From the October issue: Despite its prime waterfront location and its disproportionate amount
of cutting-edge “green” architecture, Battery Park City is getting
slammed by the downturn more than many other Manhattan neighborhoods. Stephen and Mary Lacoff, for instance, have been trying to sell their
1,158-square-foot two-bedroom at 2 South End Avenue for more than a
year now. Despite dropping the asking price from $1.385 million to
$999,000, they’ve received no offers. The apartment — which, like everything in Battery Park City, is in a
land-lease building — has some of the higher ground rents in the area,
contributing to common charges of $2,003 a month, or $1.74 a square
foot. “There has been some intermittent interest, but no offers,”
Stephen Lacoff said. “What I’m taking from that is there’s not a huge
demand.”

Elie Pariente said he has seen a number of AIG execs relocating to 15 Broad Street

Brokers who work in the Financial District say they are seeing an increase in the number of financial services executives posted abroad who are relocating back to New York, and specifically to newer developments in the Financial District. Elie Pariente, managing partner at Urban Sanctuary, said he has done four deals in the past 45 days with AIG executives returning to the U.S. from Tokyo and Singapore, to work for Chartis Insurance, an AIG spin-off. Three of the apartments that Pariente, who said he has a history of deals with AIG employees, sold were in 15 Broad Street. All four were two-bedroom apartments, which Pariente called “standard” for financial services executives. The apartments ranged in size from 1,200 to 1,600 square feet and in price from $1.1 million to $1.5 million. [more]

Battery Park City’s Visionaire receives Platinum LEED certification: The
Visionaire, the Albanese Organization’s latest green residential
development in Battery Park City, has received Platinum LEED
certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the only
LEED Platinum condominium on the East Coast. The 35-story, 247-unit
building was designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and construction
was completed last fall. It features a rooftop garden that harvests
rainwater for irrigation of the garden, a central heating and cooling
system powered by natural gas, and solar panels which harvest a portion
of the building’s electric output. TRD [more]

While some buyers in eco-friendly buildings are looking for green
living, many others end up in green buildings by chance. One resident
moved into the Kalahari in Harlem because of the newness, and not the
greenness, of the building, and a couple moved to a LEED-certified
building on Roosevelt Island because of the views. Another couple
needed more space and wanted to be close to Wall Street, and ended up
signing a lease for a two-bedroom at the Tribeca Green. “Green
construction means delivering a significantly higher-quality building,”
said Russell Albanese, president of the Albanese Organization, who
built the green buildings Solaire and Visionaire. “All the features are
almost too much to tell the buyer at first. But as they live in the
building, they become informed.” [more]