Battery Park City Sites 23/24

Cost: $450 Million

The Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green condominium towers have started coming out of the ground on the last two sites in the Battery Park City master-planned development in Lower Manhattan.

“We’re proceeding with construction and moving forward,” says Maria Rosenfeld, vice president of development for Roseland Property Co. of New York, development adviser for developer MP Liberty and MP Freedom, entities owned by Milstein Properties of New York.

A two-story, glass and stone-based recreation center, which includes a swimming pool and basketball court visible from the exterior, connects the 23-story, 191-unit Liberty Green on site 23 and 32-story, 280-unit Liberty Luxe on site 24. Plaza Construction of New York broke ground on the $450-million-plus, 575,000-sq-ft project in May 2008. Plaza officials declined to discuss the project.

Construction of the two towers is staggered, Rosenfeld says. Foundations are complete.

Costa Kondylis & Partners is the architect of record. Design architect Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects of New York developed the exteriors. Stan Eckstut, principal in charge of the project for the design firm, helped draft Battery Park City’s master plan 30 years ago while working with his former partner Alexander Cooper.

“We began it, and now we are ending it,” Eckstut says. “I’m proud that this is something that has grown to be even bigger than I originally imagined.”

The site is positioned between an open ball field and West Street on one side and a Battery Park residential community on the other.

“We thought of the buildings as fraternal twins,” Eckstut says. “They share a common design identity, but they each possess their own distinct characteristics.”

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For the final two structures, designers created a slim, vertical look with different facades to blend with the character of the surrounding neighborhoods. Facades facing the city boast large-scale projections while those facing residential areas are more orderly and reserved.

The project team seeks LEED-gold certification, as required by Battery Park City green guidelines. Eckstut says the Battery Park City Authority owns the land and leases it to developers.

“The authority is able to write down the cost of land to offset whatever the additional cost of energy efficiency is,” Eckstut says. “That’s how they are able to influence and encourage sustainability. Now, they have been able to demonstrate these buildings are marketable and people want this type of product.”

The buildings will employ individual combined heat and power units. Hot-water boilers will use a modulating flame and a variable-speed drive. Water, rather than air, cools the direct-expansion air-conditioning units. Each unit will have a programmable thermostat.

A blackwater system will collect water from the building and reuse it for flushing toilets and the cooling tower. A planted roof helps manage stormwater, which will be reused for irrigation.

The exterior features spectrally selective low-e glass with high-visible transmittance and a low-shading coefficient in airtight casement windows. EE&K studied shadow patterns created by surrounding buildings and then strategically placed windows to take advantage of sunlight and waterfront views.

Photovoltaic panels are designed to provide at least 5% of the buildings’ peak energy demands. Occupancy sensors will turn down lighting in the corridors, stairs and garages when not in use, and a daylight dimming system will monitor and adjust lobby illumination. Each unit will include fluorescent lamps in the kitchens, baths and hallways.

Superstructure work was expected to continue through October, with construction anticipated to wrap up in July 2010 on site 23 and in December 2010 on site 24.

“I wish there was more to continue with,” Eckstut says. “The Battery Park City Authority has remained committed to the quality of the original plan we did.”

Team Box:

Owner: MP Liberty and MP Freedom, entities owned by Milstein Properties, New York
Development Advisor: Roseland Property, Short Hills, N.J.
Construction Manager: Plaza Construction, New York
Design Architect: Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, New York
Architect of Record: Costa Kondylis & Partners, New York
Sustainability Consultant: Viridian Energy & Environmental, New York
Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Engineers: Cosentini Associates, New York