The Financial District’s Leaning Tower Of Pisa

The building can be seen here at the shoreline. Source: Squarespace/ Unsplash.

How a Luxury Skyscraper Became One of NYC’s Strangest Sights

In the heart of Lower Manhattan, a luxury tower once marketed as a sleek addition to the skyline has instead earned a reputation for something far more surreal. Meet the Seaport Residences—also known as One Seaport—a 60-story condominium skyscraper at 161 Maiden Lane that, thanks to an infamous construction mishap, now carries a nickname worthy of Renaissance Italy: FiDi’s Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Designed by Hill West Architects and developed by Fortis Property Group, the 670-foot-tall building was envisioned as a gleaming new residential anchor between the Financial District and the Seaport District. Slated to include 80 luxury condos across 200,000 square feet, the project had all the makings of a downtown success story: waterfront views, ultra-modern design, and prime real estate just across from the FDR Drive and the East River.

What Went Wrong?

But things didn’t go according to plan. During construction, the building reportedly began to tilt several inches to the north, due to complications with the foundation work. Engineers raised alarms, lawsuits were filed, and construction was halted. Buyers pulled out. What was supposed to be a symbol of luxury living instead became a cautionary tale in New York real estate—a half-finished monument to ambition, corner-cutting, and the unforgiving logistics of building on tight urban plots.

Today, Seaport Residences stands as an oddity: a towering reminder that in a city obsessed with going higher, it's just as important to make sure what you’re building stands straight. Whether or not the project is revived and completed remains to be seen. But for now, downtown Manhattan has its own modern-day Leaning Tower—minus the tourists, but with plenty of drama.