[Stephenapolis]

The very slight decrease in height willnot hurt the status of this tower. I think it will overall help the look of the entire WTC complex. There was too much of a diiference in the height between WTC#3 and WTC#4.

[Stratosphere 2020]

I like this tower the best of the bunch. It shows that modern architecture can also have detail. And this is one of the few modern towers in the World that shows so much detail architecture. It will make people appreciate modern architecture more, instead of embracing art deco architecture even to this day.

[NYguy]

^^ With 8 feet height reduction in WTC3 but 16
and 28 feet feet height increase in WTC2 and 4, it ain't that bad....:shrug:
But not very good either, they're basically the same height, just a few
feet/inches up or down.
(I'm talking about roof heights) And they made this one officially shorter
than ESB.........


Yeah, this one would be officially shorter than the ESB. But the height
difference isn't really much. And it could change again before this thing is
actually completed. Either way, it's definitely one of the best new towers
rising anywhere...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/85146642/original.jpg

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09112007/business/merrill_being_wooed.htm

MERRILL BEING WOOED
CALLING IT A TOSSUP BETWEEN SILVERSTEIN AND BROOKFIELD

http://www.nypost.com/img/cols/loisweiss.jpg

September 11, 2007 -- WITH the future of downtown still at a crossroads, the high-stakes decision over where Merrill Lynch will ply its trades for the next 50 years is finally coming to a resolution.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told us he would be meeting with Merrill execs as early as today to try to act as a facilitator in making a downtown pact.

While he would like to see Merrill in the new World Trade Center site, he would be just as happy if they renewed at the World Financial Center.

Merrill's investment bankers have settled on three possibilities, sources said. They include World Trade Center Tower 3, also known as 175 Greenwich St., being developed by Silverstein Properties; a new tower by Vornado Realty Trust to replace the current Hotel Pennsylvania; or renewing with Brookfield Properties in Merrill's current WFC location in Battery Park City coupled with a new trading pod.

Peter Riguardi, president of Jones Lang LaSalle, who is shepherding their search, said, "We are evaluating all their choices so that they can be in a position to make an educated decision."

Merrill takes up 3 million feet in the WFC including all of WFC4 and part of WFC2 through leases that expire at the end of 2013.

But a renewal is not a simple check mark. That's because Merrill needs better trading floors. A new lease would certainly involve less disruption of its work force.

"What they are talking about now is extending [World Financial Center] Tower 2 so as to construct a new trading floor for Merrill," said James Cavanaugh of the Battery Park City Authority.

The approximately 500,000-foot pod would require BPCA and city approvals, architectural renderings, construction documents and, of course, construction.

Along with trading floors it would likely include more shopping and some elbow room for expansion of Merrill's office space.

Brookfield declined comment, but a downtown source advised that its chairman, John Zuccotti, "can be very persuasive" when it comes to convincing Merrill to stay in its current location.

Brookfield would bend over backwards to keep its giant tenant happy and could do it at a far better number than the other contenders.

At the same time, Merrill would keep its important traders in place with new facilities.

Another critical factor is the continued escalation of construction costs and equipment demands due to worldwide development of towers in places as far flung as Dubai, India, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore.

For instance, early on Tishman Construction had to pressure the supplier of two giant climbing tower cranes to commit to working on the Freedom Tower rather than sending them elsewhere.

The Port Authority is scheduled to turn over the excavated sites for Towers 3 and 4 to developer Larry Silverstein in January after which it is estimated to take four years to build.

The more complicated Tower 2 site gets turned over in July, and isn't due to open until 2012.

The schedule puts the towers ahead both in cost and construction of Vornado's Hotel Pennsylvania redevelopment plan - especially considering the 21-story hotel across from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station is still open.

What's more, officials like Avi Schick, head of the state-run Lower Manhattan Development Corp., are focused on continued job growth. "We are going to work like heck to make sure Merrill Lynch stays downtown where they belong," he said.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, downtown's asking rents are now $45.66 per foot, the highest ever recorded while Class-A vacancy is 5.7 percent, the lowest since the third quarter of 2001.

WFC rents are averaging $71.34, but only a handful of spaces are available. Silverstein will be asking $100-plus rents for the next generation of towers.

Despite the recent Hermes and Tiffany deals, retailers have been skittish to commit to downtown because they have wanted to see the plans for the WTC site. These, too, are now completed.

Working backwards, Merrill needs at least a year to a year and a half to build its space and move into any new tower.

