Falling glass from Center City high rise prompts lawsuit against window manufacturer

CENTER CITY (KYW Newsradio) — The building managers of a Center City apartment complex are suing the company that installed its windows after glass began raining down on the sidewalk around the high rise earlier this week.

PMC Property Group, the owners of the Riverwalk apartment complex at 23rd and Arch, filed a lawsuit against Wausau Window to resolve any further potential defects with windows installed in a number of its Center City properties.

The property group claims there have been 60 shattered glass incidents in three of its Center City apartment towers over the last few years. In addition to the Riverwalk apartments, PMC also said there were reported incidents at Franklin Towers Residences near 16th and Race Streets.

On Thursday, crews hired by PMC were installing scaffolding along a stretch of 23rd and Arch streets next to the Riverwalk Apartments to protect pedestrians walking below from being hit by any falling glass.

Resident Tom Muir recently moved into the complex and had one of the windows in his unit shatter, but it remains intact.

“I'm assuming that is the purpose of that type of glass… is to just shatter,” Muir said. “I don't have a timeline, but they did say they would replace it."

Beyond the lawsuit, PMC said it is also working with Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections to pinpoint any structural defects and has hired a new glass vendor to remove and replace the cracked or shattered windows.