After years of dormancy, activity stirs again at 89 1st Ave.

Photo Monday by Stacie Joy

The long-empty lot at 89 First Ave., between Fifth Street and Sixth Street, has once again been cleared of weeds and assorted crap — a familiar sight for longtime observers of this address. 

The cleanup coincides with a new (as of last month) Department of Buildings filing for a residential project. According to at least one real estate site we found, the proposed development appears to be condos — eight in total. 

The property has been a beehive of inactivity in recent years. In late 2022, the DOB granted partial approval for permits to construct a six-story building with eight residential units and ground-floor retail space, totaling approximately 8,183 square feet. Those permits had been pending since May 2020. 

A similar six-story, eight-unit plan surfaced in 2017 but was never approved by the city.

As of now, there’s still no visible timeline for when construction might finally begin. 

For more background, read the EVG post below... 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• It took a court order to clean out the long-neglected 89 First Ave. lot (September 2021)