(MIAMI) – The Miami office of Hines, the international real estate firm, announced today that 2525 Ponce de Leon in Coral Gables has received Gold certification and 2555 Ponce de Leon has received Silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® rating system for Existing Buildings.
2525 Ponce de Leon is a 254,119-square-foot, 12-story office building located one block south of the “miracle mile” in Coral Gables.
Designed by Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates and developed by Hines in 2004, the property was acquired by Prudential in 2007.
It anchors a semi-urban campus that also contains 2555 Ponce de Leon, which Hines acquired and renovated in 2004.
The six-story 2555 Ponce de Leon contains 93,860 square feet.
Both buildings earned the ENERGY STAR® label in 2008 and 2009.
With a current weighted-average score of 90, the buildings are 41 percent more energy efficient and annually save $1.34 in energy costs per square foot when compared to the average U.S. office building.
This translates to estimated annual greenhouse gas reductions equivalent to removing 560 passenger vehicles from the road.
Hines Property Manager Vicki Baisden said, “People often comment on how expensive it is to become LEED certified.
We have been able to certify two buildings, one of which is close to 50 years old, with no costly renovations or retrofits.
Hines tries to focus as much on the cost to achieve certification as we do on achieving certification.
Our engineers’ operational skills play a major part.”
Green features and sustainable programs in the buildings include: an Alternative Commuting Transportation program which was developed in conjunction with South Florida Commuter Services that offers building occupants incentives in exchange for sustainable commuting habits; a single-stream recycling program which has diverted more than 60 percent of all waste from local landfills; and the purchase of renewable energy credits to offset 100 percent of the building’s electricity use.
The purchase of these renewable energy credits is the equivalent of planting 24,748 mature trees or not driving 6,013,873 miles in an average car.
The buildings are leased to a roster of notable tenants that includes IVC Television; Cargill; Kozyak, Tropin & Throckmorton; and Raymond James & Associates, among others.
Hines is responsible for managing and leasing the buildings.
Hines is one of the most sustainable real estate companies in the world. In 2010 Hines was recognized by the EPA, for the third time, with the ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award; Hines manages 153 labeled buildings, representing more than 77 million square feet, in the ENERGY STAR program. Twelve Hines development or redevelopment projects, representing more than six million square feet, have been designated as Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR.
Recently, Hines earned the number-one spot in Commercial Property Executive’s ranking of “Greenest Companies,” scoring 16 percentage points higher than its nearest competitor.
Hines is also a leader in the U.S. Green Building Council’s programs, with 202 projects, representing more than 107 million square feet that have been certified, pre-certified or registered under the various LEED rating systems. Hines was a founding member of the German Sustainable Building Council and the Russian Green Building Council, and is active in the Green Building Council Brasil, the Green Building Council España, the Green Building Council Italia, the Indian Green Building Council, the BRE Environmental Assessment Method program in the United Kingdom and the Haute Qualité Environnementale program in France.
Hines is a privately owned real estate firm involved in real estate investment, development and property management worldwide. The firm’s historical and current portfolio of projects that are underway, completed, acquired and managed for third parties includes 1,126 properties representing more than 459 million square feet of office, residential, mixed-use, industrial, hotel, medical and sports facilities, as well as large, master-planned communities and land developments. With offices in 106 cities in 17 countries, and controlled assets valued at approximately $23.7 billion, Hines is one of the largest real estate organizations in the world. Visit www.hines.com for more information. To learn more about sustainability at Hines, visit www.hines.com/sustainability.
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