December 7th - December 13th, 2007

Food Market Returns to South Street Seaport

December 10^th: A public food market will return this weekend to the South Street Seaport for the first time in two years. New Amsterdam Public is sponsoring the upcoming Wintermarket, which will showcase sustainable, locally grown produce, according to amNY. Renowned chefs Mario Batali (Babbo,  Lupa, Del Posto) and Alexandra Guarnaschelli (Butter) are expected to attend along with other "culinary heavyweights," according to Time Out New York.

The only drawback is that the market will only last for one day, but organizers hope that it will eventually become a permanent fixture at the seaport, says amNY.   The Wintermarket opens at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 16^th, and will stay open until 4 p.m. It will be held on Pier 17 in the same spot as the old fish market.

Big Law Firm Signs 20-Year Lease at Liberty Plaza

December 7^th: Despite Larry Silverstein's attempts to lure them away to his new 7 World Trade Center, Clearly Gottlieb has decided to stay at One Liberty Plaza, reports the New York Post. The law firm is expanding its current office space by 100,000 square feet, to occupy a grand total of 550,000 square feet. Once the company's current lease expires in 2010, the newly signed lease will secure the firm as a tenant of Brookfield Properties for the next 20 years, according to the report. The building, a striking 50-story black-steel tower, sits on Broadway between Cortlandt and Liberty Streets, directly overlooking Ground Zero.

90 West Street Tenants’ Association Formed in Aftermath of Flood

December 7^th: Residents of 90 West Street returned home last week after being displaced for just over a week following a flood that forced the building to evacuate in late November. One of the building’s owners, Peter Levinson, has been working nonstop to get the building up and running after its entire electrical system was wiped out by the flood, reports the Downtown Express. “There are more electricians in the bottom of this building than in the rest of New York City,” Levinson told the Express. With electricians working around the clock for the past week, Levinson and others were able to fully restore the system, which originally took about six months to build, according to the report.

Upon their return, residents were still concerned over heat and hot water, but mostly they were asking about contaminates stemming from the flood that may still be in the building. Jamie Kibel, another owner of the building, told the Express that while she is waiting for written approval to come from the city Department of Environmental Protection, she has received the “verbal OK” from the department, saying that the building is safe. So far, no tests have shown any sign of contaminants in residential areas in the building, according to the Express.

Still, residents are not happy about how the crisis was handled. Most complained that the biggest problem was a lack of information and poor overall communication. In response to recent events, a group of tenants have now formed an official tenants’ association, which has already received 300 emails since it started, reports the Express. There are speculations that the group may take legal action against the building, but these have not been confirmed.

330 Hudson Street Goes Green

December 7^th: The $220 million mixed-use building located at 330 Hudson Street is going "green," according to a report in New York Construction News.  Renovation began in October on the eight-story building, which will soon rise to 22 stories once developers complete construction on the additional 14 floors that will be built directly atop the existing building.

Once completed, 330 Hudson will include 292,000 square feet of "Class A" office space, 15,000 square feet of retail space, and a 171-room luxury boutique hotel tower, reports the News. Other amenities mentioned in the report include a 7,000-square-foot rooftop event space, a rooftop pool, a sky bar, a restaurant, outdoor terraces, a conference center, and a fitness center. Architects are taking care to preserve the buildings unique 20^th-century façade by retaining and restoring the original building's external structure.

The final product will be a premium, LEED-certified office building with various "green" features. In its report, New York Construction News highlighted the following design features: high-performance glazing and energy-efficient systems; low-flow water fixtures that will help reduce water usage by 20 to 30 percent; low-emitting paints, carpet systems, adhesive, and sealants to improve indoor environmental quality; reuse of more than 75 percent of the existing shell and structure, so as not to require the use of virgin materials; and specification of materials containing recycled content.