It's Alive!

The new Living Wall (yes it has a name) at 505 Howard was officially unveiled last night, taking the concept of going green to the next level. Some quick stats: 12,600 plants of 25 types are growing across 2,500 SF in Tishman's lobby, Habitat Horticulture principal David Brenner tells us (David and his firm designed and created the wall). We heard the landlord's chairman Jerry Speyer liked the idea of a Tuscan gardens backdrop, hence the Roman-esque sculpture juxtaposed with the vegetation. (The Romans popularized more than wine.) What's a project like this cost? Sources say somewhere around $150/SF.

The "guts" of the complex irrigation system sits a few feet away, shown to us by Hyphae Design Lab founding principal Brent Bucknum (the irrigation and control systems engineer/designer of the project). The goal was to reduce runoff and essentially create a re-imagined cooling tower, he says, with a water recycling system that gets resupplied to the wall. Together Brent and David treat the wall like a big hedge, with upkeep needed twice a week. David knows of another living wall that's very lengthy and may be bigger in terms of square footage but can't think of another that is quite as impactful at first glance as the one at 505 (don't crash during rush hour staring at it). They're currently working together on a living wall for the S.F. MoMa.

The party sauntered upstairs to get a glimpse of a crane-filled skyline (we counted at least six in the air around us). Here's Xtelesis' Gary Klausner, CTG Consulting's Charles Gill, Pennbrook|Caib's Jude Winterhalter, First American Exchange Co's Alaine Bry Raven, and JLL's Tom Poser (his firm repped Neustar on its big anchor lease in the building). The event was thrown by Commercial Real Estate Professionals Network (CREPN).