Vornado would be cutting it close to finish in mid-2011, but if Chairman Steve Roth gets his price quickly, he could pull it off.

Merrill has wanted more control over its space and Silverstein is not as willing as Vornado to work out a deal.

Throw in the tenacity of downtown officials to make them stay and we're handicapping the deal as a tossup between Silverstein and Brookfield.

[NYguy]

http://www.observer.com/2007/ground-zero-rebranded-tribeca-patina

Ground Zero Is Rebranded With Tribeca Patina
Silverstein Project Gets Greenwich Street Address, As Trade Centers Rise

http://www.observer.com/files/imagecache/article/files/Schuerman-SilverSilverstein.jpg

Larry Silverstein, right, with state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

by Matthew Schuerman
September 11, 2007

Of all the ideas to come out of the many public-planning meetings held after Sept. 11, none caught on so successfully than the proposal to drive Greenwich Street through the 16 acres of the World Trade Center site. People said the once and future street would restore New York’s famed street grid and make the area friendlier by making it more manageable.

And so, in the next couple of years, after the deep pit known as ground zero gets filled up to ground level with sewers and utilities and subway tunnels, Greenwich Street will run along those four blocks, between Liberty Street and Vesey Street, once again. Its western side will harbor the landscaped waterfalls of the World Trade Center memorial; its eastern flank will house three modern office towers, each designed by a different boldfaced architect.

In fact, it is a mark of just how popular the future street has become that the developer Larry Silverstein, who is building those towers, has given those three buildings Greenwich Street addresses. In his preferred nomenclature, what were heretofore known as Towers 2, 3 and 4 are 200 Greenwich Street, 175 Greenwich Street and 150 Greenwich Street, respectively. According to sources, he has even approached the Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, to see if it is O.K. to put even-numbered addresses on the eastern side of the street, which is usually where odd numbers go. (Mr. Stringer’s spokesman, Eric Pugatch, said that a formal application will not be made nor reviewed until the buildings are complete.)

This rebranding is not total, nor is it irreversible, and there is some question whether it will catch on. But its advantages are obvious: It distances the new towers from the Sept. 11 attacks and connects them instead to Tribeca and the spiffy neighborhood to the south that is itself being rebranded as “Greenwich South.” Even without the tragic overtones, naming a building after the World Trade Center would conjure up concrete columns rising dizzyingly into the sky. Naming it after Greenwich Street evokes Robert De Niro emerging from the fog on a cobblestone alley, surrounded by red-brick warehouses containing design firms and expensive sushi restaurants.

“What’s happening is that Greenwich Street is emerging as an identifiable corridor for lower Manhattan,” said Janno Lieber, the World Trade Center project manager for Silverstein Properties. “What we’ve got south of the World Trade Center on Greenwich Street has become an interesting residential community with all those conversions going on, and north of us we’ve got Tribeca. It’s happening organically. It’s not a rebranding.”

It is true that Mr. Silverstein is by no means running from the name “World Trade Center.” The promotional Web site for the three buildings is www.wtc.com. Besides, the towers may end up being called something different, especially if a company rents one in its entirety and wants its name on the front stoop. Mr. Silverstein marketed the first tower he rebuilt, just to the north of the World Trade Center footprint, as “7 World Trade Center,” and it is often referred to in the trade simply as “Seven.”

But he has embarked on some double-branding. Midway through the lease-up, Mr. Silverstein started to use the name “250 Greenwich” as an alternative address, and recruited the Zagat Survey company to produce a special guidebook to restaurants, bars and shopping south of Canal Street, which he handed out to prospective tenants.

“From day one, Larry has believed that the World Trade Center name had real value and that some day non-World Trade Center buildings would try to link their identities to the World Trade Center name in the same way that buildings on Sixth Avenue were linked to Rockefeller Center,” said Simon Wasserberger, senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis and the leasing agent for 7 World Trade Center. As for the 250 Greenwich address, Mr. Wasserberger added, “When it came to the marketing of Seven, we wanted people to understand that four out of the five top restaurants in Tribeca are within four blocks of it.”

The full name of the building is “7 World Trade Center at 250 Greenwich,” Mr. Lieber, the project manager, said. The 52-story building, which actually saw its footprint trimmed to make way for the reborn Greenwich Street, opened last May. It is 72 percent leased.

Still, starting last year, Mr. Silverstein and his company began to refer to the three towers on the eastern edge of the site by their Greenwich Street addresses. While unveiling updated designs at a news conference on Sept. 6, Mr. Lieber took pains to introduce speakers in the order of the street address of the building they were working on, starting with 150 Greenwich Street (Tower 4) and working his way up, as opposed to going in order of the tower number, which would have put Tower 2 (200 Greenwich Street) first.

“‘Greenwich Street’ does not have nearly the amount of weight that ‘World Trade Center’ does,” said Petra Todorovich, a senior planner at the Regional Plan Association, which played a big role in getting part of the street grid reinstated. “Silverstein is clearly trying to establish a new identity for the buildings and not associate them with a tragic past.”

Michael Sorkin, an architect who early during the planning process advocated keeping the entire site as a memorial and public space, was neither surprised nor overly dismayed to learn of Mr. Silverstein’s rebranding attempts.

“Obviously he is going to be rebranding this to make as much money as possible. Why should we be surprised that he is maximizing his business opportunities at this site?” said Mr. Sorkin, the director of the Graduate Urban Design Program at the City College of New York. “Certainly nobody is going to fail to recognize where they are. To me, the battle was lost when they decided to replace the 10 million square feet of office space.”

But what will we be talking about when we talk about the World Trade Center in five years, when towers 1 through 4 are supposed to be finished? The office towers? The whole site west of Church Street? The memorial plaza? Or a historical idea?

In some ways, the disappearance of that name would represent a victory for the planners and neighbors who saw the destruction of the towers as a singular opportunity to undo an urban planning mistake, a giant, 16-acre plaza that was elevated and separated from the rest of the city like a castle surrounded by a moat.

Rather than two nearly identical towers designed by one architect, the new World Trade Center is all about diversity and mixed use. Five different architects are building six variously styled buildings. The Church Street sides of the lower floors of Mr. Silverstein’s office towers will be occupied by retail stores, melting into the shopping strip that now hosts Century 21 and Brooks Brothers. A performing arts center, if it ever gets built, will bring a little bit of culture into the site. And then there’s Greenwich Street, which will carry people north and south into more residential areas.

Even the eight-acre memorial quadrant, which will re-create the footprints of the twin towers, World Trade Center 1 and 2, with waterfalls, has been renamed. It is now “The National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center.” The change, according to Joe Daniels, president of the nonprofit organization of the same name that is raising money for it, makes it more relevant to the rest of the country. In doing so, however, the memorial’s geography is now secondary to its place in history.

Oddly enough, there is one place where the renaming seems to be going in the other direction. In July, a high-ranking administrator in the Port Authority, which still owns the 16 acres (Mr. Silverstein is just leasing), sent out an e-mail to all concerned.

The e-mail proclaimed, according to a copy obtained by The Observer, “Effective immediately references to the skyscraper being built by 1 World Trade Center LLC at the WTC site should be as follows: 1 World Trade Center, ‘the Freedom Tower.’” It seems that, no matter what value the World Trade Center brand may be losing, “Freedom Tower” is losing it faster.

[CoolCzech]

Odd that Mr. "It will ALWAYS be 7 World Trade Center!" suddenly wants to turn his back on numbers 2, 3, and 4.

Whatever the reason, he's whistling in the wind: no one will ever call a part of the World Trade Center "250 Greenwich." Just ridiculous he'd even suggest it.

[NYguy]

Odd that Mr. "It will ALWAYS be 7 World Trade Center!" suddenly wants to turn his back on numbers 2, 3, and 4.

Whatever the reason, he's whistling in the wind: no one will ever call a part of the World Trade Center "250 Greenwich." Just ridiculous he'd even suggest it.

More than likely, they'll probably be referred to by whatever major tenant takes the space, (rember 1 Bryant Park/Bank of America tower). Regardless, its all still the World Trade Center.

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09192007/business/for_merrill__size_counts.htm

FOR MERRILL, SIZE COUNTS
HUNT FOR N.Y. HEADQUARTERS

http://www.nypost.com/img/cols/loisweiss_btb.jpg

September 19, 2007 -- MERRILL Lynch executives say the three possible locations in the city for a new headquarters remain candidates, though none of them is ideal.

That's because with the city popping at the seams, and no ideal location available to accommodate the type of floor plan envisioned by the bulge-bracket firm, none is a sure bet.

What Merrill execs did tell us was that size matters and that the lower Manhattan options at the new World Trade Center and World Financial Center are simply too small and would force the bank to develop a second building in Jersey City.

But the financial giant also worries that Vornado Realty Trust's Hotel Pennsylvania site, across from Madison Garden, is not attractive enough to employees.

