LEED-ND pilot launched

The US Green Building Council launched its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) pilot program, created with CNU and the Natural Resources Defense Council, in July. Approximately 250 projects registered to be part of the program, according to Dara Zyckerman, assistant manager for LEED-ND with the USGBC.
Due to the popularity of the pilot, the LEED-ND committee removed its original cap of 120 projects. The fee deadline was scheduled for the second week of July — after this issue went to press. A few projects submitted paperwork early and were named by USGBC. A list of all pilot LEED-ND projects is planned to be published in the September issue of New Urban News.
The first nine projects that registered (identified below) are diverse models of sustainable development — ranging from 1.6 acres to 1,500 acres. They include infill, brownfield, and greenfield projects. The following descriptions are drawn from the USGBC and research by New Urban News.
Related Westpac Snowmass Mountain Village, an 80-acre project in a major Colorado skiing destination. “The new Base Village will include 600 luxury residential units offering various ownership opportunities, hotel facilities and amenities, an aquatic center and fine dining and shopping for residents and visitors,” a Related Westpac press release said. The Base Village development is expected to be completed in 2011.
East College Street Project in Oberlin, Ohio. This 2.5-acre project of Sustainable Community Associates is the first major commercial development since 1958 in the historic downtown of Oberlin, a town 32 miles southwest of Cleveland. The developers — three young Oberlin College graduates — cleaned up a property once occupied in part by an auto body shop, dry cleaner, and a gas station. The site is being turned into a three-story, mixed-use building containing 12,600 sq. ft. of retail and 49 residential units. The retail space will be leased only to local owners. There is also to be 10,000 sq. ft. of publicly accessible open space for concerts and markets, along with underground and surface parking. Quoted in the New York Times, architect Michael Corby of Integrated Architecture described the style as “subtle modernism that’s not trying to do anything more than suggest a different era.”
The North End, an 8-acre redevelopment by The Mandel Group in “Milwaukee’s newest downtown neighborhood,” on the Milwaukee River near downtown. The largest project in the city’s Park East area, it calls for condominium units, rental apartments, and retail space in several mid-rise buildings on the site of a former tannery that Mandel demolished.
ElderGrace Elder Cohousing, a 3.5-acre cohousing development “in the middle of Santa Fe,” New Mexico. The project, sponsored by the Santa Fe Community Housing Trust, will include 28 single-family houses and an approximately 2,500 sq. ft. common house. “Our site is close to public transportation, restaurants and stores,” says ElderGrace’s website, which displays a site plan. “Possible amenities include vegetable gardens, a shared library and exercise facilities.” Santa Fe architect Lorn Tryk created the plan.
Columbia University Proposed Expansion, a 17-acre area of Upper Manhattan just north of Columbia’s historic Morningside Heights campus. The area consists primarily of the four large blocks from 129th to 133rd Streets between Broadway and 12th Avenue, including the north side of 125th Street, as well as three properties on the east side of Broadway from 131st to 134th Streets.
The goal of this project is to move away from ad-hoc growth of university buildings toward an urban academic environment woven into the fabric of the surrounding community. The plan includes more than 6.8 million square feet for teaching, research, underground parking, and support services, while creating new facilities for civic, cultural, recreational, and commercial activity. It calls for pedestrian-friendly streets and publicly accessible open spaces that reconnect West Harlem to the Hudson River waterfront park now under construction.
Strathearn Masterplan, a 22.4-acre neighborhood center in Edmonton, Alberta. The project includes 1,750 units and 10,000 square feet of retail space. The site planning by Sturgess Architecture can be seen on this page. The developer is Strathearn Heights Ltd., comprising Rockwell Investments Ltd. of Montreal and the Nearctic Group of Edmonton.
Huntsville Road Habitat Neighborhood, an 8-acre infill affordable housing plan in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Shared streets, high-density housing, rain gardens and other sustainable storm water management systems will be designed, built and studied. The University of Arkansas School of Architecture’s Community Design Center and the university’s Division of Agriculture were awarded a $464,000 grant by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission to pursue the project. The US EPA funded the grant.
Batawa, Quinte West, Ontario, a 1,500-acre new town that includes the reconstruction of a former shoe factory into a mixed-use development. The developer is Sonja Bata, who cofounded the shoe company Bata Ltd.
Weatherford Place, a 1.6-acre residential project in Roswell, Georgia.