I first did this post in April 2024: a list of the unfinished towers and boarded up lots we have in the neighborhood — and by unfinished, I really meant abandoned. (The National Park Service defines a dinosaur as extinct animal with upright limbs, so I am going with it.)

Well, we finally seem to be making progress! Here they are with updates — plus a couple additions. Please chime in and tell me what I missed.

STILL A DINOSAUR | THE WORST OFFENDER: 45 PARK PLACE
I’ve been fixated on this rotting hulk — and I know I am not the only one. The last time I wrote about it was in 2025, when passers-by noticed that the crane was swinging. Turns out it is designed to do that.  The crane gets periodic inspections from Department of Buildings.

It also makes me wild that this site has closed an entire sidewalk for half a block for forever. The DOB said, when I asked why the fence could not be moved north to liberate the sidewalk, that “the construction fence must remain in place in the interest of public safety, and cannot be moved.”

UNDER CONSTRUCTION | MOST PITIFUL: 65 75 WEST BROADWAY
The original owners here tore down an entire block front — including the Racoon Lodge and Mariachi’s — in 2016 or so, only to abandon it three years later. It is now, finally, under construction and named 75 West Broadway. It will be a 10-story condo with 23 residences and ground-floor retail. More on that plan here.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION | MOST LIKELY TO DO MORE DAMAGE: 65 FRANKLIN
Before the latest plans from new owners came to fruition, 65 Franklin on Broadway took down two fine buildings in its wake and caused damage to the building across the street. And while neighbors still have issues, at least progress is being made. The building will be 24 stories with a height of 293 feet plus mechanicals — with 106 condominium units,. See the latest here.

SOLD! | THE RELIC: 317 BROADWAY
The former McDonald’s at the corner of Thomas and Broadway was finally sold; the former owner, United American Land, had plans approved by Landmarks in December 2020. This corner site would be combined with the landmarked 315 Broadway for one site with a 20-story tower.

GETTING CLOSER | THE OVER AMBITIOUS: 172 DUANE STREET
The four-story addition to the sweet historic building on Duane Park has been under construction since at least 2015 — if not longer. Construction was supposed to start in 2023 and never happened, but now it looks like we are getting closer to no sidewalk bridge. There’s still a lot of work to be done, however.

STILL BLOCKING TRAFFIC! | THE NEARLY THERE: 26 FEDERAL PLAZA
Thanks to the repair of an underground parking garage, the federal General Services Administration closed the sidewalk down the east side of Broadway from Worth to Duane for four years. The sidewalk reopened in 2023. HOWEVER there’s still barricades on the plaza and taking up the east side of Broadway, often leaving the city’s most famous boulevard with just one lane of traffic open. The GSA said recently that work would be done “in the near future.”

NOW A BEAUTY | THE INDEFINITELY STALLED: 50 HUDSON
The sweet little building on the corner of Thomas and Hudson was under construction from 2021 until this summer, for the addition of two stories designed by the late Tribecan Thierry Despont. It’s cool. See more here.

MAYBE BREAKING GROUND? | THE NO END IN SIGHT: 21 PARK PLACE
21 Park Place, which once held Tent & Trails, collapsed in December 2018, and the site has been idle since. The collapse also shuttered two businesses on Murray Street and seems to have damaged sales at the small condo tower next door. Then last year plans were filed for a condo tower. See more here.

THE NEWBIE: 80 WEST BROADWAY
I will give them some time, but the 19th Century buildings that were once on the northwest corner of West Broadway and Warren — along with the vestigial remains of College Place — are now gone. The plastic barriers on the site give me some hope that this won’t be another dinosaur. The plan for that corner is 13 stories, 145 feet tall, mixed use residential and commercial. See more here.

THE SMALL BUT MIGHTY DINOSAUR: 17 LEONARD
I have yet to do a deeper dive on this one since it involves court cases from the building next door, a miserable decades-old sidewalk bridge and failed plans that go back to 2015. But stay tuned…