Midtown

Midtown

545 Madison Avenue Cops New York City's 27th LEED Gold Rating Plus Tenant

Tue

Sep

Developer LCOR announced yesterday that its 17-story gut rehab of 545 Madison Avenue has earned Gold certification from USGBC under the LEED for Core and Shell rating system; according to USGBC, this is the 27th LEED Gold certification rating in New York City to date. The renovations, which were executed by Bovis and designed by New York City-based Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects, contemplated stripping the 140,000-square-foot tower down to its structural frame (which qualified it for Core and Shell consideration) and installing a floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall and high-performance HVAC, electrical, and mechanical systems. Other green features that supported LCOR's LEED-CS Gold application include low-VOC materials, FSC-certified wood products, and post-industrial and post-consumer recycled steel, carpeting, gypsum wall board, and insulation. Individual offices boast their own thermal controls and 93 percent of interior spaces receive natural daylight. Bathrooms feature efficient plumbing fixtures and the tower includes a number of unspecified renewable power installations.

Skanska USA Offices Earn Empire State Building's First LEED Platinum Rating

Thu

Aug

by Stephen Del Percio

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Late last month, Skanska USA, the U.S. division of Swedish construction firm Skanska AB, formally earned LEED for Commercial Interiors Platinum for its 24,000-square-foot offices on the 32nd floor of the Empire State Building. The project earned 44 points under the LEED-CI Version 2.2 rating system (which requires 42 points for a Platinum rating) and, after eight months of occupancy, the space is on track to achieve an expected 46 percent savings in energy costs. A priority for the design team was boosting indoor air quality, and the offices feature an underfloor air system with operable diffusers that allow each individual workstation to control temperature. Skanska, which actually served as its own construction manager, recycled 80 percent of construction debris and was able to preserve 40 percent of the space's non-structural interior components.

TD Bank Inks 20-Year Lease at Historic LEED Gold-Hopeful Argonaut Building

Tue

Aug

by Stephen Del Percio

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TD Bank has signed a 20-year commercial lease at M1 Real Estate's 10-story Argonaut Building at 224 West 57th Street and Broadway in Midtown. The historic tower was landmarked by the city back in 2000 and was initially built in 1909 as the headquarters for General Motors. M1 is currently seeking LEED Gold certification for the tower in connection with $45 million in ongoing renovations designed by Gensler. Its 4700-square-foot deal with TD Bank leaves around 15,000 square feet of retail space left across the tower's lower three floors; 135,000 square feet of Class A office space above is still available. The neo-Gothic, terra cotta tower was named for GM's real estate holding company and was also the home to Hearst prior to that company's move one block west to its LEED Gold-certified headquarters on Eighth Avenue. Cushman & Wakefield represented TD Bank with FirstService Williams for M1.

Axis Mundi Presents New Design Concept for 53 West 53rd Street Tower

Wed

Jul

by Stephen Del Percio

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Manhattan-based architects Axis Mundi today unveiled a new design concept for the proposed Jean Nouvel-designed tower that's currently slated to rise out of the vacant lot next to MoMA at 53 West 53rd Street. Developer Hines continues to work through the city's ULURP process to secure approvals for the 75-story hotel and condominium development, but Axis Mundi's John Beckmann believes that his concept- dubbed the Vertical Neighborhood- reflects "a more diverse, complex, heterogenous, and environmentally minded city [that] need no longer represented on its skyline by one-note architecture that makes a singular visual image and little else."

1211 Avenue of the Americas: LEED-EB Program Certifies Its Largest Building

Mon

Jun

by Stephen Del Percio

0 comments

Beacon Capital's 1211 Avenue of the Americas (on Sixth Avenue between West 47th and 48th Streets) recently earned LEED-EB Silver certification from USGBC. The 45-story, two million-square-foot tower is the largest building that has been certified to date under the LEED for Existing Buildings rating system (it's unclear to us whether the project sought certification under LEED-EB Version 2.0 or Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance- we'll clarify in the comments if possible). Specific green features incorporated into the retrofit include efficient and reduced-content mercury lighting, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and new glazing that boosts the amount of daylight that reaches the tower's interiors. 1211 Avenue of the Americas earned BOMA's "Best Operating Office Building" award in 2008 for buildings larger than one million square feet; current tenants include the New York Post, Fox News Channel, and the Fox Business Network.