Work resumes on more stalled sites

From Crains:

As more projects were quietly restarted across the city last month, the number of stalled construction sites fell 8% from year-earlier levels to an average of 638, according to a recent New York Building Congress analysis released Wednesday. The group noted that the number of dormant sites in the five boroughs have now either decreased or remained steady for 11 consecutive months, a sign that the market is stabilizing.

The bad news is that the number of such sites is still 40% above the level recorded two years ago.

The total stalled sites, which include vacant lots where buildings were supposed to rise but no work was started, have an aggregate value of $1.3 billion, according to estimates from the city's Department of Finance. Nearly two-thirds of the stalled sites, 62% of them, are residential projects, according to the Building Congress.

The situation is at its worst in Brooklyn, which alone has 299 stalled sites, nearly half the citywide total. There, the number has fallen only a slightly below-average 6% from year-earlier levels. Queens appears to be faring best. There, the number of stalled sites dropped 14% to 131, in a performance nearly equaled by Staten Island, where the total fell 13% to 52. Bringing up the rear were Manhattan, where the number of stalled sites slipped 3% to 126, and the Bronx, where the number was unchanged at 30.