East Village Mystery Lot Purchased

By Kevin Korber of Village Confidential

On East 13^th Street, between 2^nd and 3^rd Avenues, there sits a vacant lot that Village residents and bloggers like EV Grieve have dubbed “the mystery lot.” Since it became vacant in the 1980s, the East Village mystery lot has remained vacant, strange, and morbid; the body of a murdered woman was discovered there in 2004. Since the gruesome discovery, the lot was used mostly as a garbage dump, though its sidewalks were always cleared of snow and its grass was periodically trimmed.  

Now, it appears that the East Village mystery lot will neither be a mystery nor a lot for much longer. The Real Deal reports that Chelsea developer Charles Blaichman of CM Developers has purchased the East Village mystery lot for a reported sum of $33.2 million dollars. The lot was purchased along with two other vacant properties along East 14^th Street.

Blaichman’s purchase marks his first foray into development in the East Village. His most recent high-profile projects were associated with hotelier and investor Andre Balazs: the first, at 500 West 21^st Street, was sold to Sherwood Properties, and an attempted development at 345 West 14^th Street with Balazs and rapper Jay-Z never came to fruition.

As of right now, Blaichman and CM Developers have not revealed any potential plans for the site. And so, the East Village mystery lot becomes home to another mystery for a little while longer.