Hidrock Realty is planning to develop its first Manhattan hotel in a near-empty office building near Herald Square, the Wall Street Journal reported. Hidrock, a family owned real-estate investment company, paid about $40 million for the 100,000-square-foot building at 960 Sixth Avenue and 35th Street, less than half of the $105 million the former owner paid for the property in 2007. Using a strategy that’s popular with investors, Hidrock purchased the mortgage on the troubled property at a steep discount and then pursued a foreclosure action against the owner. That strategy succeeded last week when Hidrock took title of the 16-story building. [more]
A black and yellow butterfly landed for a moment on one of the white flowers transplanted on the roof of the County Office Building.
Darla Cravotta was delighted to see the insect taking advantage of the new garden under construction 70 feet above Forbes Avenue, Downtown.
“It’s like a scene from ‘Avatar,’ ” she said.
Ms. Cravotta, who is special projects coordinator for Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, was one of the tour leaders Tuesday on a visit to the first “green roof” being installed on a government building in southwestern Pennsylvania.
The county is following the lead of the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and several public and private property owners who have done similar projects.
Landscape workers were planting a variety of ground-hugging evergreens, succulents, perennials and annuals on top of the 80-year-old office building. Eric French, president of Eisler Landscaping, said the plants and the lightweight soil in which they are growing will help keep the structure cooler, hold and clean storm water and extend the life of the roof.
The new green oasis also will improve the visual aesthetics for cubicle dwellers in the nearby U.S. Steel Tower, One Mellon Center and other Downtown skyscrapers, Ms. Cravotta said.
The $621,000 roof project is the latest element in Allegheny County’s “Green Initiative.” It is being paid for with federal stimulus funds.
The garden covers about 8,400 square feet on half of the county building’s flat roof. Instruments to measure inside and outside temperatures, humidity and water retention will provide data for comparing cooling and heating costs on the planted and unplanted sides.
That information will be used in discussions with Downtown building owners and landscape architects in hopes of persuading them to convert the tops of their properties into energy-saving gardens.
There are about 1,500 acres of roofs in the Golden Triangle, according to Janie French, director of green infrastructure programs for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. She estimated that roofs suitable for gardens total about 24,000 acres across the county.
Ms. French, who served as a consultant on the county’s green roof, is not related to Mr. French, the landscaper.
The top of the County Office Building has been landscaped with hidden foam supports to create a pattern of valleys and hills similar to the topography at Pittsburgh’s Point.
That makes the county’s first green roof an ideal tool for demonstrating the different kinds of plants, drainage systems and growing materials that can be used in such projects, Ms. French said.
