The not-yet-named building, which is scheduled for a spring 2005 groundbreaking and completion sometime the following year, is slated for Site 16/17--the largest remaining residential site in Battery Park City. It is located on the Hudson River, bordered on the north by Murray Street, the east by North End Avenue, the south by Vesey Street and on the west by River Terrace.

The building will feature oversized units, including many three- and four-bedroom apartments, upper-floor duplexes, nature-interior finishes and unique floor layouts. The building will also include a courtyard which will serve as a continuation of the nearly completed Teardrop Park. This is the first project of this kind for Sheldrake, what they're calling "a real breakout deal for them in the New York City market."

In regards to the "green" aspect, the developers' goal is to achieve what is known as Gold Leed status. Just a few of the anticipated "green" amenities will be rain, black and gray water collection and treatment systems, enecrete heat source, rooftop and courtyard plantings, bamboo flooring in residential units and a possible rooftop turbine windmill.

According to Sheldrake, the apartment interiors will be finished by Ismael Leyva architects, which was recently involved in the design of the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. Other projects include luxury apartments in the Chatham and Park Imperial Buildings as well as the Millennium Towers in Jersey City.

"We received a record number of proposals from some of the nation's most prominent developers," says Timothy S. Carey, president and CEO of the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority. The authority issued an RFP earlier this year and had a dozen responses before selecting a winning team. "The wide appeal for this innovative project is further evidence of both the resilience of the New York real estate market, and the attractiveness of building in Battery Park City."

The Battery Park City Authority is a public benefit corporation created by the New York State Legislature in 1968 to develop a 92-acre site at the southwestern tip of Lower Manhattan.