Battery Park City Life

Construction on the 65-story green hotel/residential (580,000 sq ft)  tower has started. It will have 280 residential units and 155 hotel and retail units.  It will also have a pedestrian passageway that will link the southern part of Battery Park City to the building.  

The  project will create 740 construction jobs and 175 permanent jobs.  The developer, Times Equities, Inc., will donate $4.6 million to the Department of Housing for its affordable housing preservation fund, $350,000 to the NYC Board of Education for Lower East Side Space Sciences Center and $430,000 to P.S./I.S. 89 for a computer science program including computers for a new computer lab.

It anticipates to get the LEED-gold certification when completed, which will include a green roof, water-efficient plunbing fixtures, automated blinds and energy control systems.  The building is estimated to cost $600 million.  Construction should be completed in 2010.