Posted on: November 8, 2025, 09:23h.
Last updated on: November 8, 2025, 11:01h.
- Lawrence Ho is among 432 Park Avenue’s rich and famous tenants
- The casino billionaire paid $65.16 million for an 83-floor penthouse in 2017
Last month, The New York Times published a damning expose on the supposedly faulty construction of one of the world’s most luxurious and expensive residential skyscrapers. 432 Park Avenue is home to many of the rich and famous when they’re in New York City, but its structural integrity has been called into question.
432 Park Ave. is located on Billionaires’ Row in Midtown Manhattan on the southern end of Central Park. The neighborhood includes ultra-luxury “pencil” skyscrapers that reach over 1,000 feet into the sky, peering over the rest of NYC.
The NYT report, however, claims the 96-story, 1,400-foot-tall 432 Park Ave. is crumbling. The newspaper alleges that the building’s founders prioritized aesthetics and a brilliant white concrete mix that’s more vulnerable to cracking than a frame constructed of reinforced concrete and steel.
Independent engineers told the Times that parts of the 432 Park façade are crumbling and that “chunks of concrete will fall.” The city Buildings Department issued violations against the property in 2022, citing “immediately hazardous” exterior issues. The problems have since been fixed, so claim the building’s management.
Residents say the reports are exaggerated. A spokesperson for the building’s developer said the claims that the façade is deteriorating are “baseless.”
Casino Tenant
Billionaires’ Row is where Hong Kong gambling tycoon Lawrence Ho opted to buy when he decided to put down part-time roots in New York City.
In March 2017, Casino.org reported on Ho dropping $65.16 million for a top-floor unit at the newly finished 432 Park Ave. The third-richest residential real estate transaction in New York that year, Ho’s purchase was for the entire 83rd floor. Ho’s penthouse includes approximately 8K square feet of living space with six bedrooms and six baths.
Among the building’s many amenities are access to private Michelin-starred restaurants, a private movie theater, an indoor golf learning center, a 75-foot-long indoor lap pool with a whirlpool, sauna, and steam room, a 14-seat boardroom, a fitness center, and a library.
Ho purchased the 432 Park Ave. property under the entity Valor Dragon Limited. According to the New York City Office of the Register, Ho put down $34.66 million upon closing, and mortgaged the remaining $30.5 million.
The property records show that Valor Dragon continues to own the real estate.
Ho’s Fortune Has Decreased
The value of Ho’s penthouse unit at 432 Park Ave has presumably diminished since 2017, among the widespread, much-publicized concerns about the building’s integrity. The billionaire’s net worth has dropped since 2017, too.
In March 2017, when Ho bought his NYC home, shares of his Melco Resorts were trading around $18. Today, those same shares are worth $8.50 as of Friday’s close.
Ho’s Melco remains most invested in China’s Macau, where the company owns and operates City of Dreams and Studio City on the Cotai Strip and Altira downtown. Melco also has integrated resort casino holdings in the Philippines, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka.
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