If I HAD to move back to NYC, this is where I would I want to live.
Anyhow, there are only a few places that Iwould live in NY if I had to return there. Fiorst, believe it or not, I totally heart the Upper East Side. it's just, well, pretty. BUT- if Icould choose anywhere, this place is definitely in the running (story edited to include the pretty pictures, click on the link for the full story!):
Ecofriendly Luxury
Riverhouse, a 31-story, 246-unit condominium going up in New York?s Battery Park City, combines luxurious amenities and star-designed interiors with green technologies?from geothermal wells and photovoltaic panels to a triple-glaze window system on the exterior, all of which make the building 25 to 30 percent more efficient than New York state code.
Riverhouse promises new heights in ecofriendly building and design.BY NANCY RUHLING
In Manhattan, Battery Park City is as green as it gets, but Riverhouse, the new luxury condo development overlooking the Hudson River that is rising right around the corner from 4 World Financial Center, is raising the bar so high by marrying high-minded environmental principles with high design that it scrapes the sky.Although the 31-story, 264-unit complex, where one- to four-bedroom condos are selling for $815,000 to over $3 million, will not be ready for occupancy until next year, its green features, star designers, and over-the-top amenities, which include a dog spa and lobbies decorated with oversized saltwater aquariums, have created such a buzz in a market where "luxury" is the expected standard that 50 residences were snapped up during the first six weeks the sales office was open.
The Future of Residential Developments?
Besides its energy-efficient features, Riverhouse offers residents twice-filtered fresh air, and low toxin-emitting paints, adhesives, and sealants and humidification during the winter also help refresh the air. Such measures lead to health and well-being. For developer Chris Daly, president of Sheldrake Organization, Inc., green technology is ?the next social movement for our firm to engage in for the welfare of our tenants.
Riverhouse's setting in Battery Park CityThe greening of Riverhouse, Sheldrake's first luxury residential project, is the result of a high-profile collaboration: Polshek Partnership Architects designed the exterior, which includes the innovative glass curtain wall; Ismael Leyva Architects created the interior footprints of the units, which take advantage of energy-efficient features while offering panoramic views on two to three sides; and David Rockwell pulled it all together by using green products—everything from reclaimed flooring in the lobbies and amenity spaces to low toxin-emitting paints, adhesives, and sealants—to create avant-garde living spaces.
"To me, Oxygen Green is a color that defines purity," says Rockwell, whose Riverhouse interiors have the sleek, clean aesthetics of Asian spas. "I see it as pale blue-green; it is both peaceful and has vitality—we are using it as a guiding design principle."
Riverhouse's first floor houses nonprofits, including the first public library branch in Lower Manhattan, and Poets House, a literary archive and meeting place. The amenities, including a billiards room, fitness center, dog spa, a glass-tiled 50-foot swimming pool, and a whimsical child's playhouse that looks like a lighthouse, are on the second floor. A 24-hour concierge caters to every whim, and ride-sharing Zipcars and ecofriendly OzoCars are available for those who don't need a full-time parking space.
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