542 West 153rd Street, rendering by Chris Benedict

New York City’s First Passive House Rental Tops Out At 542 West 153rd Street in Harlem

Passive house construction is expensive, but condos built according to the energy-saving standard are becoming more common throughout New York City. Rentals, however, are still few and far between. Up in the Hamilton Heights section of Harlem, Synapse Development is working on the city’s first market-rate rental building designed to meet passive house requirements.

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21-59 44th Drive, image via Google Maps

Permits Filed: 21-59 44th Drive, Long Island City

The development boom in Long Island City has gotten so hot that even small, relatively undesirable sites near Court Square are sprouting apartment buildings. Yesterday we spotted applications for a seven-story, mixed-use development at 21-59 44th Drive, on the corner of 23rd Street.

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77 Greenwich Street

Reveal For 35-Story, 85-Unit Mixed-Use Tower Planned At 77 Greenwich Street, Financial District

Earlier this week, the city’s School Construction Authority disclosed a deal with Trinity Place Holdings to include a 476-seat elementary school within the base of a planned mixed-use development at 32-42 Trinity Place, in the Financial District. Yesterday, the New York Post revealed renderings of the 35-story tower, which will be known as 77 Greenwich Street. The 285,000 square-foot building will rise 500 feet above street level, and in addition to the school, will include roughly 85 condominium units and 7,000 square feet of retail space. The school will span the first nine stories in the structure, so units will begin 150 feet above the street, offering expansive waterfront views. Only the vacant six-story commercial building at 32-42 Trinity Place is expected to be demolished. Some of the air rights at 85 Greenwich are being used along with rights from the developer-owned, four-story Dickey House, an individual landmark at 67 Greenwich.  FXFOWLE Architects is designing and completion is set for 2019.


Moynihan Train Hall

Request For Proposals Issued For Penn Station Expansion & Renovation

Earlier this month, news broke that Gov. Andrew Cuomo was moving forward with plans to upgrade Pennsylvania Station, between West 31st and 33rd streets on Eighth Avenue in Midtown, and now the state has issued a Request For Proposals (RFR) for the project, dubbed the Empire Station Complex. According to Curbed NY, the document highlights plans to build a main entrance on Eight Avenue, which would entail demolishing the Theater at MSG. In addition, it would connect the station to the proposed new tracks of the Gateway Project, which includes new tunnels under the Hudson River and Amtrak’s expansion into Moynihan Train Hall (the Farley Post Office) and the connecting concourse, along with other upgrades. The renderings were created by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, although the selected team could go ahead with a different firm. Proposals are due by April 22.