At Toren, Even the Parking Goes Green
The New York Times name-checked Toren (a Brownstoner advertiser) in an article this weekend about the growing trend of developers using green features as a marketing tool. It used to be, even if developers used green building techniques, they weren’t mentioned because “buyers associated that type of construction with lower-quality design or a lack of…
The New York Times name-checked Toren (a Brownstoner advertiser) in an article this weekend about the growing trend of developers using green features as a marketing tool. It used to be, even if developers used green building techniques, they weren’t mentioned because “buyers associated that type of construction with lower-quality design or a lack of comfort.” Now, green is the new black in New York City (though we doubt the same will be true for clothes, except on St. Patrick’s Day). There’s no question green adds a competitive advantage,” Donald Capoccia, managing principal of Toren developer BFC Partners, told the Times. His development (where 15 of 240 units have sold since going on sale earlier this month) is aiming for gold LEED certification, second only to platinum in the environmental design rating system. And while the city dilly-dallies about finding a location for new power plants (there are currently none in the pipeline), Toren’s energy will be supplied by five on-site 100-kilowatt generators. The green-focus doesn’t end there for the building. In the hierarchy of parking lots, there once was only two categories: handicap and non-handicap. Toren has added one more: Hybrid. Bill Ross, director of Development Marketing at Halstead Brooklyn, told us hybrid vehicles will “get premiere parking so they don’t have to wait as long” in the new parking garage, which is on the second and third floor (and not underground) because of an abandoned train station below. Take that, gas guzzlers!
When to Shout ‘Eco-Friendly’ [NY Times]
Closing Bell: Could The Toren Land the Mac Store? [Brownstoner]
SOM-designed Toren About to Hit the Market [Brownstoner]
yar take a look out the window of the B or Q after passing dekalb on the way to manhattan… old tiles are still there, and at times the lights are on on the platform
The abandoned train station is on an active line; the stop was between the DeKalb stop and the Manhattan Bridge. It was abandoned because they put some switches there, and it was pretty close to the Willoughby entrance to DeKalb anyway.
I love looking at pictures of the Toren, makes Flatbush look like Miami Beach. For all of the losers who are going to buy here, good luck getting grocerys oh yea thats right you are going order from that green grocer Fresh Direct, with all there microwavable food in their plastic packaging delivered by a big truck. Any way be careful walking up Flatbush to a train station it is a freakin highway there. O crap I am wrong again you are going to have your green Town Car pick you up because this building is located in FUCKIN HELL.
Woe, woe, woe, ABANDONED TRAIN STATION?
That area is conspicuously lacking a line (unless you walk over to Dekalb). What abandoned line? Any talk of it reopening?
That’ll cut back on car congesting, mister!
1:18: Forte has the same zoning as Toren (both are C6-4 and in the Special Downtown Brooklyn District) and was built with no parking at all.
By the time Toren is finished it will be possible to train albino monkeys to park the hybrids.
By the time Toren is finished, how closely do we think it will resemble the fantasy rendering above?
12:36 – You are right that hybrids are as anti-urban as non-hybrids. But the parking garage is not being touted at “urban” it’s being touted as “green” and you can’t argue that hybrids emit fewer harmful emissions that standard cars. Also, I don’t know the specific zoning of this site, but for many of the Flatbush Ave development sites, a parking garage is actually required by zoning. So you should really blame that garage on the City Planning department, not on the developer.
Time to ban the Town Car in NYC