It is also described as too "iffy," as it needs prolonged civic and city variances and approvals to be as large enough to fill the bank's needs - at least 3 million square feet with one large 80,000-foot trading floor.

"Hudson Yards [on the West Side near the Javits Center] is just not ready yet and we're not pioneers," said one top Merrill executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, adding the development plans for an area now made up of railroad tracks is still on the city's drawing boards.

Competing Brookfield Properties' and Silverstein Properties' proposals call for several smaller trading floors, but Merrill traders say they need eye contact with multiple co-workers to make proper bids and therefore feel they must be on one floor.

Brookfield's proposal for a 500,000-foot expansion of 2 World Financial Center would still leave Merrill 20 percent short on its trading floor needs.

Meanwhile, Silverstein Properties' upcoming new Tower 3 at the World Trade Center site comes up 15 percent short, and faces another hurdle for Merrill - the rents he's seeking.

Said the Merrill source of Larry Silverstein: "He's insane in terms of the numbers he's throwing around."

Both the Brookfield and Silverstein sites would require the expense of building and operating a second tower to accommodate a move by 3,000 to 5,000 people who won't fit into either of the two downtown options.

"We need flexibility going forward. It is a critical [need]," added our source. "[No one wants] to be the bonehead who built us the wrong trading floor 10 years from now."

Of course, they could put up with any of it anywhere if given some underlying support, i.e., some help with variances and review timelines, some tax relief off this and some energy pumped in from that - stuff that puts competitiveness back into their mix.

That's because Merrill executives glower as rival Goldman Sachs, after receiving massive subsidies, builds its own 2.1 million foot headquarters smack in the middle of Merrill's World Financial Center territory.

"They put $600 million into our competitor's pocket," complained one Merrill Lynch official. "At a bare minimum, we know that . . . first and foremost, we are at a competitive disadvantage to the guys going up across the street - and they will have rocket speed execution.

"We're not threatening to move our headquarters to New Jersey - we are being honest and saying we want to remain here, but the city seems indifferent to our needs," the official continued.

"If they really want New York City to remain the financial capital they need to figure out what they have to do to make the companies competitive and not penalize them."

A Merrill spokesman declined comment on our findings and a call for a response from Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff was not returned by press time.

Jones Lang LaSalle is working with Merrill, which is expected to make a decision in the next few weeks.

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09112007/business/merrill_being_wooed.htm

MERRILL BEING WOOED
CALLING IT A TOSSUP BETWEEN SILVERSTEIN AND BROOKFIELD

http://www.nypost.com/img/cols/loisweiss.jpg

Merrill's investment bankers have settled on three possibilities, sources said. They include World Trade Center Tower 3, also known as 175 Greenwich St., being developed by Silverstein Properties; a new tower by Vornado Realty Trust to replace the current Hotel Pennsylvania; or renewing with Brookfield Properties in Merrill's current WFC location in Battery Park City coupled with a new trading pod.

Just read from a WSJ article that one option from Silverstein was for a tower 3 with "several more floors" and about 14 % more space. For that to happen, they would have to throw the site plan right out the window. But the city/state seems intent on keeping Merrill Downtown, so anything is possible.

[Fabb]

For that to happen, they would have to throw the site plan right out the window.


Fine by me.
What's so great about the current plan, anyway ?

[NYguy]

Fine by me.
What's so great about the current plan, anyway ?

What I mean is the "spiral" of the heights of the towers would be changed, not that I have a problem with it...

[Thefigman]

What I mean is the "spiral" of the heights of the towers would be changed, not that I have a problem with it...


If the spires were taken out, and replaced with floors, the spiral notion might not be as lost as you think.

[NYguy]

If the spires were taken out, and replaced with floors, the spiral notion might not be as lost as you think.

You could do that, adding about 100 ft in (roof) height. But it would be far too close in height to consider it a spiral from Tower 2. It's close enough as it is.

I say they should go for it. Forget about height limits and spirals, and build something that's actually needed for a change. They would still need a way to come up with that massive trading floor. Maybe they would have to build over the plaza between 3 and 4.

[Dac150]

Well this could bump the heights of Towers 2 and 4 up (obviously 3) and possibly even 5 to keep proportions.

[NYguy]

Well this could bump the heights of Towers 2 and 4 up (obviously 3) and possibly even 5 to keep proportions.

Merrill would have to take the bait first. If only we could combine towers 4 and 5 on the Deustche Bank site, that would leave room for a Tower 3 expansion that could accommodate larger trading floors. We'd get better spacing, and 4 supertalls for the site. Or maybe they should just stop messing around and give towers 1-3 equal roof heights.

