LEED-CS

Two trends with which gbNYC is fully on-board, in no particular order: green building and urban core revitalization in New Jersey, and real estate developers getting their proletarian blog on in support of those projects. The good folks behind the renovation of Trenton's Sterling Building -- that would be Urban Word LLC, Trenton Makes LLC and WSP Associates LLC -- aren't attempting anything remotely as ambitious as Jay Amato's Zero-Energy Building at Red Hook Green, and the Sterling Building's program-specific blog isn't quite as spirited as Red Hook Green's, either. But relative bloggy worth aside, the Sterling Building, which broke ground on Wednesday, looks pretty excellent. It has registered for LEED Core and Shell certification, and could become Trenton's first LEED building.

Now dubbed The High Line Building at 450 West 14th Street in a press release, the Morris Adjmi-designed, 100,000-square-foot, 11-story tower recently topped out. The project, which we profiled previously here at gbNYC, is seeking a LEED for Core and Shell Gold rating from USGBC; developer Charles Blaichman has already inked fashion tenant Helmut Lang to lease for two full floors and showroom space. (It's unclear whether a lease for 20,000 square feet of office space with Japanese fashion company Theory has been finalized). In addition to its LEED-CS application, Blaichman is touting the building's unique office and retail frontage and access to the High Line and is aiming to complete the project this fall. Green features are mostly LEED-standard, including efficient lighting, plumbing, and insulation, and low-VOC and FSC-certified finishes. Certainly the project's most unique design element though is that the High Line park itself will actually run for 103 feet through the lower floors of the building, which are actually a converted former beef processing facility; the upper six floors are new steel construction.

Even before this fall's meltdown on Wall Street and the expected slowdown in new construction, many commentators were speculating that green retrofits would be the next frontier for the sustainable building market. Indeed, we've already seen a number of high-profile renovation projects announced here in the New York City area this year, including M1 Real Estate's LEED-driven makeover of the historic Argonaut Building on West 57th Street in Midtown. Up in the Bronx, Taconic Investment Partners and Denham Wolf are currently in the process of pursuing an unspecified level of LEED for Core and Shell ("LEED-CS") certification for the landmarked American Bank Note Building- now dubbed The BankNote- in Hunts Point, which dates from 1909. For most of the 20th century, the 405,000-square-foot complex was where various financial instruments -- including stock certificates -- were engraved and printed.

LCOR's LEED Gold (for Core and Shell) hopeful 545 Madison Avenue is back in the news after the developer recently inked British retailer Alfred Dunhill to a 10-year, 7000-square-foot lease for two floors of retail space. The upscale men's clothier is currently located at 711 Fifth Avenue but will receive 175 feet of street window frontage along Madison Avenue and East 55th Street. CB Richard Ellis represented LCOR and Alfred Dunhill in the lease negotiations, which resulted in a deal at $600 per square foot. The store should open up this summer; LCOR is aiming the 17-story project's 140,000 square feet of office space at seventeen (or fewer) boutique legal or financial services firms. New York City-based Moed de Armas & Shannon is the architect. The project involved gutting an existing building down to its structural frame (qualifying it for LEED-CS) and the installation of a floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall and high performance HVAC, electrical, and mechanical systems.