Malecon Center suffered damage to the parking garages during the Haitian earthquake. The US governtment moved out any of their employees who rented there.
About the Torres Veirmar, I have heard from a couple of Dominicans, one an architect, that they do not like the construction. One friend said that they went to see an apartment and "did not like the way the wind blew through" while the architect said that the buildings were built for the Mediterranean, not the Caribbean, and do not have the proper facade for facing hurricanes.
As it your friend is just looking for a rental, it might be fine, certainly the apartments LOOK like they are beautiful.
But I would make sure that he has a lease that he, the tenant, can break at any time with 30 days notice.
For myself, I would be concerned about the heat in the apartments with all that glass. I do not know anything about the "blue glass" and perhaps that does not absorb the heat or even let the sunlight in.
I would also be sure that the apartment has hurricane shutters, the metal ones? I do not know if they do.
The Torre on the corner of Pasteur, the numbe 1, seems very sparsely inhabited, which is odd for this neighborhood but may just be because of the high prices.
It certainly will have a great view.
I would not worry about the security there, inside the apartment on the 20th floor, no one is likely to get in. I would perhaps be a little concerned about what the street lights are like at night .. the back of that building, on Independencia, is poorly lit and would scare me a little.
And, of course, I would be concerned about living on the 20th floor in case of blackouts. I would not like to be trapped in an elevator even for the time that it takes for the planta to kick in. I may be unduly concerned about this and perhaps others who live in high Torre's can reassure you on this. Gazcue used to be a zone of 24/7 electric but the black outs are getting longer. That building is not technically in Gazcue, more like the Zona Universitad?
If possible, I would talk to other tenants before renting.