Michael Stern and JDS Development have already broken ground on the two SHoP-designed rental towers (pictured) that they are building on the two-acre parcel they carved (to the tune of $172.5 million) out of developer Sheldon Solow's First Avenue Mud Pit. The question that remains is what Solow is going to do with the pit's other 6.4 acres, and the answer is ... nobody really knows. "I can't tell you anything," a Solow family advisor told the Times. The only move that Solow has made since he acquired the property from ConEd in 2000 was to get a $4 billion mixed-use project approved by the city in 2008, but that went south for reasons that remain unclear (probably some combination of funding drying up and his relationship with his partner, the Fisher family, ending after a falling out). Now Solow has until November to break ground, or else the permits will expire. And if that happens, you can bet that somebody is getting sued.
· Prime Lot, Empty for Years (Yes, This Is Manhattan) [NYT]
· Sheldon Solow coverage [Curbed]
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