Top 5 Stories in New York City Green Real Estate: 2011

As the year draws to a close later this week, let’s take a quick look back at the following five of our articles from 2011 that were the most popular (by total page views) here at gbNYC:

No. 1: Come on Down: 125 Broad Street is Lower Manhattan’s First LEED Silver Tower

Back in July, Mack-Cali’s 40-story 125 Broad Street became the first LEED-certified commercial office building in the Downtown submarket (which excludes the World Trade Center).

No. 2: On Top: WestLB New York Lands LEED Platinum at 7 World Trade Center

The New York branch of German bank WestLB earned LEED Platinum in February for its 129,000-square-foot offices at the top of New York City’s first LEED-certified commercial office building.

No. 3: Restaurant + REIT = Urban Pop Up Farm on Stalled East Side Construction Site

The 6000-plant pop up Riverpark restaurant and farm opened late in the summer at a stalled construction site on East 29th Street in Kips Bay.

No. 4: It’s Complicated: New York City Green Buildings Balk At, Earn LEED Certification

We took a look at a handful of local projects to make some anecdotal observations about LEED certification, particularly in light of the then-pending Henry Gifford-led lawsuit against USGBC.

No. 5: REI Preserving Puck Building History at First NYC Retail Store in SoHO

After a behind-the-scenes tour, we reviewed the green features at REI’s first foray into New York City.

Rounding out the top ten articles were:

No. 6: It’s Complicated: New York City Green Buildings Balk At, Earn LEED Certification

No. 7: Taking The LEED: Empire State Building Gets Certified After All

No. 8: 20 Times Square: Chinese Financing Could Raise LEED Gold Above World’s Fifth Ugliest Building

No. 9: Are LEED-Certified Buildings Actually Bird-Killing Machines? (Spoiler: No)

No. 10: A Closer Look at the 2011 Midtown Manhattan Green Building Opportunity Index Profile Report

We were somewhat surprised that – arguably – the year’s biggest story: Henry Gifford’s lawsuit against USGBC, which was dismissed by the Southern District of New York back in August, did not make our top ten list. So here it is:

Bonus: Two Dudes Talking About A(n Unsuccessful) Lawsuit: gbNYC’s Meta-Interview On Henry Gifford’s Case Against LEED.

We compiled the same list last year in looking back on 2010.

Happy Holidays from all of us here at gbNYC!