From 1010WINS:Construction of several ground zero office towers could be put off for decades because of the failing real estate market, the site's owners said Thursday, citing an analysis that projected one skyscraper might not be built and occupied until 35 years after Sept. 11.
Developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have been talking on and off for months about rewriting a 3-year-old agreement that gives the developer rights to build three out of five towers planned at the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack site.
Silverstein, unable to obtain financing for all the towers and with only about $1 billion left in insurance money to pay for them, asked the Port Authority last fall to guarantee financing for two of his towers, officials familiar with the negotiations say.
The Port Authority agreed to back one tower already under construction, where the government agency has agreed to move once it's built. Executive Director Chris Ward on Thursday cited the exodus of major financial firms like Merrill Lynch and AIG from downtown Manhattan as a reason to not flood the market with 10 million square feet of office space at the same time - about 2013.
Ward also said that Silverstein was free to build his three towers on his own.
But an analysis prepared for the Port Authority by the Cushman & Wakefield real estate brokerage projected that while two of Silverstein's towers could be built by 2013, a third wouldn't be built until 2030 and fully leased until 2036. A second tower that hasn't been built yet wouldn't be fully leased until 2025, the analysis said.
17 comments:
D.O.A.
Pave over the pit, slap up some retail and let's be done with it.
www.forgotten-ny.com
The Memorial and a beautiful park.
Oh, I forgot no hugh profit, greed, graft and all these type of good things.
This is one development project we should all be anxious to see. It shameful that the towers are not done by now just as a matter of national pride
It is amussing how "THE BLOOMING IDIOT OF A MAYOR" has flipped flop on this issue. First he agrees with his rich friends saying times are bad. Then, being election yaer, he says it needs to be build, hoping to get the construction workers votes. It is okay though that this loser allowed his rich friends, aka the developers, overally populate our boroughs with condos. If we re-build, it will put alot of construction workers to work who have been out of work for awhile. I have seen every borough over his terms and it amazes me that all these " non union jobs" are filled with illeagal alliens, non skilled and are paid below minumnin wage. Not to mention, how many of these site have numerous violations and fines against them. Maybe he should collect all the fines owed to the city and we can rebuild with that money?
Build a mosque there.
Meanwhile, they built up the entire city of Dubai and as a bonus are beginning Dubai it in the same time period.
What an utter disgrace... rebuild the World Trade Center and a memorial on the original footprints. It is an epic failure that more than 7 1/2 years after the attack, still nothing is built. Whatever happened to national pride and resolve?
I used to work on 'the Street'. Made some money. Enjoyed the experience - a dream come true.
I went down there for the first time since just after 9/11.
The great banking lobbies on Wall are now boarded up, with shabby dirty curtains and filthy windows, awaiting conversion to residential...someday.
The streets are torn up. Perhaps this is part of the conversion from commercial to residential, or perhaps a great money pit for politically connected firms who are building a transit center, or perhaps serving no real purpose at all - except to 'bring back the World Trade Center'.
As to the word 'money pit', and 'World Trade Center', the din of construction stands in contrast to the decay, dirty, oddly grim rest of Lower Manhattan.
They should have just made it a park - a memorial to humanity. Now it’s a hot zone of paranoia - don't stand on the stairs at Brooks Brothers without being eyed by security.
Spaces that use to be banking floors of the great banks of the world are now little more than Starbucks.
Barriers to traffic everywhere. A thriving vibrant area (and neater, older version of midtown with more character in its streets) is now grim, hunkered down, wary.
Folks, they won.
This situation is disgraceful. It's a slap in the face to all the people who have lost loved ones. Greed is what this is all about. Rebuild the towers the way they were as a tribute to all who perished. I'm so sick of everything in this city being about money. What about National Pride? The Oklahoma City tragedy had their memorial done two years after everyone perished. Let's make this happen. Rebuild the towers as they were and do it quickly. It took nine months to build the Empire State Building. It's been 7 years and counting to begin rebuilding and we are nowhere.
Whatever happened to national pride and resolve? = Doomberg!
"Silverstein, unable to obtain financing for all the towers and with only about $1 billion left in insurance money to pay for them, asked the Port Authority last fall to guarantee financing for two of his towers, officials familiar with the negotiations say."
The Port Authority has no money of its own. Silverstein knows that. So, without asking us directly to take the risk as individual investors, free to invest or not, or to invest one amount or another, as though we were free and sovereign citizens, who would collect the profits later (or suffer the losses), he jumps over our heads to those he knows are our masters, and "asks" the PA to force us as taxpayers to risk billions.
Naturally, if the towers become profitable, we taxpayers will never see that profit. If the towers fail, we will be required to pick up the tab.
Slow motion eminent domain: taxpayers' risk, private profit.
Dump all the asses of those who control PA. That's what elections are for.
Dump all the asses of those who control PA. That's what elections are for.
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ha ha ha
no can do. these agencies were set up multistate to make it well neigh impossible to contorl them.
Which is exactly the problem. They are accountable to no one.
"Which is exactly the problem. They are accountable to no one."
Well, there's something to that, but, if we elect people who actually will stop funding the NY share of the PA, just maybe that will get their attention.
Withholding money always gets the attention of the withholdee.
Why should we wait for the Arabs to kill us? We are killing ourselves. The search for cheap labor and shopping has led to widespread union unemployment, destitute workers and no commerce for anyone.
Congratulations to the new economy.
Bin Laden has accomplished exactly what he aimed for--to turn this country on its head and to turn our economy into a downward spiral.
The politicians and interest groups just couldn't leave a photo op behind. Everyone had to get into the act and pontificate about what should not be built. Years and years of posturing: the families can't have this!!! You'll dishonor their memories by building that!! Meanwhile, greedy insurance companies sought to dodge their responsibilities and engaged in lengthy litigation to avoid paying what they owed. To date, Deutsche Bank still hovers, filled with toxins and with no end in sight to finally demolish it.
What's a bigger dishonor of the memory of those who died during the mass murder of 9/11 than the clusterf*&k that masquerades as "planning" at the site. Nearly 8 years later, there's no firm plan in place. Get a single developer and end this nightmare.
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