Developers Jonathan Rose of the Rose Companies and Gerard Lettire closed a couple of weeks ago on financing for the Tapestry, a 184-unit, affordable housing project 245 East 124th Street (at Second Avenue) in Harlem. The 12-story rental development will seek a LEED Silver rating from USGBC, meet the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, and participate in NYSERDA’s Multifamily Performance Program. Rose broke ground on the $65 million project yesterday and assembled financing from a dizzying number of sources- Enterprise tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, loans, and other grants. Mr. Rose told the New York Times last week that, even in the midst of the credit crunch, financing is still out there for developers who “have a good track record, and financial strength, and the project has to be well thought-out.”
November 19th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | ContinuedHarlem
Credit Markets, Lack of Tenants May Trim Vornado’s LEED Silver Harlem Tower
Just before Bon Jovi opened up Saturday night’s All-Star Concert in Central Park, a Major League Baseball rep encouraged the crowd to “tune in” to the new MLB Network once it launches in 2009. Late last week, though, a report surfaced that Vornado, which will develop the $435 million, 21-story Swanke Hayden Connell-designed LEED Silver Harlem Tower at the corner of 125th Street and Park Avenue that’s meant to house the new network, is planning on cutting the building’s size by close to a third due to its inability to secure financing for the project. Vornado has also had difficulty securing any tenants in addition to MLB; the developer had been negotiating with Midtown-based Inner City Broadcasting, the country’s second-largest radio company that targets African-American listeners, but has yet to officially secure a lease with the broadcaster, while a rumored retail lease with Macy’s never materialized either.
July 14th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 2 comments | Continued
Daredevil Scales Times Tower “In Honor” of World Environment Day
Unfurling a banner reading “global warming kills more people than a 9/11 every week,” daredevil climber Alain Robert ascended the 52-story New York Times Tower on 8th Avenue yesterday and was arrested upon reaching the top. Robert later claimed that he chose the tower for his climb because of its green features; the stunt was performed on the United Nations’ World Environment Day.
June 6th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
David & Joyce Dinkins Gardens: First Green Exclusively Affordable Housing Development in Harlem
On Monday, Jonathan Rose Companies and the Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement (“HCCI”), co-developers of David & Joyce Dinkins Gardens, opened the $19.5 million, 85-unit green building at 263 West 153rd Street, just across the Harlem River from Yankee Stadium between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and Macomb Place. The project is named for former New York City Mayor David Dinkins and his wife- Mr. Dinkins is the only African-American to serve as mayor in Gotham’s history- and the development is part of Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to build 165,000 units of affordable housing for 500,000 New Yorkers over the next ten years.
April 1st, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 4 comments | Continued
Vornado Hopes to Swing for Groundbreaking at Harlem Tower with Major League Baseball
Over the summer, we wrote about the Swanke Hayden Connell-designed Harlem Tower, developed by Vornado, which will seek a LEED Silver rating. The project will be Harlem’s first new commercial office building since 1973 and stand at the corner of 125th Street and Park Avenue, adjacent to a number of subway lines and the Metro North commuter rail station. A couple of weeks ago, in an effort to push the project forward, Vornado agreed with Major League Baseball’s new cable television network on a lease that will take up approximately one fifth of the 600,000-square-foot, 21-story tower, including the second and third floors which would serve as network studio space, and the top two floors for executive offices. The deal is still being finalized, and Vornado hopes to break ground sometime this spring now that it has secured an anchor tenant.
February 13th, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Monday LEEDoff: Harlem’s Kalahari at 40 West 116th Street
We’ll note today’s holiday in honor of Dr. King by pointing you to the Kalahari condominiums, which are still under construction on Fifth Avenue at 116th Street in Harlem, in pursuit of a LEED Silver rating. Developed by Harlem-based Full Spectrum Building & Development, the twelve-story project should open for occupancy sometime during the first two quarters of this year. Full Spectrum (which is also developing green projects in Trenton and at 1400 Fifth Avenue) is an African-American-owned developer of green properties that also provided consulting services in connection with the 20 River Terrace project in Battery Park City.
January 21st, 2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 3 comments | Continued
Monday LEEDoff: Harlem Tower Seeks Silver at 125th and Park
Harlem’s first new office tower since 1973 is about to rise from the site of a former parking lot on the corner of 125th Street and Park Avenue. Designed by Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, the twenty-one story, 600,000 square foot Harlem Tower will seek a LEED Silver rating and is developer Vornado’s first project in [...]
July 16th, 2007 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued