Construction has started on The Veneto, a 32-story residential condominium tower at 250 East 53rd Street on the southwest corner at Second Avenue.

Although occupancy is not expected for about a year, about half of the building's 137 apartments have been sold in the first three months of sales.

The building has been designed by Davis Brody Bond and Adam Tihany has designed the interiors. Mr. Tihany is well known for his designs of such restaurants as Le Cirque and Per Se.

The building, which is being developed by The Related Companies, has an 8-story base clad in limestone and red brick on the avenue and limestone on the side-street.

Apartments range in size from one-bedroom units with about 763 square feet priced initially about $955,000 to three-bedroom apartments with about 2,548 square feet priced initially at more than $5,050,000. There are 11 different layouts. There will be 46 one-bedrooms, 66 two-bedrooms and 25 three-bedrooms. Ceilings are 9 feet high and reach 12 feet in the penthouses.

Apartments will have Sub-Zero refrigerators, Viking gas ranges, and Bosch dishwashers and Kohler soaking tubs. The building will have a fitness center, a "party" room and terrace, and a children's playroom.

The project has been named "Veneto" and it will rise across the avenue from another new condo tower that has recently been topped out at 310 East 53rd Street.

In contrast to the cool palettes of some nearby new condo projects such as 310 East 53rd Street, this building has a warm palette. "The very name evokes the essence of 50s European glamour and good living," exclaims the building's website, cited "the famed Via Veneto," a street in Rome noted for its restaurants and hotels.