All Posts Tagged With: "green lease"

Back in April, AOL opened up its new headquarters at 770 Broadway, which dates from 1903 and was designed by Daniel Burnham. The 15-story tower spans the entire block between East 8th and 9th Streets and is currently in pursuit of a LEED for Existing Buildings (”LEED-EB”) rating. In an effort to demonstrate that there is still good green real estate news here in New York City, AOL has announced that it will take the tower’s entire sixth floor (76,000 square feet) from owner Vornado, bumping its total at 770 Broadway to around 228,000 square feet across three floors. Architects Mancini Duffy designed AOL’s interiors, which are currently seeking an unspecified level of LEED for Commercial Interiors (”LEED-CI”) certification, though it’s unclear whether the firm will also design the company’s sixth floor addition.

gbNYC selects green news items of note that were reported across the New York City area during the week of October 5, 2008, including the various pieces of Shea Stadium that will be recycled and sent to other Parks Department facilities, an overview of the green design philosophy of DUMBO-based Leone Design Studio, another lease at the New York Times Tower, details about New York City’s various green roofs as reported by the Wall Street Journal, and New York State’s energy efficiency ranking.

Greenock Capital is executing a green renovation of the historic two-story Risk Building at 535 Springfield Avenue in Summit, New Jersey. The building dates from 1873 and is named for Dr. William H. Risk, a medical doctor who settled in Summit that same year. Greenock has retained Wesketch Architecture of Millington, New Jersey as the architect of record for the project, which will preserve much of the building’s original granite and brownstone facade features. Although the project is incorporating numerous green design elements, it does not appear that it will seek any formal third-party green building certification. The new structure will be called the Claremont Corporate Center and include various energy-efficient upgrades, ranging from extensive daylighting and interior occupancy sensors to new elevators and exterior lighting.

The New York Observer today confirmed a story that first appeared in Real Estate Weekly a couple of weeks ago (which we noted here at gbNYC) regarding the French bank Natixis, which has been on the hunt for office space in Manhattan since earlier this year. It appears that the bank is close to inking a deal to sublease 270,000 square feet at 277 Park Avenue from JPMorgan Chase, which is moving into the former headquarters of Bear Stearns at 383 Madison Avenue. The deal would be a major blow for SJP Properties, which is still without an anchor tenant for its speculative, LEED Gold hopeful 11 Times Square that continues to rise along Eighth Avenue. The firm had held its asking rents steady in the $100 per square foot range, though the recent flood of Class A space that has become available from financial services tenants looking to downsize may force it to reassess its position, as Natixis will pay around $80 per square foot for its space at 277 Park.

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

Last June, HSBC announced a five-year, $100 million partnership to address global climate change, agreeing to work with The Climate Group, Earthwatch Institute, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund in order to quantify the impact of climate change on the world’s cities, forests, and rivers through extensive field research. Yesterday, sources told GlobeSt.com that the bank is close to continuing its sustainable efforts by leasing 300,000 square feet across seven of the final ten floors available at Larry Silverstein’s LEED Gold 7 World Trade Center. Should the deal close, HSBC would likely sell its 500,000-square-foot headquarters tower at 452 Fifth Avenue in Midtown. Asking rents for the final ten floors at 7 WTC are hovering between $75 and $85 per square foot, and HSBC’s deal is rumored to be “at term sheet at the moment.”