Goldman Sachs is pushing ahead with plans for a 2-million-square-foot downtown office tower that would have a rounded glass façade overlooking the Hudson River and environmentally friendly features that could make it one of the first of a new wave of “green” commercial buildings.
Although it has yet to work out a deal to lease the plot of land where the tower would go – catercorner from Ground Zero at Vesey and West Streets – Goldman has gone so far as to pay for architectural plans and a $350,000 environmental impact statement being prepared by the site’s owner, Battery Park City Authority.
The firm has also submitted a zoning proposal for the site to the city’s Planning Dept., which is scheduled to vote on the project next Monday.
Goldman entered into negotiations with the BPCA for the site late last year, but the deal was complicated by a long-running feud between Battery Park officials and Brookfield Properties, which owns the World Financial Center.
Brookfield claims that it controls development rights to the parcel – the last commercial site in Battery Park City.
That set the stage for a battle of the titans between Goldman and Brookfield, but while the two began discussions with dramatically divergent positions sources said progress has been made toward a deal under which Brookfield would receive a substantial fee to relinquish its claim.
BPCA head Tim Carey said that his planners are working closely with Goldman and that even if that deal falls through, the proposed rezoning of the site would pave the way for a bidding process that could draw another developer.
Sources familiar with the project said the Goldman tower is being designed by architect Harry Cobb, who created the John Hancock Tower in Boston. Cobb’s EDF Tower in Paris has curved lines that are said to evoke his design for the Goldman building.
The tower, described as a minimalist glass structure with a rounded riverfront façade, will be 700- to 800-feet tall, with 40 stories and 2 million square feet of office space. It will house Goldman’s headquarters and its trading floors, which are currently spread over three different locations in lower Manhattan.
It is being designed to meet Battery Park City’s cutting edge green building requirements, which call for ecologically friendly materials and advanced energy and water conservation.