PRESS RELEASE 01-18-07

GARDEN CITY, N.Y., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The offering plan for New York's newest "green," or environmentally engineered, residential tower has been accepted and filed with the New York State Attorney General's office, enabling the opening of the sales gallery on March 1. The 35-story, 251-unit condominium tower, called The Visionaire, is under construction on the last developable residential site in the south neighborhood of Battery Park City, at 70 Little West Street, directly overlooking Manhattan harbor (www.thevisionaire.com).

The Visionaire is New York's newest luxury green condominium tower, developed and designed by the team who pioneered environmentally responsible living in the United States. The building image is an artist's rendering. The complete offering terms are in an offering plan available from Sponsor. File No. CD-06-0248. Sponsor: Battery Place Green, LLC, 1050 Franklin Avenue, Suite 200, Garden City, N.Y. 11530. Property Address: 70 Little West Street, New York, NY 10280. (PRNewsFoto/Albanese Organization) GARDEN CITY, NY UNITED STATES 01/18/2007

The Visionaire is the third green luxury residence developed by Albanese Development Corporation, a subsidiary of Albanese Organization, Inc., the pioneer of environmentally sustainable residential building in the U.S., and designed by Rafael Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli. Starwood Capital Group Global, LLC is partnering with the Albanese Organization to bring the development to market.

Amenity-Rich Lifestyle

The amenity-rich building will be a striking glass and terracotta tower featuring streamlined contours in a unique curved facade that optimizes natural light and allows generous river and city views from all exposures. Filtered fresh air and water, natural materials and finishes, and generous, open floor plans in every residence will provide an interior environment harmoniously matched to the lush parkland and waterfront setting of Battery Park City.

Exclusive resident-only amenities will include a skylit indoor swimming pool and hot tub; two landscaped roof gardens with private cabanas; rooftop entertainment area featuring built-in grills and wetbar, a state-of-the-art fitness center and spa; a screening room/lounge with fireplace; a private dining area; a children's playroom and a parking garage.

Environmental Sustainability

The Visionaire has been designed and engineered to meet the U.S. Green Building Council's highest standard for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Following in the path of The Solaire, an Albanese building that in 2003 became the first residential tower in the U.S. to achieve gold LEED status, achieving platinum LEED certification would establish The Visionaire as the paramount model of green building in the country.

Energy Efficiency

Chief among the building's many environmental features will be an HVAC system that conditions, filters, and supplies fresh air into each apartment, and various technologies that will yield 35% energy savings over code- compliant buildings. The building will harvest approximately 5% of its electric load through building-integrated solar panels.

In keeping with its environmentally responsible character, 35% of the building's electric energy will be purchased from energy providers employing wind and other renewable energy sources. Natural gas will power the residential cooling systems and contribute to a substantially lower peak electric demand on New York City's grid.

Indoor Air Quality

The building will have high efficiency air filtration systems to optimize indoor air quality (IAQ) and an air humidification system in winter months for the health and comfort of residents. A four-pipe fan coil system controlled by digital programmable thermostats will provide year-round climate control in each residence. The integrity of the internal environment will also be enhanced through the use of luxury building materials containing no or low volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Water Conservation

A water conservation system will recycle water from bathrooms and kitchens to re-supply toilets and provide make-up water for the HVAC system cooling tower. The building will also harvest rainwater and store 10,000 gallons of recycled water for irrigation of a rooftop garden, which itself will provide an important layer of insulation for the building.

"The Visionaire will provide a superlative lifestyle choice reflecting many of the design and technology advancements that have propelled green building forward so rapidly since our first project in 2003," said Russell C. Albanese, President of the Albanese Organization. "We anticipate high levels of interest, based on advance registrations for private appointments at our sales gallery."

"As soon as the building signage went up last month, we saw an immediate surge in appointment registrations. There is incredible pent up demand for this building," said Jackie Urgo, Senior Vice President of The Marketing Directors, the exclusive sales and marketing agent for The Visionaire. "The growing interest in green building in general and the outstanding reputation of the Albanese Organization in particular are having a magnetic effect on pre-sales. People ready to buy elsewhere are delaying their decisions because of the beautiful appointments and extensive amenities The Visionaire will offer."

To schedule an appointment or for more information, please call The Visionaire's Sales Gallery at or visit www.thevisionaire.com.

About The Albanese Organization

The Albanese Organization is widely credited with introducing environmentally advanced urban living to the United States with The Solaire, the nation's first environmentally engineered residential tower. The Solaire became an immediate success when it opened to the public in June 2003, achieving 100% occupancy in under six months. The Solaire helped create a market for green residential buildings and became an instant icon for the green design and construction industry worldwide. The Albanese Organization has since completed a second green residential tower, The Verdesian, on an adjacent site in Battery Park City.

Albanese Organization, Inc. (www.albaneseorg.com) is a privately held, full-service real estate firm dedicated to creating commercial and residential buildings of distinction, quality and architectural merit that optimize value, are environmentally responsible, and enhance the communities in which they are located. The Albanese Organization has been a leader in the New York real estate development community since 1949.

About Pelli Clarke Pelli

Established in 1977, Pelli Clarke Pelli is a full service architectural practice that has worked with corporate, government and private clients to design visionary buildings worldwide. The firm's portfolio of iconic architectural projects includes the World Financial Center in New York City; the Petronas Towers in Malaysia; the National Museum of Art in Osaka, Japan; and the Minneapolis Central Library; as well as premium residential buildings such as One Beacon Court in lower Manhattan. In 2004, the firm was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Pelli Clarke Pelli is recognized as a premier innovator in green building design, including The Solaire, The Verdesian and now, The Visionaire.

About Starwood Capital Group Global, LLC

Starwood Capital Group has been a leader in real estate investments since 1991. Its international investor base includes some of the United States' largest state and corporate pension funds, endowments and foundations plus high-net worth family from around the world. During the past fifteen years, Starwood Capital and its affiliate have invested approximately $5.8 billion of equity capital in transactions representing over $15.9 billion. Starwood has closed and/or advised on over 215 transactions ranging in size from $1 million to $14.6 billion, and has acquired equity interests in residential lots, multifamily and condominium units, hotels, office, retail and industrial space, golf and leisure-related properties. Starwood has led the formation and growth of several market leading companies including iStar Financial (NYSE:SFI) , the leading publicly traded finance company specializing in commercial real estate mortgage, mezzanine and net lease financing; Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT) , a leading global owner/operator of hotels, with ownership of brands such as Sheraton, Westin, The St. Regis Luxury Collection and the "W"; and National Golf Properties/American Golf Corporation, the largest owner/operator of golf courses and related facilities in the U.S. Starwood's most recent transactions include the $3.2 billion acquisition of Groupe Taittinger and Societe du Louvre, Europe's second largest hotel network owning and operating a unique collection of 14 luxury hotels in France, Switzerland and Europe in addition to managing over 800 budget hotels throughout Europe plus the $973 million acquisition of the Le Meridien hotel portfolio comprised of 32 luxury, four/five star hotels located primarily across Europe but also in North America, Africa and South America.

The complete offering terms are in an offering plan available from Sponsor. File No. CD-06-0248. Sponsor: Battery Place Green, LLC, 1050 Franklin Avenue, Suite 200, Garden City, N.Y. 11530. Property Address: 70 Little West Street, New York, NY 10280

Source: Albanese Organization

CONTACT: Press Office: Julie Gross Gelfand of HLD/Blankman Public
Relations for The Albanese Organization, , or ,

Web site: http://www.thevisionaire.com/
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