1711 First Avenue

Image: Anbau Enterprises

Anbau Enterprises is tapping SHoP Architects to design a new building at 1711 First Avenue in the Upper East Side.

The 150,000-square-foot project between East 88th and East 89th streets will be “affordable luxury,” with construction starting this year, according to the developer’s website. Completion is slated for 2016.

New building plans have yet to be filed for the site, which Anbau purchased in a $33 million deal in 2013, The Real Deal reported. The transaction consisted of three five-story buildings at 1711, 1713 and 1715 First Avenue. Demolition permits, spotted by YIMBY, surfaced last month for all three walk-up structures.

The location was slated for condominiums in 2008, before the financial crisis. The first plans for a condo tower, filed in 2009 by owner Uri Foxbrunner, called for a 21-story, 46-unit building, with Daniel Goldner as the architect of record. The mixed-use development was set to rise on the lots at 1711 First Avenue, 1713 First Avenue and 354 East 89th Street.

In 2011, Foxbrunner defaulted on mortgages for 1711 and 1713 First Avenue, then sold the parcel at 1715 First Avenue to an LLC, according to The Real Deal.

The same year, development firm Minuit Partners paid more than $8.5 million for the debt on the site, the Wall Street Journal reported. However, Minuit accused the old owner of bank fraud, and a lawsuit, well, ensued.

But let’s focus on the positive! Affordable luxury! SHoP!

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