USGBC News
ML: Magnusson Architects’ 1070 Anderson Avenue in the Bronx
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.
Popularity: 17% [?]
8Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
LEED-EB for MTV (& SL Green) at 1515 Broadway in Times Square
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.
Popularity: 22% [?]
4Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Heritage Realty Services to Seek LEED Rating for 200K S/F Commercial Property in Greenwich
New York City-based Heritage Realty Services recently purchased 200,000-square-foot 600 Steamboat Road in Greenwich, Connecticut for $200 million. The deal is scheduled to close this fall and Heritage plans to upgrade a variety of building systems, among other renovations. The 36-year-old waterfront property sits adjacent to Greenwich Harbor includes a 600-space parking garage and a 350-foot-long floating dock. Architects Roger Ferris and Partners are supervising the project and will seek an unspecified level of LEED certification for the upgrades. Greenwich-based Gladstone Real Estate is banking on asking rents of $150 per square foot in light of recent local deals and 660 Steamboat Road’s location near I-95, the Northeast Corridor train line, and waterfront access.
Popularity: 13% [?]
3Sep2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
New Space for Women’s Health Seeks LEED Gold in Midtown
Designed by Perkins+Will and Lilker Associates Consulting Engineers, the New Space for Women’s Health will be New York City’s first stand-alone birthing center, offering women and their families prenatal and postpartum care, childbirth education, social work, and psychological services. The three-story project is pursuing a LEED Gold rating from USGBC; green features will include efficient HVAC, water, and lighting systems, among other LEED standards. Lilker’s healthcare division sought to design a “relaxed and warm setting” for patients that simultaneously conserves energy. The team is also considering installing wind turbines and solar hot water panels. The 8000-square-foot project involves the conversion of a former parking garage on West 30th Street in Midtown and should open sometime in 2010.
Popularity: 16% [?]
26Aug2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
ML: Credit Crunch Taking Bite out of Manhattan LEED Buildings
Two of Manhattan’s highest profile LEED projects took blows on the chin last week. After announcing in July that it would likely reduce the tower’s size by nearly a third, Vornado’s plans for Harlem’s first office tower in thirty years appear to be on the ropes. Despite generous tax incentives from both the city and state, Vornado has had difficulty obtaining financing for the Swanke Hayden Connell-designed Harlem Tower. Instead, the developer recently sought an additional $15 per square foot from planned anchor tenant MLB Network and, alternatively, also proposed building a five-story building exclusively for the network. The Times reports that both strokes “infuriated” MLB executives, who “wanted to be in a marquee tower on 125th Street.” Meanwhile, downtown, 2008 Pritzker Prize winner Jean Nouvel’s LEED-hopeful 100 Eleventh Avenue is currently $50 million over budget and close to a year behind schedule.
Popularity: 19% [?]
25Aug2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Bruce Ratner’s 80 DeKalb Avenue by Costas Kondylis
Designed by Costas Kondylis, Bruce Ratner’s 80 DeKalb Avenue will be the developer’s first residential tower to rise in Brooklyn. The controversial Mr. Ratner will seek LEED certification for the $200 million project, claiming that the 34-story tower will incorporate a variety of low-VOC materials and use low-flow plumbing fixtures. The project broke ground back in July; earlier this week, Mr. Ratner closed on hard-to-obtain $110 million in tax-exempt bond financing from the New York State Housing Finance Agency for the tower, which will feature 73 affordable and 292 market-rate units. Ratner plans on opening the project for leasing sometime next summer; the majority of the units will be studios and one-bedrooms.
Popularity: 21% [?]
22Aug2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Final Asking Rents at LEED Platinum Bank of America Tower Hit $185/SF
Hedge fund HBK Investments, which last summer signed on for LEED Platinum hopeful Bank of America Tower’s 40th floor at $135 per square foot, has officially terminated its commitment for 12,000 square feet of that space. The Dallas-based firm will still retain 24,000 square feet on the 40th floor and the Dursts will now seek to lease the freshly freed space for an incredible $185 per square foot. The only space in the building that remains in addition to HBK’s former space is 30,000 square feet on the 37th floor, where the Dursts are asking the same rent; the family will consider partitioning either space into blocks for smaller tenants. According to Eric Engelhardt, one of Durst’s vice presidents for leasing, “[t]here is a greater universe of smaller tenants looking for high end space.”
Popularity: 18% [?]
