Ground Zero

Although the credit crisis has definitely taken its toll on local green building projects in a variety of ways, the Post’s Steve Cuozzo reported today that Larry Silverstein may be close to landing a tenant who will at least partially replace the space that HSBC was slated to occupy at LEED Gold-certified 7 World Trade Center. HSBC’s potential move to five floors at the green tower was heralded, but a deal to sell its Midtown headquarters at 452 Fifth Avenue (at West 40th Street) fell apart several weeks ago after bidders came up $180 million short of the bank’s $600 million asking price. Accordingly, HSBC very quietly pulled out of its agreement to move downtown to Manhattan’s first LEED-certified commercial office building. Now, the German bank West LB is “in ‘real’ discussions” with Mr. Silverstein for space across three floors.

Scout Real Estate Capital, whose New York City offices are located on the 34th floor of Larry Silverstein’s LEED Gold-certified 7 World Trade Center, announced earlier this week that construction on a 5-star resort hotel in Bermuda’s Southampton Parish should commence in September after local officials approve the firm’s preliminary design plans. Scout has already commenced demolition of the Wyndham Beach Resort (which currently occupies the site) and is recycling reclaimed copper and concrete from the property. The firm intends to seek an unspecified LEED rating for the $300 million project, which should open up sometime in 2011, feature 150 guest rooms, and draw power from an on-site solar array.

The New York Observer reported yesterday that the Port Authority has reached a tentative agreement with China’s Beijing Vantone Real Estate Company for 190,000 square feet of space in the LEED Gold hopeful Freedom Tower across its 64th and 69 floors. The firm will pay approximately $80 per square foot for a 22-year lease and create a “China Center” designed to be a cultural and educational portal for Chinese firms looking to do business in the U.S. and American firms interested in similar efforts in China. The news is of particular interest from a green leasing perspective given that Vantone came close two years ago to leasing the very top of Larry Silverstein’s LEED Gold 7 World Trade Center.

Yesterday, the New York Building Congress held a Luncheon Forum at the Ritz-Carlton in Battery Park City. Sharing remarks were Larry Silverstein, whose Silverstein Properties continues to move forward with redevelopment efforts at the World Trade Center site, and Anthony Shorris, Executive Director of the Port Authority. Mr. Silverstein first provided an overview of the massive $20 billion project, which is still on track for full occupancy in 2012. He also announced that the World Trade Center Design Studio on the 10th floor of LEED Gold 7 WTC, where 120 design team members have been working for the past 18 months, will now be known as the World Trade Construction Center. “We’ve got $2 billion in construction contracts- for concrete, steel, and elevators- on the street right now,” Mr. Silverstein said. “This project is like a freight train- the only way to stop it will be when all of the buildings are complete.”

On Tuesday, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (“LMDC”) announced that it reached an agreement with its construction manager, Bovis Lend Lease, to hire a new subcontractor that will complete demolition efforts at the former Deutsche Bank Building on 130 Liberty Street. Work at the site has stalled for close to five months now in the [...]

At an industry breakfast forum held on Tuesday in Midtown, the New York Building Congress released its three-year outlook for construction activity in the New York City metropolitan area. Richard T. Anderson, President of the Building Congress, introduced the report and emphasized the robust figures across all sectors of the industry. $83 billion in construction [...]

This week’s issue of Crain’s New York Business includes the paper’s most recent Real Estate Report, which focuses on green building projects in New York City’s commercial and residential sectors. gbNYC has previously discussed many of the new commercial projects presented in the article, titled Eco-towers on the rise, including 7 WTC and the other [...]

Gene Kohn, chairman of Kohn Pedersen Fox, responded to some of the heavy criticisms that have been leveled at his firm’s design for JPMorgan Chase’s new LEED Platinum headquarters at 5 World Trade Center (dubbed the Beer Belly Building by the New York Post’s Steve Cuozzo) last month by conceding that “[t]he size of the [...]

Last week’s edition of Crain’s reported the highest average asking rents (per square foot) in Midtown. It probably won’t surprise you that the highest are found at LEED Platinum hopeful Bank of America Tower (image to left), where an eye-popping $150 will give you (and presumably the clients paying for your sparkling new eco-friendly digs) [...]

I’ll have some thoughts on Babylon’s (Long Island) green building legislation at some point, but in the meantime developers of the city’s new Tanger Outlet Mall will use a 700 yard rail spur to move construction materials and debris on and off the project site. The mall developers and Babylon town officials estimate that the [...]