Prospective buyers of condominium apartments have a lot of choices in Chelsea and 19th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues offers two almost directly across the street from one another.

One, the Lion's Head Condominium at 121 West 19th Street, is a conversion of a 83-year-old commercial building that is nearing completion. The other, Chelsea House at 130 West 19th Street, is new construction that is now deep in excavation work. The former offers 67 units and the latter will have 64 apartments.

In April, 2002, an explosion in the basement of the 11-story, office building at 121 West 19th Street injured about 30 people, broke windows and darkened its facade.

Almost a year and a half later, the building was sold for more than $25 million to Alchemy Properties, which has converted it to 67 condominium apartments including 4 duplex penthouses with skylights and terraces. It was put on the market in April, 2005 and now is almost entirely sold out and the remaining units are priced at about $1,000 a square foot. Apartments were initially priced from $500,000 to $2.75 million and range in size from 766 to 3,948 square feet.

The building will have a 24-hour attendant, a live-in super, common outdoor roof space, wiring for high-speed Internet access, high ceilings, Viking kitchen appliances, and Poggenpohl kitchen cabinets. Fox & Fowle and Hustvedt Cutler Architects were the architects for the conversion.

Scaffolding is up around the base of the building, which is across the street from another condo apartment project, Chelsea House, 131 West 19th Street, which is now excavation work.

Chelsea House is being developed by the Clarett Group and has been designed by Randy Gerner of Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel, Architects. The 13-story building will have 5 setbacks.

Both buildings are mid-block and are to the east of Fire Company 3 on the southeast corner at 19th Street and Seventh Avenue.