SoHo

The Stonehill & Taylor-designed Crosby Street Hotel is set for its grand opening on September 29. We wrote about the project here at gbNYC nearly two years ago when details were slim and renderings unavailable; you can check out a few interior and exterior shots in our image gallery to the left. As you'll recall, UK-based Firmdale Hotels, well-known for a portfolio of high end hotel properties in London that includes the five star Haymarket and Charlotte Street Hotels, is developing the eight-story, 86-room property- at 79 Crosby Street in SoHo in what was a parking lot between Prince and Spring Streets. Stonehill & Taylor Associates (which supervised the condominium conversion of the Plaza Hotel in Midtown) are architects for the project in collaboration with Firmdale co-founder Kit Kemp, who will design the hotel’s interiors as she has for each of its properties in London. Green design features include efficient HVAC systems, locally-sourced building materials, wall-to-ceiling windows, and a roof garden. The project team also included LEED consultants Viridian and MEP engineers Flack + Kurtz.

Timberland opened up a 2000-square-foot retail store at 474 Broadway (between Grand and Broome Streets) in SoHo back on February 13. The space's build-out incorporated a variety of green design features that reflect the company's commitment to sustainability; it has implemented a long-term corporate strategy which, in part, aims to make the company carbon neutral by 2010. The new store at 474 Broadway includes efficient lighting, reclaimed wood, and low-VOC paints and sealants; brick and other structural interior components were salvaged and recycled into the new design. 474 Broadway itself dates from 1860; no other details about the project team or whether the space is seeking a LEED-CI rating appear available. Timberland is celebrating the opening of its new store by featuring an original exhibit of photography that is being curated by Brooklyn-based publisher powerHouse Books. The exhibit will run from March 27 through April 29 and highlight images of New York City's five boroughs.

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