The debacle that is 123 West 15th Street, aka Valhalla, aka the Chelsea Alien Pod, is perhaps the most cautionary of all boom-and-bust tales. We're too mentally exhausted to rehash the whole saga, but here's the lesson: Kids, don't play pretend developer and then taunt your outraged neighbors. Never ends pretty. Anyway, the stalled shell of Chelsea's craziest non-creation sold for $3.4 million back in June (it was one asking $5.25 million), and the site is once again active. Will the Alien Pod touch down? Not quite. A tipster writes, "They're busy putting in decking and tearing out the old steel, one chunk at a time. Seriously - that whole steel structure is being cut out about one foot at a time with torches." An insider tells us the new owners are planning a two-family house. They'll live in one of the units and sell the other. No doubt the old design has found its way to the hall of fallen heroes, Odin-willing!
· 123 West 15th Street coverage [Curbed]
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