The Visionaire, 70 Little West Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 70 Little West Street by Carter Horsley

The Visionaire at 70 Little West Street is not only New York City’s first apartment building to be certified LEED Platinum but also it is one of the most stunning towers at Battery Park City.

Completed in 2008, this very handsome, 33-story building has 251 condominiums and occupies the block bounded by Battery Place, Little West Street, Second Place and Third Place near the southern end of Battery Park City.

The building, the last residential site in Battery Park City, overlooks the Museum of Jewish Heritage and is distinguished by a curved façade.

The Albanese Organization and the Starwood Capital Group Global were the developers.

SCLE and Pelli Clarke Pelli were the architectural firms for the project.

Bottom Line

One of the city’s most environmentally friendly residential towers, this very handsome and amenity-rich building overlooks the harbor and the Statue of Liberty.

Description

The building’s very graceful curved façade is distinguished by its red terracotta horizontal bands.

The building's southern façade is pointed on its west side and rounded on its east side.

The building’s green features include a high-efficiency fresh-air supply and exhaust system, centrally filtered water, an in-building wastewater treatment system that resupplies toilets and central air-conditioning makeup water. In addition, rainwater is harvested on the pesticide-free roof gardens.

It also has building integrated solar panels that harvest a portion of the building’s electrical load and environmentally safe paints, adhesives and sealants.

Amenities

The building has a doorman and 24-hour concierge, a fitness center with skylit swimming pool, a children s playroom, bicycle storage, 24-hour valet parking garage, residents-only lounge for entertaining with natural gas fireplace, pool table and screening room, and a lobby with a 12-foot tropical aquarium.

The building also has a charging station for electric cars.

The Whole Foods store at 101 Warren Street delivers to the building and Battery Place Market, a 4,600-square-foot gourmet grocery, is on the building’s ground floor. Each Saturday Holton Farms of Westminster, Vermont, sends its “Farm Truck” to the building and delivers to residents who have become members of its Community Supported Agriculture Selected Program and have placed orders via the farm’s online portal.

Apartments

Apartments have "sustainably harvested wood" floors, washers and dryers, pre-wiring for motorized window treatments, and an open kitchen finished with materials chosen for their intrinsic beauty as well as their environmentally responsible and healthful properties.

Kitchens have river-washed absolute granite countertops, art glass backsplashes, rift-cut oak wood flooring harvested according to Forest Stewardship Council certified stands, renewable bamboo cabinets, Sub-Zero refrigerators, stainless steel Wolf dual convection ovens and gas cook tops, and Franke under-mounted sinks with single lever faucets.

Master baths have limestone floors and countertops, glass mosaic tiled walls, and Waterworks deep soaking tubs with limestone decks.

Apartments range from studio units with 23-foot-long living rooms with open kitchens to sprawling three-bedroom units with very large living/dining rooms with long, curved walls facing the Hudson River.

The one-bedroom Unit D on floors 3 to 7 has a large foyer that opens on large living room with an open kitchen.

One of the more spectacular apartments is 10B.  It has an angled foyer that leads for a very large living/dining room with an open kitchen and a five-sided, curved island and a very long curved window.  The apartment also has two bedrooms with non-rectilinear plans.

Another two-bedroom unit on the same floor has a large angled living room with two walls of continuous windows and an open kitchen next to a rather square dining room that is at a big angle with the living room.

History

The building was one of 10 in the United States to have won a 2010 Award of Excellence from the Urban Land Institute and the only one from New York City. The award is widely considered the country’s most prestigious land-use award.

The Visionaire had already received the U. S. Green Building Council’s highest rating for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) award.

It was the third residential project of The Albanese Organization, which is based in Garden City, Long Island.

The architectural firm of Pelli Clarke Pelli also designed the developer's two other projects at Battery Park City, the 27-story Solaire at 20 River Terrace and the 24-story Verdesian at 211 North End Avenue. Cesar Pelli, the architect, also designed the World Financial Center and its spectacular Wintergarden at Battery Park City.

The Albanese Organization's other major project in Manhattan is 100 United Nations Plaza.