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A banana-shaped lot between downtown Portsmouth and its growing North End is finally getting built on, decades after city officials bulldozed it as part of an ill-fated urban renewal project.

Construction began last month on the 2 Russel St. development from local firms Ocean Properties and Two International Group.

No construction mortgage has been recorded in the Rockingham Registry of Deeds, but an LLC controlled by the two firms purchased the land in 2019, and city officials told the Portsmouth Herald that the joint venture received a building permit for its project Aug. 1.

The development will encompass three buildings, some with underground parking, containing a total of 80 new apartments as well as commercial and retail space.

Before the pandemic, the site was mooted for a grocery-anchored multifamily project, but that proposal never made it to groundbreaking.

The 2 Russel St. project joins two others now underway in Portsmouth’s North End, a 32-unit, mixed-use condominium project and a hotel from local firm XSS Hotels.