Arbitrators rule against Silverstein

From the NY Times:

An arbitration panel has ruled against the developer Larry Silverstein on a series of critical issues involving the construction of three office towers at ground zero, including his request for free rent and, potentially, billions of dollars in damages from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the 16-acre site.

The panel, which is seeking to break a 14-month deadlock between the developer and the Port Authority, issued its decision Tuesday evening, giving both sides 45 days to come up with a new schedule for erecting the three buildings or risk having the arbitrators impose their own solution. The dispute, which has embroiled Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the governors of New York and New Jersey, has threatened to undermine the progress of other projects at the World Trade Center site.

The panel, at Mr. Silverstein’s request, did eliminate the “cross default” provision of the development agreement that would have put him in default on all three towers if he failed to meet the construction schedules for any one building.