WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Construction on a trash-filled lot where developers demolished a notorious stretch of row houses to make room for a purple-colored prefab apartment building appears to have stalled, records show.
A purple-hued eight-story apartment building called The Lilak that was planned by HAP Investments for 655 W. 187th St. near Wadsworth Avenue, was slated to begin construction in May 2015 and be completed by June 2016 — using a series of prefabricated modules built at a Pennsylvania factory that were supposed to be assembled on site, the project manager, Monzer Khafagy, told Community Board 12 early last year.
But residents said there hasn't been any construction activity or even maintenance in months — leaving behind trash, as well as a fresh pool of green water that gathers after each rainstorm and is "a perfect nest for mosquitos."
The DOB said the work permit on file for the site expired in May 2016 and the developer will have to renew in order to continue construction. Officials from the city's Department of Health said they were looking into the concerns about standing water. Officials have advised property owners to clear all standing water amid growing concerns about the Zika virus — which has been recorded in 310 New Yorkers to date, all of whom contracted while traveling in other countries, according to the DOH.
Officials at HAP Investments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A link to the project on their website does not list an estimated completion date.
Representatives for CB12 said they had not been notified of any changes to the project by developers since last year's meeting.
Neighbor Juan Carlos Andrews told DNAinfo that he noticed a bulldozer at the site over a month ago draining and covering the area, but that since then it's rained again and the "green water" has returned.
The new building — which will house 47 apartment units, with 15 enclosed parking spaces — will be built atop the former site of a set of rowhouses, including one home where a teenage girl was brutally raped and murdered in 1958.
