The Solaire

We were at a green seminar last week, and someone asked "What one project should I know about if I'm going to talk about green successes?" The speaker naturally said The Solaire, Tribeca's now-famous green apartment building that rumor has it fully-leased in under five seconds. So, old news perhaps, but it reminded us every green residential blog should probably include the project somewhere.

The site's green feature shortlist isn't terribly in-depth but here's the quick skinny:

- nation's first green residential tower: 27 stories, 293 units, 580+ residents

- LEED Gold certification

- awarded Top-10 Green Projects by the AIA in 2004

- uses 50% less potable water, 35% less energy, and black water treatment on-site

Tomorrow, a selection from the AIA's most recent awards.

LEED, TOD, and L.A. Too

Kudos to The South Group of Los Angeles for not only developing to LEED certification standards in a prohibitively expensive construction market, but for its attempts to create a "neighborhood" with its three residential towers Elleven, Luma, and Evo. Not exactly mud huts, the residences won't meet die-hard green building fans' standards, but in a market like L.A. one could argue that there may not be 800 buyers who mandate "pure" green building and are also willing to live in, and pay $750,000 for, a (luxurious) box in the sky.

The projects' sales offices are located at 707 Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.

The Greenest Little House in San Francisco

Blue Jean insulation, the City's first residential rainwater catchment system, and fly ash concrete (we love it so much) contribute to 520 Clipper's designation as the "greenest" in SF (and if not, most definitely the greenest in the ever-earnest and lovely Noe Valley where Avenue finds green to be oh-so-compatibly located).

What did Lorax Development's 4BD/4BA work list at? At $1.89M, 520 Clipper asked a competitive, if not high, $730/SF. (Construction costs were estimated at $350/SF.)