Joint Venture with Malkin Family Bringing New Life to Urban Transit Hub
Pictured at the ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of Metro Green Apartments in Stamford, CT are (L to R): David S. Watson, senior vice president, JP Morgan Chase; State Representative Carlo Leone (D); Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy; State Senator Andrew McDonald; Jonathan F.P. Rose, president, Jonathan Rose Companies; E. Philip McKain, president & CEO, Community Action Agency for the Greater Stamford Area; Michael Fedele, Lt. Governor, State of Connecticut; Joan McDonald, commissioner, Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development; US Congressman Jim Himes; Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General, State of Connecticut; Steve Gerencser, senior advisor to US Senator Christopher J. Dodd; Timothy F. Bannon, president & executive director, Connecticut Housing Finance Authority; residents Yralda Moran and Dolores Vasquez; and Anthony E. Malkin, president, Malkin Holdings.
Photo by Ed Freeman
Jonathan Rose Companies and Malkin Properties held a ribbon-cutting ceremony September 21, 2009 marking the opening of Metro Green Apartments, a 50-unit affordable LEED Gold designed housing development on Henry Street between Atlantic Street and Washington Blvd. in Stamford, CT.
Metro Green Apartments is the first phase of Metro Green — a mixed-use Transit Oriented Development (TOD) consisting of 238 mixed-income residential units and a 350,000 sq. ft. Class-A office tower. Malkin Properties is the Master Developer of Metro Green. Jonathan Rose Companies and Malkin Properties are co-developers for Metro Green Residential.
Metro Green is designed as a model for green affordable housing development, meeting the Enterprise Green Community Guidelines and anticipating a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as both a new building and as a pilot project under the USGBC’s LEED ND Program for Neighborhood Design.
Jonathan F. P. Rose, president of the Jonathan Rose Companies, and Anthony Malkin, president of Malkin Holdings, were joined at the ribbon cutting for Metro Green Apartments by Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy and other elected officials and community leaders.
Metro Green Apartments is a leading model of transit-oriented, green affordable housing development in the State of Connecticut developed in a smart-growth location. Designed by Perkins Eastman Architects, Metro Green Apartments is seeking US Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) New Construction Gold Certification. Metro Green Apartments represents completion of the first phase of the Metro Green development that will: create a vibrant 24-hour community; provide affordable housing to local residents and commuters alike; and represent the future of green design and development in the heart of Stamford’s South End.
Metro Green Apartments features a new public plaza with shade trees, sitting areas, colorful art fence and a rain garden including perennials, grasses and ferns. A new streetscape along Henry Street includes custom street light fixtures, new sidewalks and curbside plantings.
Metro Green Apartments integrates environmentally responsible features designed to enhance the urban environment, contribute to better health for residents, promote energy efficiency and save residents money. Features include a rainwater harvesting system, a high-performance building envelope, bike storage room, and energy-efficient mechanical systems, as well as green building materials that use recycled low-VOC components.
Green features of Metro Green Apartments include:
• A rainwater harvesting system that will funnel water from the roof into storage tanks to be used for drip irrigation and filtered for use in washing machines located in the shared laundry room.
• A high performance building envelope characterized by a roof that reduces heat-island effect, high efficiency, operable double hung windows, Hardi plank siding and high-performance spray on cellulose insulation.
• Individual heating and cooling units and gas-fired domestic water heaters in each apartment to provide maximum energy efficiencies. The heating and cooling units in each apartment are individually controlled from the residential unit. The high-efficiency, instantaneous, gas-fired domestic water heaters are located in each unit to produce domestic hot water on an as-needed basis.
• Each apartment unit is metered individually for electricity. The use of ENERGY STAR-rated appliances and light fixtures will provide additional savings to residents.
When complete, the larger Metro Green Residential development in its entirety will offer residents a magnificent courtyard landscaped with sitting areas, active gardening spaces, a meditation labyrinth, a parking garage with a green roof and a pedestrian link to the Stamford Metro North Train Station.
The project will help to accommodate the burgeoning housing demand for a range of income levels in lower Fairfield County and supply office space demanded by economic growth with the lowest possible environmental impact. The development site is at the Stamford Transportation Center, located within the City of Stamford’s Enterprise Zone.
“Metro Green will provide a green, environmentally-sensitive transition from the Stamford Transportation Center to the emerging, formerly industrial neighborhood in Stamford’s South End while preserving housing opportunities for existing residents in one of the few remaining affordable neighborhoods in Fairfield County,” said Mayor Malloy. “I’m happy to join with the Jonathan Rose Companies and Malkin Properties in marking the completion of the first phase of this exciting project that will have such a positive effect on the future of Stamford.”
“Metro Green is a model solution to high energy and transportation costs currently plaguing low income residents,” said Mr. Rose. “By locating affordable housing in a smart-growth location within walking distance to a regional train line and a vibrant downtown, our residents will be spared the high price of gasoline. By making the building green, they will benefit from lower energy costs for years to come. We thank Mayor Malloy, our development partners at Malkin Properties and the City of Stamford for their ongoing support of this initiative, which will be a model for how communities can develop green, affordable, market-based solutions to the changing climate.”
“When my father first began assembly of this land in the early 1980’s he understood the value of Transit Oriented Development. With this first residential building in the second phase of the Metro development, Stamford becomes a model for the entire region for smart, sustainable, Transit Oriented Development,” said Mr. Malkin. “Jonathan Rose Companies and Malkin Properties share a vision for quality and low-impact growth through green, integrated, mixed-use, mixed-income projects at transit hubs. Without thoughtful leaders like Mayor Malloy, our collective vision could never have come to reality. This ribbon-cutting is the continuation of our decades’ long relationship with the City of Stamford and generations of the Rose family.”
Jonathan Rose Companies, LLC, is a green real estate development, planning, owner’s representative and investment firm. Malkin Properties represents the Malkin family, owners, operators, and developers of office, residential, warehouse/ distribution, and retail throughout the United States. Metro Green Apartments was designed by Perkins Eastman Architects to exceed the Enterprise Green Communities guidelines and is a candidate for U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) “New Construction” Gold certification. The residential development has been selected as a pilot project under the draft LEED “Neighborhood Design,” Gold level criteria. Metro Tower, a commercial property, has been designed to meet the Council’s “Core and Shell” LEED Platinum Criteria.
Financing for Metro Green apartments was arranged through JPMorgan Chase, GE Capital, The Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and The City of Stamford. The balance of Metro Green’s residential and office developments are now in final approval and planning stages.
About Jonathan Rose Companies LLC: Jonathan Rose Companies is a green real estate policy, planning, development, owner's representative and investment firm. The firm currently manages over $1.5 billion of work, much of it in close collaboration with not-for-profits, towns and cities. Founded in 1989 by Jonathan F.P. Rose as a mission-based, multi-disciplinary practice, Jonathan Rose Companies is recognized for its ability to achieve visionary goals through practical strategies and affordable green urban solutions. The firm currently has offices in New York, Connecticut, Colorado and New Mexico. For more information, visit www.rosecompanies.com.
About Malkin Properties: Malkin Properties is the real estate management, marketing and acquisition arm of the Malkin family, which has commercial and residential operations ranging from the Trophy 280,000 square feet Metro Center adjacent to Metro Green at the Stamford Transportation Center; 810,000 square feet First Stamford Place adjacent to the Stamford Transportation Center; 8,000,000 square feet of New York City office, including the Empire State building and various other properties.
