Blackstone and Ivanhoé Cambridge are about to turn the largest rental apartment community in the United States into a major producer of green energy in Manhattan.

Blackstone and Ivanhoé Cambridge announced the largest private multi-family residential rooftop solar project in the U.S. at New York City’s Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village (CNW Group/Ivanhoé Cambridge)

The two real estate giants announced Wednesday they will build the largest private multi-family residential rooftop solar project in the U.S. at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. The project will be run by StuyTown Property Services (SPS).

The 3.8 megawatt solar energy system will be built atop the property’s 22 acres of rooftops. Once completed, StuyTown will triple the amount of solar power which can be generated in Manhattan. New York City-based Onyx Renewable Partners is project developer for the installation, which is expected to begin this winter and be completed in 2019.

Almost 10,000 solar panels

It will consist of 9,671 high efficiency solar panels and generate enough energy to power over 1,000 apartments. The project is expected to offset approximately 63,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, comparable to removing 12,000 cars from the road.

“We are incredibly proud of the long-term partnership we are building with the StuyTown community,” said Nadeem Meghji, head of real estate Americas at Blackstone, in a release announcing the project. “In 2015 we made a commitment to preserve StuyTown’s unique heritage and be responsible stewards of its future.

“This innovative solar project is one of many initiatives we designed and implemented to make the community more sustainable and environmentally friendly.”

StuyTown includes more than 11,200 multifamily units in 56 buildings across 80 acres in Manhattan’s East Village. It houses more than 27,000 New Yorkers.

“When we acquired StuyTown in late 2015, we made sure to solicit feedback from the residents. We quickly learned of the strong connection with the community’s green space and the residents’ commitment to the environment,” said Rick Hayduk, CEO of StuyTown Property Services. “This solar project is yet another initiative executed by StuyTown’s ownership to reduce overall GHG emissions for the betterment of our city.”

StuyTown ENERGY STAR certified

StuyTown is the first multifamily building in NYC to have received an ENERGY STAR certification, which it has earned three years in a row for its sophisticated energy management technologies. Other sustainable initiatives at the property have included:

• LED lighting;
• high efficiency hot water heat exchangers;
• elevator shaft louvers to minimize heat loss;
• domestic water flow control valves;
• and incorporating a centralized building management system to control steam heating distribution and manage sustainable initiatives.

This won’t be the first major sustainability initiative at StuyTown. Residents involved in its compost pickup are diverting just over 10,000 pounds of organic material per week from its waste stream. StuyTown houses less than two per cent of Manhattan’s residents, but this represents 17 per cent of all residential compost waste collected in the borough.

StuyTown has also reduced on-site greenhouse gas emissions by 10 per cent since 2007, Blackstone and Ivanhoe Cambridge say.

“Working to make communities more sustainable underpins many of our business decisions,” said Daniel Fournier, chairman and CEO of Ivanhoé Cambridge, in the release. “We are especially proud of this initiative and congratulate our partners Blackstone and the team at SPS. Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Village is a very special place and continues to be a leader in New York City.”

Ivanhoé Cambridge, Blackstone

Ivanhoé Cambridge, a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, is a global leader investing in properties and real estate companies around the world. Founded in Quebec in 1953, Ivanhoé Cambridge has built a vertically integrated business across Canada. Internationally it invests alongside key partners and major real estate funds.

Ivanhoé Cambridge owns or holds interests in nearly 800 buildings, primarily in the residential, office, retail and logistics real estate sectors. It held approximately C$56 billion in assets as of December 31, 2016.

Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms.

Its asset management businesses, with over $385 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds.