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Home / Landmarks 915 WEST END AVENUE ARCHITECT . PROJECT SIZE . PROJECT COST . SCOPE . Design, approvals and construction administration of mechanical, plumbing, sprinkler, electrical and fire alarm systems. Go Go 915 West End Avenue is a 120,000 SF 15-story multifamily building commissioned by a prolific upper west side builder Joseph Paterno (whose initials were inscribed above the entrance), designed by Rosario Candela and completed in 1922 at a cost of approximately $625,000. The building was designed in Renaissance Revival style, and is laid out as two wings around a central core with outer court. Boiler room, laundry facility, oil tank, and incoming services are located in the basement. Lobby and 94 apartments are located on floors 1 through 15. In 2015 the building was included into Riverside-West End Historic District Extension II, and is subject to certain Landmarks restrictions. Following the $ 85.5 million acquisition by a group of investors, Altera Engineering was retained to evaluate the existing heating, plumbing, gas and power distribution systems. Our engineers worked closely with the owner’s architects and marketing team to identify and carry out short payback upgrades to support the investors’ conversion and repositioning program to the ‘best-in-class’ multifamily rental. 915 West End Avenue is one of several Altera Engineering projects along the historic West End Avenue, 347 West End and 309 West 86th Street.

This project, for New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs, transformed a five-story historic former public school to better house four arts groups and one community-service organization. Built in 1894, PS 122 was originally a public school (hence the name). Since the 1970’s the building has been inhabited by a non-profit collaborative, daycare center and an AIDS drop in center. The primary objective of this project was to bring the building up to code and upgrade the mechanical and fire protection systems. Additionally the building needed significant reorganization and alterations to its interior spaces. The design scope included addition at the roof, to connect the means of egress at the fifth floor. The project was required to meet LL86 requirements. Mechanical systems included: A packaged air-cooled modular chiller plant designed with an 18-degree temperature difference to reduce pumping and piping Variable primary pumping A dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) with energy recovery and demand-based ventilation controls Sensible-only 4-pipe fan coils Home / Cultural PS 122 COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER ARCHITECT . Deborah Berke Partners PROJECT SIZE . 50,000 GSF PROJECT COST . $ 32 million SCOPE . HVAC design Go Go This project, for New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs, transformed a five-story historic former public school to better house four arts groups and one community-service organization. Built in 1894, PS 122 was originally a public school (hence the name). Since the 1970’s the building has been inhabited by a non-profit collaborative, daycare center and an AIDS drop in center. The primary objective of this project was to bring the building up to code and upgrade the mechanical and fire protection systems. Additionally the building needed significant reorganization and alterations to its interior spaces. The design scope included addition at the roof, to connect the means of egress at the fifth floor. The project was required to meet LL86 requirements. Mechanical systems included: A packaged air-cooled modular chiller plant designed with an 18-degree temperature difference to reduce pumping and piping Variable primary pumping A dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) with energy recovery and demand-based ventilation controls Sensible-only 4-pipe fan coils

The development was acquired for $255 million, with total project costs projected at $500 million. Work will be funded through a mix of public and private financing, including New York State’s Housing Our Neighbors With Dignity Act (HONDA), New York City’s 15/15 Supportive Housing Initiative, HDC tax-exempt bonds, and HPD’s Supportive Housing Loan Program. Additional support includes financing from Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, the Low Income Investment Fund, LISC Fund Management, and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Historic and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and transferable development rights have also been utilized. The Stewart Hotel, a 31-story building shuttered since 2022, is anticipated to take around 24 months to complete renovation. Construction will include merging adjacent rooms to create apartments, replacing mechanical systems, installing LED lighting, and building on-site social services offices. Support services for residents, including seniors and formerly homeless individuals, will be provided by Breaking Ground through a partnership with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Home / Cultural STEWART HOTEL ARCHITECT . Aufgang Architects PROJECT COST . $500 million SCOPE . Design, approvals and construction administration of mechanical, plumbing, sprinkler, electrical and fire alarm systems. Go Go The development was acquired for $255 million, with total project costs projected at $500 million. Work will be funded through a mix of public and private financing, including New York State’s Housing Our Neighbors With Dignity Act (HONDA), New York City’s 15/15 Supportive Housing Initiative, HDC tax-exempt bonds, and HPD’s Supportive Housing Loan Program. Additional support includes financing from Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, the Low Income Investment Fund, LISC Fund Management, and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Historic and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and transferable development rights have also been utilized. The Stewart Hotel, a 31-story building shuttered since 2022, is anticipated to take around 24 months to complete renovation. Construction will include merging adjacent rooms to create apartments, replacing mechanical systems, installing LED lighting, and building on-site social services offices. Support services for residents, including seniors and formerly homeless individuals, will be provided by Breaking Ground through a partnership with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Home / Residential 428 GREENWICH STREET, MANHATTAN ARCHITECT . Thomas R. Jackson PROJECT SIZE . About 5,500 SF PROJECT COST . $2.5 million SCOPE . Full MEP/FP design Go 428 GREENWICH STREET, MANHATTAN Full gut renovation of a landmarked townhouse located in the historic Tribeca North District. This 5-story, nineteen-foot-wide store and loft building was designed in 1883 by Thomas R. Jackson, an architect who worked extensively in the Tribeca area, for soap manufacturer James Pyle. The utilitarian Romanesque Revival design features red brick façade with rock-faced granite elements, corbelled brick cornice and cast-iron piers. Presently the building houses a Tokyo-style “Edo-mae” Sushi restaurant, which was awarded a single Michelin star in 2014. The upper floors of the building are being converted to a single family residence. Altera Engineering carried upgrades to power, water, sewer utility connections. Altera Engineering worked closely with architects to seal and insulate the original walls in order to minimize the occupants’ dependence on HVAC for comfort. Our engineers worked carefully integrated central heating and cooling systems above the ceilings and behind walls. The building is cooled and heated by a variable-refrigerant-volume system without the use of fossil fuels.

