News
ECONOMIC CRISIS MEANS NEW DESIGNS
December 29, 2008
| Until six months ago, design was all about opulence and making a statement. That’s changing, GreenbergFarrow principal Navid Maqami told us recently at his West 28th Street office. |
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| Now, clients are focusing on saving money, space, and energy. One of the firm’s residential projects has changed from condos and rentals with generous amenities packages to mostly apartments that maximize rentable units and minimize cost. He sees this efficiency awareness as far away as Dubai, once the center of architectural lavishness. |
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| This mindset may affect GreenbergFarrow’s ongoing New York projects as retailers worry about the economy, he says. In the meantime, the firm has quite a portfolio ready to deliver: 400k-SF Sherman Plaza, a 20-story mixed-use residential, office, and retail development in Upper Manhattan; 500k-SF East River Plaza in Harlem; 241k-SF Fordham Place office/retail tower at East Fordham Road and Webster Avenue in the Bronx; 1M-SF, 16.5-acre Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market in Hunts Point; and the 21-condo/retail Zinc Building at 475 Greenwich St. in TriBeCa (see spiffy model above). |
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| Navid with colleagues Alejandro Cabrera, Joseph Chou, Sara Ngan, Eugene Klein, David Gagne, Stephany Santiago Selles and Hayk Arustamyan. The firm is also working on the renovation of the Manhattan Mall and Toll Brothers’ mixed-used project on theGowanus Canal, among others. Overall, it has 11 New Yorkprojects under construction and 16 in design. With all these under his belt, it’s a wonder Navid has any time for relaxation, but he and his family enjoy vacations to Europe, scuba diving, and skiing (he hit the slopes for the holidays). |
