Seven NYC Projects Achieve ULI’s Excellence in Development Awards
Nonprofit real estate research and policy organization Urban Land Institute (ULI) honored seven New York City real estate projects at their recent Gala. The winners were selected among 17 finalists, and according to ULI’s website represent “the highest standards of achievement in the development industry — standards that ULI member deem worthy of attainment in their professional endeavors.”
Pier 57: Award in Adaptive Reuse Reimagined as a unique, mixed-use destination along the Hudson River, ULI has described the structure as “essentially a 500,000-square-foot skyscraper turned on its side,” in part due to is novel caisson design, making this formerly underused asset an active commercial hub. .” In addition to the addition of two new floors, and the conversion of the former roof parking lot into a public amenity space with gardens and a glass pavilion, multiple flood protection systems were installed to enhance resilience including “an AquaFence flood barrier and flood curbing; critical utilities were moved up to the fourth floor to prevent damage.”
Sendero Verde, 60 East 112th Street / 75 East 111th Street: Excellence in Affordable Housing Development Atypical to most affordable housing developments, which rarely incorporate “all of the sustainability, design, and wellness features that market-rate housing can provide” into the design, Sendero Verde, with its 709 all-electric units is the world’s largest passive-house residential building. Sustainability and wellness features include a “highly insulated envelope, triple-glazed high-performance windows, low–energy mechanical equipment, solar panels, stormwater reuse, and continuous ventilation.”
The Fifth Avenue Hotel, 1 West 28th Street: Excellence in Hotel Development
The redevelopment project involved the construction of a 230-foot-tall, 24-story structure and the renovation and hotel conversion of a 116-year-old McKim, Mead & White-designed building. The repositioning of the “Gilded Age mansion required the ripping out of the entire skeleton and the bracing of the façade, since the carving out of cookie-cutter rooms within the existing floor plates was impossible. Designed to meet LEED Silver standards, “sustainability features include energy-efficient windows, an upgraded HVAC system, and the insulation and enhancement of exterior walls.”
Far Rockaway Library, 1637 Central Avenue, Queens: Excellence in Institutional Development The site of a prior lobby built in 1968 was replaced by a new LEED Silver certified library twice the size and featuring vibrantly colored, “luminescent facade with sculpted words referencing daily life in New York. Sustainability features incorporated into its design include “a stormwater retention system, the ability to bring in an emergency generator for keeping the building operational, a blue roof, and a concrete raised–floor, forced–air system for radiant heating and cooling. “
505 State Street, Brooklyn: Excellence in Market-Rate Housing Development The 416,475-square-foot mixed-use tower located in Downtown Brooklyn is the “first all-electric tower in New York to be powered entirely by local renewable energy.” The 441 residential units, of which 45-units are affordable feature ‘exposed concrete ceilings, large and energy-efficient triple–paned windows, smart thermostats, and water source heat pumps.”
St John’s Terminal, 550 Washington Street: Excellence in Office Development The transformation for office use of the south portion of the St. John’s Terminal building, a former 1930s freight structure stands out for both creative engineering and design, as well as the new wellness and sustainability features incorporated into the project. Decisions to move ahead with a conversion rather than destroy the existing structure saved an equivalent of 78,400 metric tons of carbon dioxide, and “new precast cores constructed with an innovative posttension bridge technology were used for faster and less–climate-intensive work” for the 9-story vertical expansion. The installation of on–site terrace solar arrays, water retention systems, and a double-wall curtain wall with integrated shading for 1 million kilowatt–hours of annual energy savings contributed to the project achieving LEED v4 Platinum certification. The railbeds that are now exposed host some 95% of plants native to New York State and wellness features include daylit interiors and biodynamic lighting for panoramic views.
Manhattan West: Excellence in Urban Open Space Incorporated within the multi-building mixed-use development bound by West 31st and 33rd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues is a 2.6-acre open space. “Given the density and complexity of the area, this open space’s arrival was an engineering feat: Plazas and walkways were built on a 2.6–acre precast concrete segmental structure above active railroad tracks on what was previously an open railyard, a parking lot, and two existing buildings.” The construction of the Moynihan Connector, a 600-foot extension connecting to the elevated High Line park’s High Line Spur includes a 260-foot-long Timber Bridge constructed with stress-rated engineered wood beams known as glulam that were made from sustainably source wood.