The Visionaire: A LEED Platinum High-Rise Condo in New York City

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In Amanda and Jesse's master bedroom, soft furniture colors and textures and living plants add a refined touch to the cityscape views outside the window.
In Amanda and Jesse's master bedroom, soft furniture colors and textures and living plants add a refined touch to the cityscape views outside the window.
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The home's soft nautical theme continues in the master bedroom, which features a large open shelving unit from Restoration Hardware handmade of wood and metal and inspired by industrial 1950s shelving from a Dutch ship-building factory. Decorated with mementos from their travels, the shelving unit is at once functional storage and an artistic display space.
The home's soft nautical theme continues in the master bedroom, which features a large open shelving unit from Restoration Hardware handmade of wood and metal and inspired by industrial 1950s shelving from a Dutch ship-building factory. Decorated with mementos from their travels, the shelving unit is at once functional storage and an artistic display space.
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In the dining room, a Ligne Roset table seats six to eight, but a hidden leaf allows it to expand to accommodate double the guests. The unusual chandelier is also adjustable, allowing for the height of the light to change.
In the dining room, a Ligne Roset table seats six to eight, but a hidden leaf allows it to expand to accommodate double the guests. The unusual chandelier is also adjustable, allowing for the height of the light to change.
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Jesse and Amanda enjoy walking their dog, Molly, in the many parks and green spaces in their urban neighborhood.
Jesse and Amanda enjoy walking their dog, Molly, in the many parks and green spaces in their urban neighborhood.
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One of Jesse's favorite rooms is the kitchen, where he can cook while chatting with guests and overlooking his home's gorgeous views. The kitchen includes bamboo cabinetry and recycled glass tiles.
One of Jesse's favorite rooms is the kitchen, where he can cook while chatting with guests and overlooking his home's gorgeous views. The kitchen includes bamboo cabinetry and recycled glass tiles.
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LED light boxes frame photos of marine life that Jesse took in the Marshall Islands. The coffee table in the center of the room is made from steel reclaimed from a grounded ship.
LED light boxes frame photos of marine life that Jesse took in the Marshall Islands. The coffee table in the center of the room is made from steel reclaimed from a grounded ship.
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In a glassed-in living room corner, the couple's guitars are at once part of the decor and readibly accessible for playing.
In a glassed-in living room corner, the couple's guitars are at once part of the decor and readibly accessible for playing. "If the guitars are out, you tend to pick them up and play more," Amanda says.
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Built by the Albanese Organization, The Visionaire is the first residential high-rise condo in the United States to win LEED Platinum certification. Atop The Visionaire, pesticide-free rooftop gardens landscaped with native plants used harvested rainwater for irrigation.
Built by the Albanese Organization, The Visionaire is the first residential high-rise condo in the United States to win LEED Platinum certification. Atop The Visionaire, pesticide-free rooftop gardens landscaped with native plants used harvested rainwater for irrigation.
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The rooftop deck offers The Visionaire’s Manhattan residents green outdoor spaces with stunning views of Ellis Island and the Hudson River.
The rooftop deck offers The Visionaire’s Manhattan residents green outdoor spaces with stunning views of Ellis Island and the Hudson River.
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One of Jesse and Amanda's main goals was to create a comfortable, healthy home where they and their friends and family could relax.
One of Jesse and Amanda's main goals was to create a comfortable, healthy home where they and their friends and family could relax.

While travel often changes the way people view the world, for Amanda and Jesse Glickenhaus, it changed the way they wanted to live. When the two met as young teachers in the Marshall Islands in 2004, Jesse and Amanda were both searching for ways to better the world. Jesse, who now holds a master’s degree in global affairs with a concentration in energy and environmental studies, was getting his feet wet in the hands-on study of climate change, while Amanda was teaching elementary school through the Dartmouth College Volunteer Teaching Program.

Education in the Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands comprise more than 20 islands and atolls in Micronesia in a remote part of the Pacific just north of the equator. After World War II, the United States evacuated the residents of one of these atolls, Bikini Atoll, to conduct nuclear testing. Since then, its original residents and their descendants–now scattered throughout the Marshall Islands and elsewhere across the globe–have been working to obtain aid to clean up the radiation left over on the atoll in hopes of returning to their homeland. Jesse and Amanda were particularly struck by the determination of the descendants, but also realized that radiation cleanup is not the only obstacle potentially preventing the islanders from returning home. “Being in the Marshall Islands is what got me really interested in climate change,” Jesse says, “because even though the Bikinians want to move back to their homeland, the atoll is threatened by rising sea levels.”

A Home That Helps

When they moved to New York City in 2006, Jesse and Amanda were both dedicated to finding careers that would benefit others. Jesse started teaching climate change classes at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies while working on his J.D. in environmental law, which he plans to use to work toward the prevention of water, air and soil pollution. Amanda, who entered nursing school after returning from the Marshall Islands, works as an obstetrics nurse at Mount Sinai Medical Center. But along with helping others through their careers, they also wanted a home that would be part of the solution for preventing global climate change. They began researching and discovered the recently built Visionaire in Battery Park City on the southwest tip of lower Manhattan. The nation’s first LEED Platinum residential high-rise condo, The Visionaire has a solar panel array, an HVAC system powered by natural gas and geothermal, and an onsite wastewater and reclamation system that supplies 25,000 gallons of water a day for use in commodes and the cooling tower. The couple also liked all the green space available in Battery Park City, where they could walk their lab/retriever mix, Molly.

  • Published on May 21, 2012
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