1133 Sixth Avenue and Volume (Durst) the by Leo Villareal (source: New York Observer)

Already home to prominent art works such as Robert Indian’s Love at Sixth Avenue at 55th Street and William Crovello’s Curved Cube at the Time Life Building, Sixth Avenue is about to see another piece of high-profile corporate art. According to the New York Observer, the Durst Organization is adding a  90-foot-long, 12-foot high and six-foot deep sculpture by light artist Leo Villareal to the lobby of its office tower at 1133 Sixth Avenue. [more]

From left: Kenneth Hochhauser, executive vice president at Winick, 655 Third Avenue, and Steven Baker, president at Winick

The Durst Organization is handing off leasing for some retail properties on the East Side of Manhattan to Winick Realty Group, which could augur a new relationship between the firms, The Real Deal has learned.

The landlord, which previously handled leasing duties in-house, made Winick the leasing agent for retail spaces in two Midtown East office towers: 202 East 42nd Street and 655 Third Avenue, where Winick has its headquarters. [more]

World Financial Center

Mayor Bloomberg has not minced words when it comes to evacuating residential buildings in the city neighborhoods most vulnerable to flooding. But in addition to the hundreds of thousands of New York residents ordered to leave their homes, tens of millions of square feet of commercial real estate in Manhattan is also within the evacuation zone. And that has some major landlords closing up their buildings.

The largest landlord in Lower Manhattan, Brookfield Office Properties, has sandbagged openings at the World Financial Center and at One New York Plaza. Brookfield also removed outdoor furniture and brought elevator cars to upper levels, a company spokesperson said. [more]

From left: Douglas Durst and the Helena

The Durst Organization plans to kick start a composting program at the Helena building located at 601 West 57th Street, DNAinfo reported. And if it goes well, the program will spread to the currently under-construction West 57th Street residential building located next to the Helena, which is slated for completion in 2015.

The two buildings have 1,350 residential units between them, meaning that the initiative would be one of the city’s largest residential composting programs. [more]

From left: Jonathan Rose Cos. founder Jonathan Rose, Blesso Properties founder Matt Blesso, Gold Development founder Romy Goldman, L+M Development Partners co-founder Ron Moelis and Durst Organization President Douglas Durst

Thirty-three developers submitted applications before Friday’s deadline to develop 50 so-called “micro-unit” apartments on a city owned site in Kips Bay, the Wall Street Journal reported. Applicants were expected to devise their own financial terms, including acquisition costs, the mix of affordable and market-rate units and the rent.

“The financial side is really the big challenge here,” Jerilyn Perine, executive director of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, told the Journal. “The city didn’t dictate that many things.” [more]

A rendering of the Durst project, on West 57th Street

Updated at 4:07 p.m.: The Durst Organization will not seek LEED certification for its pyramid-shaped condominium project on West 57th Street — opting instead to use its own criteria to assess the environmental impact of the building.

The decision, from a developer known for its embrace of “green” building practices, could alter the way other builders evaluate the sustainability of their developments, the Wall Street Journal reported. [more]

From left: 4 Times Square and John Grotto

John Grotto, the former head of leasing for the Durst Organization who departed the firm abruptly in June, has joined relative newcomer commercial brokerage Transwestern, where he will hold the title of managing director of the Northeast region, a statement from Transwestern today said.

Grotto, who brokered leases for 9 million feet of Class A office space while working for Durst, according to the statement, will focus on retail and office leasing in New York City at Transwestern. [more]

From left: Durst’s Tom Bow and 205 East 42nd Street

Third Avenue’s weak office marketcompelled the Durst Organization to take a different approach to finding tenants for its building at 205 East 42nd Street, where Pfizer vacated about 250,000 square feet two years ago. It decided to try and sell the space rather than lease it. Now, the Wall Street Journal reported that the landlord has found a buyer for 170,000 square feet of the space in the City University of New York.

CUNY had previously been rumored to be in talks for the space, but now a sale is official. Though the terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Durst Organization said it would regain control of the space in 30 years. [more]

One of the 13 updated renderings of 1 WTC

The Port Authority and the Durst Organization released 13 new renderings of 1 World Trade Center. The renderings incorporate recent modifications to the design, but a joint press statement doesn’t say what the changes include. Click here to see the photos and more.

H&M nears deal for 4 Times Square

Another clothing retailer is in talks to lease the 4 Times Square store Express recently ditched for space four blocks to the north. The New York Post reported that H&M is negotiating to take the entire 45,000-square-foot three-level store at 42nd Street and Broadway.

“We are in discussions with H&M, but in this business it ain’t over till it’s over,” Jordan Barowitz of the Durst Organization, which owns the property, told the Post. [more]