The Argonaut Building at 224 West 57th St. now stands as one of the city's "greenest" landmarked office towers after the 10-story, class A building was recently awarded LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The building was constructed in 1909. Only a handful of 100 year old buildings have earned LEED Gold certification in the city due to the complex challenges involved. Retro-fitting the building to earn LEED Gold certification was no small task. James Dempsey, who along with colleague Jorge Posada, leads project management at the building on behalf of Colliers International.
The 175,000 s/f building has undergone complete internal renovations, including new HVAC, electrical service, elevator cab interiors, lobby upgrades, life safety generator, and fire protection system. The renovations are 100% complete. Some aesthetic restoration work also was performed on the building's exterior in conjunction with the guidelines of the city's Landmark Preservation Commission. In excess of $25 million in hard and soft costs were expended to renovate and upgrade the building. The property is owned by M1 Real Estate.
YRG Consultants served as the lead consulting firm on the project. AKF Engineers served as the mechanical engineer on the retro-fit. The G.C. for the project was BR Fries; the architecture firm of record was Gensler. Tags: