Here’s an interesting side-by-side comparison from Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill that relates to the recent ongoing debate about the viability of achieving moderately attractive contextual new construction. The far more appealing building on the left was built gutted at some point in the last few years; the building on the right has been going up over the past few months. In some ways, it’s surprising that the building on the left was built earlier, when the area was a riskier bet. The only explanation–other than ignorance and incompetence–to explain the lower quality of the eyesore on the right is that the developer had to pay so much more for the land in this market that he didn’t have enough dough to build anything decent. But presumably he’ll be able to sell it for more too.