The Young Women’s Christian Association was founded in 1888. The goal of the organization was to provide a meeting place for young women who were employed in retail stores, as office workers and other occupations throughout Brooklyn. These young ladies could listen to lectures, concerts, enjoy the reading room, and receive Christian instruction, if so desired. It was the first major organization of its kind in Brooklyn to be entirely run by women. Home / Multifamily YWCA OF BROOKLYN ARCHITECT . PROJECT SIZE . 180,000 SF PROJECT COST . SCOPE . HVAC design, energy efficiency, CHP feasibility Go Go The Young Women’s Christian Association was founded in 1888. The goal of the organization was to provide a meeting place for young women who were employed in retail stores, as office workers and other occupations throughout Brooklyn. These young ladies could listen to lectures, concerts, enjoy the reading room, and receive Christian instruction, if so desired. It was the first major organization of its kind in Brooklyn to be entirely run by women.

Home / Residential 347 WEST END AVENUE ARCHITECT . Lamb & Rich PROJECT SIZE . PROJECT COST . SCOPE . MEP engineering design Go 347 WEST END AVENUE This Eclectic Renaissance/Revival building was designed with a limestone façade and gabled tile roof by famed architects Lamb & Rich as part of an original row of 14 houses in 1891. The home’s first owner was Charles F. Rand who made his fortune in the mining industry in Cuba and Spain. In the 1950’s, the property was converted to nine apartments, and now the new owners are converting back to a single family residence. The scope of the conversion included an additional set back fifth floor, with an elevator overrun, roof bulkhead, and copper and glass skylight atop it. The current three-story-tall projecting rear yard addition will be demolished and replaced with a four-story-tall rear yard addition. A Juliette balcony, clad in copper, will jut out just into the canopy of a 130- to 140-year-old cherry tree. This is Altera Engineering's third project along the historic West End Avenue, 915 West End Avenue and 309 West 86th Street. The Altera Engineering team worked closely with the architect to thoughtfully integrate new infrastructure into the existing historic shell. Altera Engineering provided MEP engineering design and approval services for all mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems.

Home / Landmarks EAST 10 STREET, MANHATTAN TOWNHOUSES ARCHITECT . Phil Toscano (architect of record) Beringer Architects (interior) PROJECT SIZE . Each townhouse is about 5,500 SF PROJECT COST . $5 million SCOPE . Full MEP/FP design Go Go Full gut renovation of two landmarked townhouses near historic Stuyvesant Street in Manhattan in St. Mark’s historic district. According to Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), 106 and 110 are two of three identical houses were built in 1867 by an Irish-American builder, James Mulry, at an estimated cost of $6,000. The three buildings were erected on the lots that Mr. Mulry leased from Hamilton Fish- the 16th Governor of New York State and the Secretary of State under Ulysses Grant. The buildings were designed in a late version of the Italianate style by D. & J. Jardine Architects. The segmental-arched doorways have stone cornico-slabs supported on vertical console brackets which, in turn, are carried on paneled pilasters. They are four stories high, above a basement, and all retain their stoops. They are all three surmounted by individual bracketed cornices which are aligned at the same level. The stone basement wall is carried up to sill height at the first floor with recessed stone panels under each window. Altera Engineering carried upgrades to power, water, sewer utility connections. Our engineers worked hand-in-hand with the interior architects to thoughtfully integrate central heating and cooling systems into the buildings.

