All Posts Tagged With: "Vornado"

Back in July, we called Richard Rogers’ design for a proposed LEED for Core and Shell (”LEED-CS”) Gold office tower above the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 42nd Street and 8th Avenue the “most ambitious” of the three concepts presented by his firm, KPF, and Pelli Clarke Pelli. Today, the Port Authority announced that Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners of London has been selected as the architect for the project, and also released an updated rendering of the proposed 42-story, 1.3 million-square-foot tower. Rogers, of course, also designed Tower 3 at the World Trade Center site (175 Greenwich Street) which will similarly seek a LEED Gold rating from USGBC. As you can see in the rendering, the roof of the Bus Terminal- which currently serves as a parking deck- would be transformed into green outdoor space.

Two of Manhattan’s highest profile LEED projects took blows on the chin last week. After announcing in July that it would likely reduce the tower’s size by nearly a third, Vornado’s plans for Harlem’s first office tower in thirty years appear to be on the ropes. Despite generous tax incentives from both the city and state, Vornado has had difficulty obtaining financing for the Swanke Hayden Connell-designed Harlem Tower. Instead, the developer recently sought an additional $15 per square foot from planned anchor tenant MLB Network and, alternatively, also proposed building a five-story building exclusively for the network. The Times reports that both strokes “infuriated” MLB executives, who “wanted to be in a marquee tower on 125th Street.” Meanwhile, downtown, 2008 Pritzker Prize winner Jean Nouvel’s LEED-hopeful 100 Eleventh Avenue is currently $50 million over budget and close to a year behind schedule.

Just before Bon Jovi opened up Saturday night’s All-Star Concert in Central Park, a Major League Baseball rep encouraged the crowd to “tune in” to the new MLB Network once it launches in 2009. Late last week, though, a report surfaced that Vornado, which will develop the $435 million, 21-story Swanke Hayden Connell-designed LEED Silver Harlem Tower at the corner of 125th Street and Park Avenue that’s meant to house the new network, is planning on cutting the building’s size by close to a third due to its inability to secure financing for the project. Vornado has also had difficulty securing any tenants in addition to MLB; the developer had been negotiating with Midtown-based Inner City Broadcasting, the country’s second-largest radio company that targets African-American listeners, but has yet to officially secure a lease with the broadcaster, while a rumored retail lease with Macy’s never materialized either.

We’ll note today’s holiday in honor of Dr. King by pointing you to the Kalahari condominiums, which are still under construction on Fifth Avenue at 116th Street in Harlem, in pursuit of a LEED Silver rating. Developed by Harlem-based Full Spectrum Building & Development, the twelve-story project should open for occupancy sometime during the first two quarters of this year. Full Spectrum (which is also developing green projects in Trenton and at 1400 Fifth Avenue) is an African-American-owned developer of green properties that also provided consulting services in connection with the 20 River Terrace project in Battery Park City.

In a major turnaround from its seedy Fun City days, Eighth Avenue has made a major case that it’s Manhattan’s greenest thoroughfare. Though the strip has retained much of the gritty flavor that makes it a favorite among tourists and unwitting theatergoers, new green towers from the New York Times and Hearst, plus the speculative [...]