Demolition is almost fully complete at 1655 First Avenue, the site of a pair of 23-story residential buildings on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Designed by S. Wieder Architect for Cheskel Schwimmer of Chess Builders LLC, the 235-foot-tall structure will span 145,086 square feet and yield 198 rental units with an average scope of 725 square feet. The project will also include ground-floor commercial space, a cellar level, and a 30-foot-long rear yard. The 12,000-square-foot property is alternately addressed as 355 East 86th Street and located at the corner of First Avenue and East 86th Street.
All but one of the six former low-rise occupants of the plot have been razed to street level since our last update in December, when the four-story structures were in the process of being gutted. Demolition is progressing on the remaining building at the southwestern corner of the assemblage along East 86th Street, where scaffolding and blue netting cover the main southern elevation. The structure’s interiors appear fully stripped, and crews will likely begin to dismantle the exterior imminently.
1655 First Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
1655 First Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
1655 First Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
Scattered masonry rubble covers much of the site.
1655 First Avenue. Photo by Michael Young.
The below Google Street View image shows the former occupants along Second Avenue before the start of demolition. The developer purchased the property for $50 million.
1655 1st Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side via Google Maps
The nearest subway from the development site is the Q train at the 86th Street station to the west along Second Avenue.
No renderings have been released for the new building, nor has any information emerged regarding the construction timeline or list of potential amenities.
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Whole areas of the Uppity East Side are beginning to look like a postwar pile of drivel.
1st Ave was never uppity.
This was so charming with the old liquor sign on a florist.
Isn’t one of the adjacent properties refusing to allow shoring and protection?
At least that’s the story? Shady developers who want to speculate on an empty pit usually use excuses like that.
Why not build 73 stories and create 50 stories in addition for middle income tenants.
why not 100% market rate?
There was a stop work order posted and nothing has been done for a few months now. Has that been lifted? Also- note the switch to 99 unit buildings to avoid the rules about union labor.
Nyc dob bis will provide status of swo. What union labor law?
Was this the holdout who got written up in the NYT? Bye bye.
That’s across the street.
The trouble with this area (in fact most of Yorkville) is that you can do a 360 and not see anything remotely attractive anywhere. I find that depressing.
Take a look at the Church of the Holy Trinity on 88th Street, basically one block north of this site. Stunning. Lots of other good buildings on the side streets.