Home / Residential PHILLIPSPORT CHURCH HOUSE ARCHITECT . ARCHITECTURE IN FORMATION PC PROJECT SIZE . 3,000 SF PROJECT COST . SCOPE . Full MEP/FP design optimization, energy modeling Go PHILLIPSPORT CHURCH HOUSE A conversion of an 1823 Methodist church to a single family residence. Phillipsport United Methodist Church was one of the oldest buildings erected in village of Wurtsboro. Envisioned as a summer home, the owner/architect carefully inserted usable residential spaces into the existing 195-year old historic structure. Altera Engineering team worked closely with the designer to come up with a modern heating and cooling solution that can be seamlessly integrated into the building. Double height ceilings of the main sanctuary and 15-ft tall single pane float glass windows presented a challenge for heating and cooling that can meet the current energy code. The response was a high efficiency variable refrigerant volume system designed for both heating and cooling with displacement air supplies along the perimeter of the main sanctuary. The existing steeple was retrofitted to be used as a natural ventilation chimney.

DUTCH KILLS OFFICE BUILDING SCOPE . MEP design and NYSERDA rebate assistance. Full MEP/FP design, special and progress inspections PROJECT COST . $18,000,000 Home / Commercial DUTCH KILLS OFFICE BUILDING ARCHITECT . Laufs Engineering Design PROJECT SIZE . 43,000 GDF PROJECT COST . $18,000,000 SCOPE . MEP design and NYSERDA rebate assistance. Full MEP/FP design, special and progress inspections Go Go A Class A 43,000 SF ground-up commercial office building designed to accommodate a variety of uses, from film production to events spaces. Building’s envelope and mechanical systems were designed to meet NYSERDA commercial building program performance requirements of 15% better than energy code. To allow for a degree of flexibility in building uses, the project’s heating and cooling source was conceived as a water loop consisting of a 90-ton cooling tower, variable speed pumps and high efficiency condensing boilers. Each floor/space was provided with high efficiency water-source heat pumps. The building was envisioned as ‘cogen-ready’ and was designed with a single master meter to allow future behind the meter tie-in. Each floor was provided with 3-phase 400 amp power.

Home / Hospitality EXECUTIVE LE SOLEIL HOTEL ARCHITECT . Peter Poon Architects PROJECT SIZE . 100,000 SF PROJECT COST . SCOPE . Design, approvals and construction administration of mechanical, plumbing, sprinkler, electrical and fire alarm systems. Go Go The challenge on this project was to combine the Canadian style and type of the proposed MEP systems with the local NYC requirements. Altera Engineering has designed the plumbing and fire protection systems for this building being employed by RC Consulting.

Home / Landmarks 79 WALKER STREET ARCHITECT . Stephen B Jacobs Group PROJECT SIZE . 21,500 GSF PROJECT COST . SCOPE . HVAC, sprinkler, plumbing and electrical power, fire alarm design and construction administration Go Go 79 Walker Street is a 6-story store and loft building constructed in 1869 for the rapidly expanding of the neighborhood’s textile trade. When completed, the building was occupied by manufacturing lofts, followed by a pocketbook manufacturer in the early 1900’s, hardware manufacturing and- most recently- an art gallery. The developers retained Altera Engineering to support their ambitious conversion to a modern office catering to New York city’s tech and startup firms. Altera Engineering provided MEP engineering design and approval services, working closely with architects and owners to upgrade building’s infrastructure and integrate state-of-the-art mechanical systems into the existing historic shell.

A new 5-storey luxury rental building in Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. The project comprises of studios, 1 and 2-bedroom apartments. The building does not use natural gas or any other fuel for heating. The building is cooled and heated with a variable-refrigerant flow system in lieu of more conventional gas-fired boilers. Hot water for domestic use is generated via refrigerant-based heat pump water heaters. Home / Multifamily 1062 HANCOCK STREET, BROOKLYN ARCHITECTURE . Think! Architecture PROJECT SIZE . 13,000 SF PROJECT COST . SCOPE . full MEP design, HVAC, sprinkler, plumbing and electrical power design and construction administration Go Go A new 5-storey luxury rental building in Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. The project comprises of studios, 1 and 2-bedroom apartments. The building does not use natural gas or any other fuel for heating. The building is cooled and heated with a variable-refrigerant flow system in lieu of more conventional gas-fired boilers. Hot water for domestic use is generated via refrigerant-based heat pump water heaters.