Pataki unveils world's first 'green' highrise downtown.

Gov. George Pataki unveiled The Solaire building, the world's first environmentally sustainable residential high rise last week, saying it's a symbol of recovery after 9/11 and a milestone in the construction industry.

The $120 million building, located in Battery City Park, is in fact, the first new residential building to be completed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"I was down here after 9/11 and shortly thereafter, and you looked at Battery City Park and it broke your heart," Gov. Pataki said. "People worried about how Battery City Park and ground zero were going to come back."

But the project that began in 2000 and halted because of 9/11, has more than 200 tenants and is now more than 80% leased. The first tenants moved in July 4th weekend.

"Today Battery City Park is a better place than it was on the morning of Sept. 11," Gov. Pataki said. "Today we cut the ribbon on the first green high rise in the world. This is a vision for the way people are going to live in the 21st Century."

The 293-unit, 27-story building at 20 River Terrace was designed to meet stringent requirements for environmental and resource conservation and management throughout the building's infrastructure and within each individual apartment. It consumes 35% less energy, reduces summer peak demand for electricity by more than 65%, utilizes one-third less water, provides healthier indoor air quality and offers substantially more natural light than typical residential buildings.

"Our challenge was not only to engineer a building that would be responsible in its use of the earth's resources, but also provide a healthy living environment for its tenants," said Russell Albanese, president of the Albanese Organization, that developer of the project.

In 2000, Gov. Pataki set the stage for environmentally responsible development in New York by introducing the nation's first green building tax credit.

The Albanese Organization used $100 million in New York Liberty Bonds to finish the project. The Bonds are tax-exempt private activity bonds, a form of debt financing available for capital projects in the Liberty Zone in Lower Manhattan. Interest on the Bonds is exempt from federal, State, and City income tax, and these savings are passed on to the borrower in the form of a lower interest rate.

Northwest Mutual was the joint venture partner in the $120-million project. Making the building environmentally sustainable added about $40 a square foot to the 380,000 SF structure.

"Thanks to the vision of the Governor, The Solaire serves as a benchmark for environmentally sustainable development, and an example to the entire world," said Timothy Carey, Battery Park City president and CEO.