NEW YORK, NY - Blackstone, through funds it manages on behalf of its real estate investors, and Ivanhoé Cambridge, announced plans to implement the largest private multi-family residential rooftop solar project in the United States. The project will be run by StuyTown Property Services (SPS), the property management company of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.
This 3.8 Megawatt (DC) solar energy system will span across the property’s 22 acres of rooftops. Once completed, StuyTown will have tripled Manhattan’s capacity to generate solar power. NYC-based renewable energy developer Onyx Renewable Partners is project developer for the installation, which is expected to begin this winter and reach completion in 2019.
The installation will consist of 9,671 high efficiency solar panels and will generate enough energy to power over 1,000 New York City apartments annually. The project is expected to offset approximately 63,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, comparable to removing 12,000 cars from the road for a year.
“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 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 is the first multifamily building in NYC to have received an ENERGY STAR certification, which it has won three years in a row for its sophisticated energy management technologies. Other sustainable initiatives at the property have included the installation of LED lighting, high efficiency hot water heat exchangers, elevator shaft louvers to minimize heat loss and domestic water flow control valves, as well as incorporating the use of a centralized building management system to control steam heating distribution and manage all of its sustainable initiatives. The community has been particularly active and enthusiastic in supporting StuyTown’s compost waste pickup, averaging just over 10,000 pounds of organic material collected weekly – representing 17 percent of all residential compost waste collected in Manhattan. StuyTown has already reduced on-site greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent since 2007, and has now expanded into the solar sphere as part of its larger commitment to environmental sustainability.
“Working to make communities more sustainable underpins many of our business decisions. 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,” said Daniel Fournier, Chairman and CEO, Ivanhoé Cambridge.
StuyTown is the largest rental apartment complex in the U.S., with 11,200+ multifamily units in 56 buildings across 80 acres in Manhattan’s East Village. It houses more than 27,000 New Yorkers and represents 1.7 percent of Manhattan’s population.
“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.”