It isn’t easy being a green condo in New York City, but one project is getting a leg up from former vice president Al Gore. Marketing for Riverhouse at One Rockefeller Park is using Gore’s Academy Award-winning documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” to appeal to environmentally conscious buyers.
Print advertisements for the 32-story, 264-unit development in Battery Park City, which began sales in September 2006, offer potential buyers “convenient truths” — pointing out transportation tips, neighborhood parks and green amenities featured in the building.
“There are so many amenities and messages to get out about the development,” said Monique Roeder, director of marketing for the Sheldrake Organization, the developer of Riverhouse.
According to Roeder, Riverhouse will be on the last waterfront property available in Battery Park City and is the only condo high-rise with a gold-level LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) designation, a voluntary green rating and certification system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The condo will have twice-filtered air and water, self-irrigated landscaping, an aquarium, a yoga studio and an outdoor terrace.
Riverhouse will have to compete for sales with the Visionaire, another green high-rise in the neighborhood, which began sales in April 2007. The Visionaire includes a children’s playroom, an aquarium and an outdoor terrace in its quiver of amenities.
Marketing for Riverhouse has succeeded in generating traffic since it began in June, said Roeder. “We’re able tie into something bigger than we are,” she said.
Riverhouse will also have a media cafeacute; managed by City Bakery, a green bakery in Manhattan.