First Large Scale Market-Rate Building to Be Built to Passive House Standards in NYC
NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Synapse Residential Group LLC, an affiliate of Synapse Capital (www.synapsecap.com), and its investment partner, an affiliate of Taurus Investment Holdings, LLC, have acquired a residential development site at 542 West 153rdStreet between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Harlem. This is the third development acquisition for Synapse, and the second deal with Taurus, this year.
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The partnership plans to develop a residential rental building of approximately 35,000 square feet with 35-40 dwelling units. The project will be the first large scale market-rate building to be built to Passive House standards in Manhattan. Chris Benedict, R.A., a leader in state-of-the-art, healthy, energy-efficient building design has been engaged by the project.
Al Picallo, Managing Partner, stated, "The acquisition of this site gives us the opportunity to continue our investment in Harlem and deliver a product that consumes a fraction of the energy of a typical building while providing a superior living environment for our tenants."
Passive House construction requires detailed design and capable execution throughout the development process. The methodology utilizes commonly used building materials such as high rated insulation, triple pane windows and energy recovery ventilation systems that provide for efficient heating and cooling of the building as well as drastic reductions in energy usage. The result is an air tight building, with superior air quality that continually exchanges indoor air, providing superior climate controls and comfort to residents.
"For years, the industry has been tied to dated materials and techniques. Our team looks at insulation, air infiltration, condensation, etc., holistically. All of these components matter in a Passive House, and the ability to accurately model the building's heating and cooling loads produces a far more efficient end product," stated Tom Bencivengo, Partner. "Passive House construction is not particularly technical or complicated. It's really about approaching the building process with an attention to detail that yields an unrivalled quality of construction," added Partner Justin Palmer.
"Taurus has long been a proponent of sustainable design, as can be seen in our recent development projects in Argentina and Turkey. We also believe that this submarket exhibits extremely strong demographic trends – this is our second project in Harlem in the past three months, and we are exploring further opportunities," said Peter Merrigan, the CEO of Taurus.
About Synapse Capital:
Synapse Capital is an integrated real estate company that provides advisory, acquisition/development and operational expertise to its clients and investors. With three distinct business lines, Synapse has unique insight into both the real estate capital and operational markets, which enables the firm to provide valuable insight to its clients and generate attractive investment opportunities for its capital partners.
About Taurus Investment Holdings:
Taurus was founded in 1976 and has evolved into a global owner-operator and value-add developer of both directly managed and joint venture assets with offices throughout the US, Canada, Argentina, Turkey, UK and Germany. Taurus has purchased and sold more than 20 million square feet of residential, office, industrial, retail, hotel and other commercial real estate assets since its inception. Presently the firm has a portfolio that is valued at more than $2 billion.
About Chris Benedict, R.A.:
Chris Benedict R.A. builds healthy, durable and extremely energy-efficient buildings for the same price as typical buildings. Their designs are strictly monitored during construction to assure optimum building performance. Their work includes new construction apartment buildings, substantial gut rehabilitations of large and small existing buildings, single family homes, commercial spaces, artist lofts and office spaces. The firm currently has two buildings under construction in the tri-state area that are on track for both International and U.S. Passive House Certification.
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