Zeckendorf Towers & Condominiums at One Irving Square in New York City is a 670-unit, mixed-use condominium located on Union Square. The condominium complex features four distinctive towers, Gramercy, University, Park and Village. Each tower is capped with a pyramid that is lit up at night creating a dramatic backdrop in the thriving neighborhood. Initiated in April and finalized in October, 2010, it has a shared green roof view with the adjoining medical center.

With a quarter acre of rolling rooftop vegetation, Zeckendorf Towers hosts the largest residential green roof in the Greater New York City region. The 7th floor rooftop garden is located over a branch of Beth Israel Medical Center and embraced by the four 29-story Zeckendorf Towers & Condominiums. Several owners have private terraces and private access, and more than 40 percent of residents have direct views of the green roof. In addition, all residents pass the roof on a daily basis while en route to the building’s towers, gym, pool, and sundeck. Residents paid for the bulk of the project’s $330,000 price tag, with $60,000 in tax credit assistance from the New York City Green Roof Property Tax Abatement Program (approximately $4.50 per square foot).

New York Green Roofs teamed with the project engineer and the project roofer to design the roof and ensured an all-season attraction for residents with careful plant selection among the pre-vegetated mats. The diverse vegetated palette includes succulents – about a dozen species of sedum – mosses, ferns, herbaceous shrubs and trees accenting iconic pyramidal skylights with 360 degree visibility from surrounding hallway windows and 29-story towers at each corner.

“Witch hazel will burst into small yellow flowers in January, and striking plants like Japanese maple will have brilliant red foliage throughout summer and fall. Dogwood will display white blooms in spring, and anemones and balloon flowers will add to the profusion of color in summer and fall. Rhododendrons and upside-down ferns remain green year round. For the holidays, lights have been strung from tree branches,” (The New York Times, 2010).

This luxurious natural vista provides valuable ecological benefits for the property and its municipal infrastructure, including stormwater runoff mitigation, structural cooling and roof lifetime extension.