First New York nabe gets LEED certification

Melrose Commons, a once-dilapidated South Bronx neighborhood that underwent a massive redevelopment as a 35-block urban renewal zone, has been awarded LEED Stage II silver Certification for Neighborhood Development by the U.S. Green Building Council. The award recognizes the sustainable design and redevelopment of the urban renewal area and is the first time the certification has been awarded in the state. The urban renewal project, which began in 1994, has included the construction of mixed-income housing, according to Christine Hunter, a principal with MAP Green, the architecture firm that helped design the project, along with developer Melrose Associates. “We felt strongly that Melrose Commons should be certified because, from the start, the neighborhood-based team was committed to pedestrian-oriented mixed-use, mixed-income development, maintaining open space and incorporating sustainable design and construction techniques,” Hunter said. TRD