[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

Stalled Upper East Side Building The Charles Plans Return

There's fresh data out today showing that the number of stalled construction sites in the city has dropped 8 percent since this time last year—and now we've got some anecdotal evidence to go with that. Let's take a trip down memory lane to October 2008, when The Charles, a 45-unit building at 1355 First Avenue, was on the verge of hitting the market. The David Collins-designed apartments were asking between $2 million and $16.5 million, with the building scheduled to be finished in spring 2010. Fast forward to this morning, and the site remains an empty lot surrounded by an increasingly-dilapidated fence.

But not for long! According to a press release that just landed in the Curbed inbox, Canyon Capital Realty Advisors has just given Bluerock Real Estate a $25.6 million loan for the project. With the money, Bluerock "will engage development firm Victor Homes to complete the necessary pre-development work to prepare and position the property for construction within the next 12 months." (And Bluerock seems to be pinning its hopes partly on the site's proximity to a future Second Avenue subway stop.) The rendering sent with the press release shows the same Ismael Leyva-designed building, so we assume there are no changes planned to the design.

http://ny.curbed.com/uploads/thecharlesrender_11_11.jpg

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2011/1...ans_return.php