Green Condominiums

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.

There are moments, usually ones having to do with wanting just one good bar or a second good restaurant (here's the first) in my neighborhood, when I think back fondly on the time I spent living in Brooklyn. Yes, the place in which I lived came complete with THX-quality domestic disputes broadcast through the wall we shared with the next building; yes, there were critter issues; no, the bathroom was (somehow) not insulated. My nostalgia for it may have something to do with me being 23 when I lived there, but my eye still often wanders back to BK. So it was a pleasant surprise when I read, in a feature at The Real Deal, that Prospect Heights' Sterling Green and Williamsburg's Mason Fisk, two of the greener and more interesting-sounding Brooklyn developments of recent vintage -- read: real estate crushes -- have been beacons of success in a housing market that's currently pretty flush with beacons of suck.

I'm not trying to brag or anything, but my apartment building has a roof. Yeah, that's right: a roof, right on top of the building. I'll take your high-fives at the end of the post, thanks. Anyway, it's pretty much like any other roof -- keeps the weather out of the interior of the building, mostly tar paper, a few crappy pavers surrounded by planters and a strongly-worded sign from the co-op board reminding residents that leaving the paver-ed area is strictly verboten. Look, it's not a very cool building -- and don't get me started on the inefficient windows in the bedroom -- but I figure that our roof isn't appreciably less cool than most others in the city. Which means that they're less cool by a factor of a thousand than the two new demonstration roofs that recently went on display. The roofs are a collaboration between Town & Gardens landscapers and greenscreen green walls and to say that they are cooler than my roof (or probably yours) is a dramatic understatement.

Back in October of 2007, only 19 units remained available at Full Spectrum's LEED Silver-hopeful Kalahari condominium development at 40 West 116th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues in Harlem. Only 7 units have moved since, and earlier this week prices were cut on the remaining 12. The asking price on a 1386-square-foot 3-bedroom, 2-bath unit is down 6 percent to $815,000, and a 1732-square-foot 4-bedroom, 3-bath apartment has been cut by 19.5 percent to $1.14 million. It's anecdotal, of course, and certainly a function of market realities here in 2009, but the price cuts are interesting to note in light of the constant barrage of positive studies and other reports extolling the inherent premium value of LEED-certified buildings and other green properties. (Note, however, that the Kalahari has yet to be formally certified by USGBC).