20Aug2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | ContinuedHoly Green: Trinity Real Estate’s LEED-CI Silver Offices by Mancini Duffy
Trinity Real Estate- which is currently developing the mixed-use, Brennan Beer Gorman-designed 330 Hudson Street to LEED Silver specifications- is the largest landlord in the Hudson Square submarket, where it has been converting industrial space into Class A commercial offices since 1983. The firm is the real estate arm of Trinity Church, the downtown Episcopal parish that currently enjoys a 93 percent occupancy rate for its portfolio. Trinity currently owns and operates six million square feet across eighteen buildings north of Canal Street and west of Sixth Avenue. Earlier this year, the firm opened its new 16,000-square-foot headquarters space at One Hudson Square (75 Varick Street), designed by architects Mancini Duffy to achieve a LEED for Commercial Interiors (”LEED-CI”) Silver rating.
Popularity: 16% [?]
19Aug2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Hoboken Sustainability Primer: From Green Buildings to Clean Power
gbNYC has noted two green projects on the Hoboken side of the Hudson previously; we pointed you to SJP Properties’ Waterfront Corporate Center III and Bijou Properties’ Dean Marchetto-designed, 180-unit condo project on 14th Street, both of which are seeking LEED ratings from USGBC. Green efforts in Hoboken aren’t limited to these projects alone, though; Bijou is also developing the Garden Street Lofts at 14th and Bloomfield Streets, which were also designed by Marchetto and are seeking a LEED Silver rating. Meanwhile, Mayor David Roberts recently announced a tax credit plan for residential owners that install solar panels and is quick to point out Hoboken’s taxi fleet that features seven hybrids.
Popularity: 19% [?]
13Aug2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 1 comment | Continued
Rough Tuesday for Green Buildings in Midtown
Yesterday was not a good day to be a green building under construction in Midtown. First, Steve Cuozzo reported in the Post that Macklowe Properties’ 510 Madison Avenue, which is currently pursuing a LEED Gold rating from USGBC, has received a partial stop-work order from the Department of Buildings. Later in the morning, a 5 ‘ by 13′ panel of glass fell from the 51st floor of Cook + Fox’s LEED Platinum hopeful Bank of America Tower. The panel landed on sidewalk bridging across 42nd Street (where the former Verizon Building continues to undergo a number of green retrofits), shattering and sending one person to Bellevue. Tishman Construction is serving as the construction manager for both of the projects
Popularity: 19% [?]
12Aug2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
American Apparel Bringing Green Retail to Hell’s Kitchen
As Racked reports that American Apparel is close to opening its twentieth store in New York City, we’ll note that the retailer’s Hell’s Kitchen outlet is currently in pursuit of an unspecified level of LEED for Commercial Interiors certification. The store at 610 9th Avenue will soon by joined by other iterations at 429 Broadway (Broadway and Howard) and 2103 Broadway (at 73rd Street). No word on whether the retailer’s 19 other New York City area outlets will also implement sustainable features or pursue a LEED rating. American Apparel was founded in 1997 and is based in Los Angeles. The company has implemented a number of sustainable initiatives at the corporate level.
Popularity: 14% [?]
12Aug2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
Seeking LEED Silver, 100 Park Avenue Bucks Market, Inks Anchor Tenant
SL Green’s 100 Park Avenue was the first of Park Avenue’s International Style high-rises. Located at the corner of East 40th Street, the modern glass and steel tower was completed in 1949 and replaced the Murray Hill Hotel, which dated from 1883 and whose residents put up a fierce battle against the new development. The building’s current owner, SL Green, is wrapping up an 18-month, $72 million capital improvement program that includes a LEED for Existing Buildings (”LEED-EB”) application aiming for a Silver rating from USGBC. The project includes upgraded building infrastructure, a new facade and windows, and a new lobby and elevators; BOMA named the tower its Best Renovated Building of the Year for 2007. Last week, accounting and consulting firm BDO Seidman signed a 121,441-square-foot lease across the tower’s 9th through 11th floors.
Popularity: 17% [?]
11Aug2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued
ML: Helmut Jahn’s 50 West Street Breaks Ground in Pursuit of Gold (Video)
Time Equities broke ground in a ceremony back in June on 50 West Street, a 65-story, $600 million, 580,000-square-foot mixed use tower that will rise along Rector Street, just a few blocks south of the World Trade Center site. The New York-based developer anticipates LEED Gold certification for the project upon a 2011 completion date. The base of 50 West Street will include a 5-star hotel offering 155 units, as well as retail space, with 280 condominium units sitting above. Designed by Helmut Jahn, the project will include a variety of sustainable design features ranging from automated blinds to a green roof, efficient plumbing fixtures, and renewable and recycled-content construction materials specified by architects of record Gruzen Samton. 50 West will be Jahn’s first executed design here in New York City since the CitySpire back in 1987.
Popularity: 17% [?]
11Aug2008 | Stephen Del Percio | 0 comments | Continued-
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