StephenDP's blog

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.

Some of those rumored green shoots in the local commercial leasing market appear to be sprouting in green buildings. Last week, Lukoil Pan Americas - the American subsidiary of the Russian oil and gas giant - signed an 11-year, 20,400-square-foot lease at the Blackstone Group's 1095 Sixth Avenue for $85 per square foot. You'll recall that the tower recently underwent a 2-year, $408.9 million renovation; designed by Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects and Gensler, the project included replacing the building's entire marble exterior with an energy-efficient glass curtain wall.

Earlier today, the City Council passed the four pieces of legislation which Mayor Bloomberg introduced last April as his "Greener, Greater Buildings Plan." As you'll recall, building owners immediately opposed one of the bills (Int. 967: Audits & Retrocommissioning), which would have required them to implement a bundle of energy efficiency upgrades with a payback period of less than five years after the results of a rolling audit process. While auditing remains part of the approved legislation, owners will not be required to make the improvements, which will now just be identified based on a "reasonable" payback period. Public buildings, however, must still install any retrofit measure that the audit pegs with less than a seven-year payback. Although the costs of auditing were noted by opponents to the bills earlier this year, mandatory energy audits are now required every ten years, though buildings certified under LEED-EB and Energy Star are exempt.

Over two years ago, we wrote about 1870 Eastern Parkway, a 41-unit, 3-building affordable condominium complex in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. The project, which was designed by Dattner Architects and developed by Habitat for Humanity, was completed back in September and is seeking a LEED Gold rating from USGBC. Earlier this week, we were happy to read that 27 families have already moved into the complex and, according to Brownstoner, all 41 of the units have been sold to applicants who earn between 45 and 80 percent of the area's median annual income at an average price of $145,000. Although nearly 90,000 people live in Brownsville, only 16 percent of residents actually own their homes; median household income is less than $21,000. The 41 units at 1870 Eastern Parkway are twice the number that Habitat for Humanity will produce in a typical year, and residents should save up to 30 percent on their energy bills thanks to Dattner's design program, which also specified various low-VOC and recycled-content materials.

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.

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).

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.

At last week's annual AIANY's Heritage Ball at Chelsea Piers, the New York City Department of Buildings and AIANY announced three finalists in the urbanSHED International Design Competition. As you may recall, the competition, which is also being sponsored by the New York Building Congress, among others, seeks to create a new standard of sidewalk shed design that both improves the pedestrian experience and simultaneously incorporates sustainable design principles that comport with PlaNYC and New York City safety standards. The competition received 164 designs from across the world; the three finalists are: “urbanCLOUD" by New York City-based KNEStudio, "Urban Umbrella" by Young Hwan Choi of the University of Pennsylvania, and "Tripod" of Brookline, Massachusetts' XChange Architects.

Over the weekend, St. John's Bread and Life's new 22,000-square-foot soup kitchen in Bedford-Stuyvesant was featured during the seventh annual openhousenewyork, an event that provides free public access to New York City buildings and spaces of design and/or historical merit. The soup kitchen's new home, which is actually located in a former warehouse, is located at 795 Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn and was completed in 2008 after a $5 million, 10-month renovation that was designed by Rogers Marvel Architects. RMA's design accommodated a tight budget by reorganizing the factory building's interior and connecting individual programming spaces; the Manhattan-based firm earned a 2009 Award of Excellence for the project from AIA's New York chapter. Although it does not appear to be seeking LEED or other third-party certification, the soup kitchen does incorporate various green design features, including a recycling program, natural daylighting, and an efficient industrial-strength kitchen.

Earlier this week, the penthouse unit at the Robert A.M. Stern-designed Superior Ink condominium development in the West Village sold to Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander for the sky-high sum of $25 million (which translates into approximately $4192.00 per square foot). The unit, which boasts 6321 square feet of raw interior space plus four terraces, went into contract back in December of 2007 and Alexander paid for it in cash. The transaction is likely the largest ever for an apartment in a green building; earlier this year, you may recall that Hilary Swank purchased a unit in the 17-story development, which offers 69 condominium apartments and 7 townhouses along Bethune Street.