News
Tour de Durst
October 9, 2009
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| NAIOP NYC’s Developing Leaders’ first executive lunch series started with LEEDing company The Durst Org., whose Helena Durst and Tom Bow gave the 25 members a tour of the iconic, Platinum-certified Bank of America Tower yesterday. We snapped the group in the building’s newly opened public space—one of five—which gives unobstructed views of Grace Plaza, the HBO Building, and Bryant Park. This urban garden room includes giant peat moss-based sculptures that were grown in Canada and installed two weeks ago. Below grade is a tunnel that the Durst Org. built to connect the 42nd-Bryant Park station to the 42nd-Times Square station, which the firm is working with the MTA to open. |
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| The group was given a bottom-to-top tour, everything from the bowels of operations to Durst Org.’s executive offices. Here, we take a walk through the mechanical systems, where Helena and Tom gave an overview of the green measures the Durst Org/BofA JV has undertaken, including its own co-generation plant, ice coolant systems, and 69k-gallon capacity rainwater storage tanks. Fun fact: BofA Tower conserves 3.4M gallons of water annually just by using waterless urinals—that’s enough to line up Poland Spring bottles from NYC to San Diego. |
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| After a tour of pre-Bye Bye Birdie Henry Miller’s Theater (revitalized by Durst Org. into a rare green theater) and its executive offices to learn about the firm’s history, Developing Leaders members gathered for lunch at Durst's office to pick Helena and Tom’s brains on topics ranging from the importance of green to career development. |
