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Community Preservation Corporation’s lending program aims to retrofit affordable housing in New York City.

As the real estate world continues to flatline, one of the hardest-hit markets has been that of moderate- and low-income housing. The nonprofit Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), however, has created a $1 billion lending program designed specifically to boost the affordable housing market, as well as to promote sustainable, efficient design.

By Susan Piperato
Photographs courtesy Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. creates a home base for his environmental vision.

Environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken his renewable energy vision home.
Kennedy’s newly-rebuilt Westchester home, dubbed “the Kennedy Green House,” is a showcase for cutting-edge solar shingles, solar thermal, and geothermal heating and cooling—technologies he’s been touting and investing in for years.

In Hell’s Kitchen, the new Jerome Robbins Theater merges form with function for a LEED Silver performance.

At first glance, the Jerome Robbins Theater at 450 W. 37th Street is deceptively simple: the space is a modest 40x70 feet, with centered rows of bench seating descending toward an unadorned proscenium stage. Steel beams support a compact balcony above and walls of gray cement provide a raw, industrial element, while a lofty ceiling keeps the small theater feeling spacious.

Sustainability and increased collaboration are fundamental factors in Cushman & Wakefield’s relocation project.

As John C. Santora, president and CEO of the Americas at Cushman & Wakefield, walks past bright work stations, translucent offices, and high-tech conference rooms, he is regularly interrupted by coworkers’ greetings. Entirely unperturbed, Santora not only enjoys these interruptions, but encourages them, tapping on glass partitions to spark a quick exchange of pleasantries or simply wave hello.

New York lags behind many world-class cities on green issues, but is setting some examples for the U.S.

According to some environmental activists and officials, New York City is surprisingly green, compared to other cities in the U.S. and worldwide. But others say it has a long way to go in terms of reducing global warming emissions and otherwise lessening its negative impact on the ecosystem.

New York City Planning Commission Chair and Department of City Planning Director Amanda Burden talks about the city’s makeover.

With the reelection of Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Amanda Burden, the New York City Planning Commission’s chair and the Department of City Planning’s director, won four more years to continue transforming the city’s landscape.

New York is aggressively rezoning its city blocks, despite the slow market.

Over the past eight years, New York City has seen some 8,400 city blocks—20 percent of the city’s land area—rezoned. Most rezonings have allowed conversion of industrial space or parking lots to residential and mixed-use developments.

In real estate and finance, socially responsible investing has evolved into a sound business model.

For most real estate professionals and investors, the term “socially responsible investing” (SRI) may not immediately connote a forecast of high returns and instant profits. After all, implementing large-scale efficiency, conservation, and governance initiatives usually comes at a high premium.

Thanks to retrofitting, restoration, and renovation, New York City’s most famous icon is now a model of energy efficiency.