Buffalo connection to NYC Park Avenue condo tower

When the 432 Park Avenue condo project opens next year in midtown Manhattan, its tenants and visitors can thank a Buffalo company for its role in the tower's construction.

Eberl Iron Works provided nearly 5,000 specially-designed steel pans needed to hold concrete base of the tower's stairs. Not that the company's owners mind that people will be walking on some of their best work.

"Because of our expertise, we were the best option," said John Eberl, CEO of the 91-year-old privately-held company on Buffalo's East Side.

Through some construction industry connections, Eberl Iron Works was selected by Connecticut-based fabricator Post Road Iron to build the pans. What made the project unique — besides the size of the tower — was that the pans Eberl had to make needed seven bends instead of the three typically found. Each of the pans were 42 inches wide by seven inches deep.

"That's why the job was so complicated," Eberl said.

Eberl Iron Works was awarded the contract last fall, just a few months after making its pitch to Post Road Iron. The deal marked the first time the two companies worked together.

Within a year, all of the pans were delivered to the Manhattan work site.

The 1,396-foot tall tower, which is 150-feet taller than the Empire State Building, will be home to 104 condos plus other amenities including a restaurant. When it is completed, it will be the tallest residential structure in the Western Hemisphere. The project is said to cost $1.25 billion.

The condos range in price from $6 million to $96 million.

CIM Group and Macklowe Properties, the project's development team, are hoping to build a companion condo tower that will even be taller. For his part, Eberl hopes to land the contract to build the steel stair pans on that project.

James Fink covers real estate, commercial development and government