made it particularly sensitive to high winds. Engineers had included sloshing dampers at the top to reduce swaying, but with a flexible foundation, the base was more vulnerable to movement.
🔗 Cause #3: Rock Anchor Tension Loss
Over time, the anchors designed to keep the foundation stable lost tension, allowing the building to tilt ever so slightly.
While engineers expected some movement, the actual lean exceeded predictions, sparking concerns about long-term safety.
The Legal War: Developer vs. Contractor
Once the lean became public knowledge, everything fell apart:
❌ Buyers backed out—luxury apartments once worth millions suddenly had zero demand.
❌ The glass facade couldn’t fit properly—forcing an awkward redesign.
❌ A massive legal battle erupted between the developer (Fortis Property Group) and the contractor (Pizzarotti LLC).
But the lawsuits didn’t stop there. By late 2023, Fortis was sued by its own lawyers for unpaid legal fees, adding another layer of chaos to the already disastrous project.
The State of One Seaport in 2025
Despite Fortis’s insistence that the tower will be completed, no real progress has been made since 2019.
In late 2023, vandals broke into the unfinished skyscraper, further cementing its status as an abandoned relic rather than a future luxury residence.
With its exposed structure, half-finished glass curtain wall, and ongoing legal battles, One Seaport has become more of an urban ruin than an active project.
What’s Next for One Seaport?
Despite the legal drama, Fortis still insists the tower is safe and claims they will eventually complete the project. However, no official timeline exists.
As of today, One Seaport remains:
🏗 Unfinished
⚖ Tied up in lawsuits
🏢 A ghost tower in the Financial District
Will it ever open? Maybe.
Will it ever shake its reputation as “New York’s Leaning Tower”? Probably not.
The Cost of Cutting Corners
161 Maiden Lane serves as a cautionary tale for urban engineering. While innovative construction techniques can save money, rushing the process and skipping bedrock foundations can have disastrous consequences.
What do you think? Could they have avoided this disaster? Let us know in the comments below!
