green hotel

A new 63-room boutique hotel is slated for construction between Houston and Prince Streets across from the New Museum of Contemporary Art at 250 Bowery. The tower is tentatively scheduled to open in early 2009 after renderings were revealed close to three years ago. Designed and developed by Peter Moore Associates, the hotel will feature a number of green design elements ranging from a green roof and geothermal heating and cooling system to efficient plumbing systems and various renewable and recycled construction materials. The project is expected to seek a LEED Platinum rating.

Bellevue Hospital’s Psychiatric Building on First Avenue between East 29th and 30th Streets may be redeveloped into a LEED Silver-certified hotel and conference center as early as this fall. Next week, the city will hold a site visit and information session for developers interested in responding to an RFP that was issued on March 31; proposals will be due on June 13. The City will retain ownership over the site, but offer the winning bidder a 49-year ground lease, with two 25-year renewal options. Economic Development Corporation President Seth Pinsky stressed the opportunity that the First Avenue medical corridor offers developers "to capitalize on and support the City’s extraordinary academic, medical research, and healthcare assets." The Department of Homeless Services has used the Psychiatric Building since 1998 as a shelter for homeless men, as well as an intake center for its operations, but is currently moving to a different DHS building.

The weather here in New York has been miserable of late, so it’s tough not to think about skipping town for a few days to sunnier skies. If you’ve reached that point already, Gregory Dicum of the New York Times recently visited four green hotels in California, including the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel, about which we’ve written previously here at gbNYC in the context of below-the-surface implications of green building mandates and incentives (see our LEED creep archive for much more on this important issue). Interestingly, Mr. Dicum found the Gaia to be “the closest to that of a mass-market chain. Its halls and rooms look almost precisely like those in any other particularly nice hotel in its price range.” This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though, and Mr. Dicum did find that, at each of the hotels, “everyone on their staffs, from managers to maids, was well-informed about the green features.” In addition to the Gaia, Mr. Dicum and his wife were also guests at the Ambrose Hotel in Santa Monica, The Orchard Garden in San Francisco, and the Cedar House Sport Hotel in Truckee.

The Ambrose opened up in 2003 and registered with USGBC under the LEED for Existing Buildings (“LEED-EB”) system back in March. Deidre Wallace, who owns the hotel, told Mr. Dicum that she expects to receive her official certification soon. LEED-EB focuses mainly on the efficiency of building operations, and the Ambrose includes efficient lighting, appliances, and HVAC systems. Guest rooms are outfitted with low-VOC paints and sealants and the hotel also purchases a portion of its energy needs from wind power providers. It also offers guests the option of renting bicycles or hitching a lift with its biodiesel-fueled taxi.