Manhattan

We've written about a number of Related's green development efforts here in Manhattan previously, including the Upper East Side's Brompton and the Superior Ink condos in the West Village. One Related project we haven't discussed in much detail, though, is the Robert A.M. Stern-designed Harrison condominiums. Located at 305 Amsterdam Avenue at West 76th Street on the Upper West Side, the project is substantially complete, and now has two more retail tenants to offer in addition to a second-floor Equinox health club. According to a press release, a children's retail store called Giggle and a Crumbs Bake Shop (which seems odd given that another Crumbs is located across the street just a few blocks south on Amsterdam, but perhaps it's a relocation?) have signed leases and will move into the Harrison's available ground floor retail space.

Out of the top 50 commercial office leases that were signed in Manhattan back in 2007, the 6th largest was secured by advertising and marketing firm Grey Global Group for a new 370,000-square-foot headquarters at L&L Holding Company's 200 Fifth Avenue. (You may recall that for both calendar years 2007 and 2008, we identified commercial leases that were secured in green buildings, LEED-certified or otherwise, from CoStar's list of the 50 largest deals of the year here in New York City). Last week, Grey actually moved into its new space at 200 Fifth Avenue, where L&L continues to seek formal LEED for Core and Shell certification from USGBC in connection with its $100 million renovation effort of the 100-year old, 15-story tower, which was formerly known as the International Toy Center and designed by Maynicke & Franke.

Village Care of New York is a community-based non-profit organization that provides rehabilitation and long-term nursing care for patients with complicated medical needs, as well as individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The organization recently retained Levien & Company as its construction manager in connection with its new 6-story, 65,000-square-foot facility at 214-218 West Houston Street that will accommodate 105 patients. The facility will also offer a physical therapy room, dining and common areas on each floor, and a feng shui-inspired roof deck and meditation and yoga room overlooking a central bamboo courtyard. Patient rooms will provide individualized temperature control, natural daylight, and better visual access into each room for staff in order to improve response time. The project is aiming for a LEED Silver certification from USGBC and was designed by Perkins Eastman; an August 2010 opening is expected. The project team also includes structural engineers Goldstein Associates, AKF, and general contractor Marco Martelli.

Organic Avenue, the Lower East Side-based purveyor of a broad range of organic products and vegan "experiences," including eco-friendly jeans and organic cooking classes, recently inked a 3200-square-foot lease for industrial space at 43-37 Ninth Avenue in Long Island City. The company will use the one-story building as manufacturing space to produce juice, food, clothing, and other products to support its online and retail operations in Manhattan. We wrote about Organic Avenue a while back in the context of what we dubbed, at the time, the Lower East Side's emerging green retail district; the company now boasts two retail outposts at 101 Stanton Street and 43 Eighth Avenue in the West Village. In late August, the retailer was rumored to be expanding into new space on Suffolk Street that was formerly occupied by Rothko, though it's unclear where those efforts stand currently. With respect to the Long Island City space, Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates, Inc. represented both landlord Schuman Properties and tenant in the lease negotiations.