Green Real Estate

I did not attend West Coast Green last week, but was pleased to see that the conference included a panel discussion about the emerging legal risks associated with building green, titled “Packing a Parachute: Practices that Minimize Risk and Prompt Best Use of Green Features.” Some of the panelists’ remarks resonated particularly salient in light of recent posts here at gbNYC, particularly with respect to how green projects are marketed, as well as our presentation of the country’s first green building litigation. With respect to green building contracts, the panel suggested that there is no “magic green paragraph,” and stressed that documents need to be tailored for the particular circumstances of each individual green project. We noted the same in the context of the Shaw Development v. Southern Builders case, pointing out that “the critical lesson from the lawsuit is that there is no one-size-fits-all form agreement for a green construction project,” particularly in the current regulatory climate where mandates and incentives vary in every jurisdiction.

The Daily News is reporting that White Coffee Corp.- a third-generation, family-owned coffee business based in Queens- has earned an unspecified level (and type) of LEED certification for its headquarters building at 18-35 38 Street in Long Island City, across the street from the Steinway Piano factory. Details about the project are slim, but did include the installation of energy-efficient lighting throughout the company’s space, as well as a reorganization of truck delivery routes to conserve fuel. White is also now recycling the chaff (protective casing) of its coffee beans in cooperation with a Queens-based contractor. The company was founded back in 1939 and has 120 employees, offering over 300 varieties of organic and fair trade-certified types of coffees.

The P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City is an affiliate of MoMA and offers exhibition space for some of the most experimental modern art in the world, featuring over 50 different exhibitions annually, as well as various musical and performance programming. P.S.1 was founded in 1971 as the Institute for Art and Urban Resources Inc., which installed art exhibitions in various abandoned and otherwise underutilized spaces across the city. After finding a permanent home in a former Long Island City school building in 1976, P.S.1 became an affiliate of MoMA back in 2000. It recently commissioned Danish energy consultants Leif Hansen to create a green, energy-efficient renovation plan. Engineer and Leif Hansen executive Flemming Kristensen called it a “unique challenge” to evaluate ways to conserve energy within the museum environment. “You have to redesign the lighting so that it will not damage the artwork,” he said. “It’s a bit like reinventing the light bulb.”

We’ve written about 1095 Sixth Avenue previously; the tower, owned by the Blackstone Group, sits across 42nd Street from LEED Platinum hopeful Bank of America Tower and is undergoing a two-year, $408.9 million renovation. Designed by Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects and Gensler, the entire shell of what was once the Verizon Building is being replaced, effectively creating an entirely new structure; the tower’s marble exterior is being replaced with an energy-efficient glass curtain wall. Unlike the Bank of America project, and despite its green features, 1095 Sixth Avenue is not seeking a LEED rating. Tishman Construction is the construction manager on the project. While it’s hard to draw any real conclusions from the deal, it’s notable that Dabroes Management, a hedge fund, just signed a five-year lease for 12,200 square feet on 1095 Sixth Avenue’s 24th floor. Asking rents for the prebuilt space were $135 per square foot.

The Ericsson Barn at Milo Vineyards is a 5000-square-foot, four-bedroom home that’s currently for sale in the town of Milo in western New York State, just to the southwest of Rochester. The barn itself was actually salvaged from nearby Watertown in 2007 and was originally built in the 1800s. The project is the brainchild of Tom Johnson, a Parsons-trained designer who completed a similar renovation for himself back in 2005, spending $175,000 to relocate a 150-year-old barn from Canada and refurbish it on a separate plot in Milo. The Ericsson Barn is listed for sale at $1.25 million and was renovated pursuant to LEED specifications, though it’s unclear whether the project ever registered for or is seeking formal certification from USGBC. Johnson recycled the original siding of the barn into flooring and also installed a radiant sub-floor heating system.

According to Crain’s, Michael Rawson, the head of GFI Hotel Co., is close to announcing plans for The NoMad, a 160-room renovation of a 12-story Beaux-Arts-style building on Broadway between 28th and 29th Streets just north of Madison Square Park (hence the moniker). Notwithstanding several new local hospitality developments that will seek LEED ratings, the project would be the first hotel conversion in New York City to pursue LEED certification, though specific green features have yet to be revealed. The project will feature 11 suites whose interiors will be designed by Jacques Garcia and also include a roof garden and restaurant. Mr. Rawson, who has worked closely with hotelier Andre Balazs on other projects including The Mercer, plans on opening the hotel in the fall of 2009.

I spent a few months a couple of years ago reviewing documents out at a client’s in Iselin, New Jersey. I’d take the train out from Penn Station to Metropark, a station serving a sprawling office park plunked down at the crossroads of New Jersey, which sits quite literally in between the intersection of the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike, about 45 minutes from Midtown and and Philadelphia on the Northeast Corridor. Parking garages are linked to the station (which is currently undergoing a $30 million dollar renovation) and low-rise corporate office buildings are easily accessible as well. Although there’s no residential component (or any real pedestrian access to speak of), I always thought of Metropark as a type of transit-oriented development; quick access to major roads with easy rail connections to the entire Northeast and Newark Airport. Accordingly, it wasn’t all that surprising to me that SJP Properties announced yesterday that it will seek a LEED rating for a 300,000-square-foot, 10-story office building that it will develop across the street from the station.

1070 Anderson Avenue, designed by Manhattan-based Magnusson Architects is an 8-story affordable housing development in the Highbridge section of the Bronx that will offer 41 units in a variety of studio and one-, two-, and three-bedroom configurations. The $12 million tower’s design is inspired by principles of Art Deco and rises as a south-facing L, increasing the reach of natural light into each apartment and also creating a 6000-square-foot courtyard for residents to enjoy. Green roofs grace the seventh- and eighth-floor setbacks, while low-E, Energy Star-certified windows, an efficient rooftop boiler, and continuous exterior insulation will aim to lower the building’s utility bills. Other green features include low-VOC paints and materials, dual flush toilets, CFLs, and Kone Ecospec elevators. The building’s lobby includes local plants and shrubbery that will receive water from a rainwater collection system. Developer New Destiny Housing is considering applying for a LEED Silver rating, but will participate in an NYSERDA incentive program.

SL Green has started a $160 million capital improvement program at 1515 Broadway- home to MTV’s Times Square studios- which will upgrade the tower’s HVAC, lighting, and other building systems in pursuit a LEED-EB Silver rating from USGBC. Designed by architects Kohn Pedersen Fox, the renovation will also include the installation of a 42-foot high extension to the 54-story building’s street-level curtain wall, where pedestrians can peer into the MTV space and access the lobby of the Minskoff Theater. Steve Cuozzo quotes SL Green leasing chief Steve Durels as stating that the firm’s “goal is to give [the building] more street presence and more drama, especially as you look at its lower part.” SL Green purchased the 2 million-square foot tower back in 2002 for $480 million, and its green upgrades come in advance of the pending expiration of nearly 1 million square feet of the total 1.5 million in the building currently leased by Viacom.

Notwithstanding its 791-space parking garage, 14 Maple Avenue in Morristown is about to become the greenest building in New Jersey. The 30,000-square foot, four-story structure is being built by the Morristown Parking Authority and will seek a LEED Platinum rating from USGBC. In addition to housing Authority offices, the building will also be home to the non-profit offices of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Seeing Eye Inc., the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation, the Morristown Partnership and the Morris Arts Council. The parking garage will allot spaces for both members of the public and building employees. David Grant, the Dodge Foundation’s president, stated that “our goals were to create a green building that is both educational and inspirational.” In addition to bamboo and cork covered floors, plants are essential to the green features of the building.