Prime Residential Projects Bound Forward

Downtown Stamford is set to boast a new 16-story condominium on its skyline. Ceebraid-Signal Corp., is developing Highgrove, a Robert A.M. Stern design for the "ultra luxury" market, according to a statement.

The 300,000-s.f. structure is set for groundbreaking next summer, though sales are already underway. The project team includes Uva Construction of Stamford as general contractor and Schuman Lichtenstein Claman & Efron of New York as architect of record, a spokesman said.

The development will have 83 residences with two to four bedrooms and a pair of three-story, street-level townhomes with separate entrances. The building will include three levels of parking and an amenities floor, along with accommodations such as a health club, pool, lounge, wine cellar, library, and high-end finishes within the units.

According to the statement, the Stern design evokes the Highgrove House residence of the British royal family in Gloucestershire, England. The asking prices for the new residences range from $850,000 to $2 million.

County Expands Court Complex

The Suffolk County Supreme Court complex in Riverhead, N.Y. will have 80,000 s.f. added in a three-phase project begun this year and slated for a 2007 completion. E.W. Howell of Woodbury, N.Y., is general contractor on the job, whose core is the three-story addition, according to a statement.

The new section will feature eight new civil court rooms, a large ceremonial courtroom, judges' chambers, and support offices. One of the new courtrooms will feature advanced communications technology.

The addition will also house new jury facilities - including a large assembly room, 12 impaneling rooms, a workroom, and a lounge - along with a child center, attorney lounge, and cafeteria. A new glass-enclosed atrium will serve as a centerpiece, offering views of all floor levels and a landscaped courtyard.

12-Story Condo Rises in Greenwich Village

Construction is underway on the 140,000 sq. ft. Astor Place, a residential condominium project at the intersection of 4th Ave., Lafayette St. and Astor Pl. The Related Companies is developing the project.

Designed by New York-based Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, LLC, the 12-story project will occupy a long-vacant parking lot that stands at the historic gateway to lower Manhattan, Greenwich Village, and the East Village. The tower consists of serpentine and rectilinear forms, with a glass curtain wall forming the skin of the curvilinear portions and a grid of zinc and glass cladding the rectilinear section. The base will have limestone and glass.

Atlantic Terminal Office Complex Wraps Up

Forest City Ratner Companies has finished its 410,000-s.f. office tower and four-story 470,000-s.f. retail center above the Atlantic Terminal transit complex in downtown Brooklyn. The tower sits above the retail component, which itself is above the Atlantic Avenue subway station complex. The site is along Flatbush Ave. between Hanson Place and Atlantic Ave., and its major tenant is the Bank of New York.

Forest City, the developer and owner, had hired Swanke Hayden Connell Architects for the project's design. It used FCR Construction Services, a Forest City subsidiary, as construction manager. The work entailed connecting with the extensive below-grade transportation hubs of the subway complex and the Flatbush Ave. Terminal for Long Island Rail Road via four shuttle elevators. Those are in addition to a fifth-floor sky lobby that hooks into eight passenger elevators for the office tower above.

According to a press statement, the building is the first in New York City to feature a terracotta clad curtain wall. That exterior consists of terracotta rain-screen panels, painted metal windows, and curtain wall.

Fashion Institute to Build Dorms

The Fashion Institute of Technology has purchased a 15-story manufacturing and office building at 406 W. 31st St. in Manhattan. According to a statement, it aims to to create residence space for students.

The purchase price was $48 million. The school will spend a projected $64 million more on renovating the 320,000-sq.-ft. structure into suites with two, three, and four bedrooms, along with study and support space.

Green Rehab for N.J. Seafarers' Center

The Seamen's Church Institute recently held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the $2.6 million renovation of its International Seafarers' Center in Port Newark, N.J. The renovations will make the center a green building.

John Nakrosis, Jr., and Jorge Lopez of Building Design of New York are overseeing design and construction management for the project. Its environmental highlights include reducing energy consumption by 50 percent and recycling rainwater to conserve millions of gallons of water. The project's new construction elements will utilize recycled building materials, the majority of which will originate from within 500 miles.

The center, built in 1963 and expanded in 1988, provided spiritual support and recreational opportunities to more than 15,000 seafarers and 40,000 port workers and truckers in 2003.

Click here for more Building News >>