[Daquan13]

Well this could bump the heights of Towers 2 and 4 up (obviously 3) and possibly even 5 to keep proportions.



If they're gonna do that, then they might just as well bump up the Freedom Tower too!

[aluminum]

If they're gonna do that, then they might just as well bump up the Freedom Tower too!

Yea, thats the tower that needs some real bumping.

[Dac150]

If they're gonna do that, then they might just as well bump up the Freedom Tower too!

They'll never get rid of that 1776ft.

[aluminum]

^^ If America got independence later, you could've got a taller building !

[Dac150]

^^ If America got independence later, you could've got a taller building !

Really....your kidding?.....................:rolleyes:

[VA_Gentleman]

We should have stayed under British control longer. They seem to be designing most of our flagship buildings in New York anyhow.

[NYguy]

Deserves its own audience...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/86329955/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/86329961/medium.jpg

[NYguy]

Construction schedule from wtc.com:

Foundation Construction............................... January - July 2008
Construction Drawings................................... April 1, 2008
Superstructure to Ground Level....................... July 2008 - January 2009
Structural Steel Erection................................ January 2009 - September 2010
Structural Concrete Tower Core & Slab............. March 2009 - November 2010
Core and Shell Work...................................... September 2009 - December 2011
Curtain Wall................................................. November 2009 - March 2011

[CoolCzech]

We should have stayed under British control longer. They seem to be designing most of our flagship buildings in New York anyhow.


Two out of five towers at the WTC are designed by Brits and you're willing to toss American independence? Jeesh! :rolleyes:


I think it's great that NYC is in for a run of new towers by architects of an international character, but let's remember that group includes Americans, too.

[Chi649]

It looks like this tower will be great. Congrats NYC :)

[NYguy]

pathrestoration.com

http://www.pathrestoration.com/drp/images/gallery/wtcth/2007/09/slurrywallS03.jpg

[Stephenapolis]

Nice hole in the ground. ;) At least we are still seeing progress. I am just too damn impatient

[NYguy]

Nice hole in the ground. ;) At least we are still seeing progress. I am just too damn impatient

This is a new hole, in preparation for the foundation. Just a little more than 2 months before this must be completed.

[hi123]

Wow so that means that this project is starting ahead of schedual?

[NYguy]

Wow so that means that this project is starting ahead of schedual?

Not really. The Port Authority was in charge of building the new "bath tub" and excavation. Silverstein takes charge in January.

Another look at that schedule:

Foundation Construction............................... January - July 2008
Construction Drawings................................... April 1, 2008
Superstructure to Ground Level....................... July 2008 - January 2009
Structural Steel Erection................................ January 2009 - September 2010
Structural Concrete Tower Core & Slab............. March 2009 - November 2010
Core and Shell Work...................................... September 2009 - December 2011
Curtain Wall................................................. November 2009 - March 2011

[NYguy]

From wtcrising.com...

Note the excavation inside the newly constructed "tub" on the sites of towers 3 and 4.
Only a couple of months before this must be complete, and construction begins on those towers...

http://www.wtcrising.com/images/FE/chain217siteType8/site187/client/photoGallery/189/wtc%20site%20october%202007_big.jpg

[PhxSprawler]

^ Pardon my lack of knowledge, but could someone please confirm my assumptions?

In the photo above, the bottom right is the FT, above it on the right is the memorial, the lower left is WTC 2, and WTC 3 and 4 are above it.

The transportation hub is between tower 2 and 3.

Am I on track? Here is a rendering from wtcrising.com from which I am making my assumptions:

http://www.wtcrising.com/images/FE/chain217siteType8/site187/galleryRenderings.jpg

[NYguy]

^ Pardon my lack of knowledge, but could someone please confirm my assumptions?

In the photo above, the bottom right is the FT, above it on the right is the memorial, the lower left is WTC 2, and WTC 3 and 4 are above it.

The transportation hub is between tower 2 and 3.
Am I on track?

That's correct. The site of the transportation hub is the only one where they aren't digging. Above that is the sites of towers 3 and 4. Below that is the site of tower 2, where they are still working on the new tub.

[NYguy]

Just read from a WSJ article that one option from Silverstein was for a tower 3 with "several more floors" and about 14 % more space. For that to happen, they would have to throw the site plan right out the window. But the city/state seems intent on keeping Merrill Downtown, so anything is possible.


We'll see if Downtown's really serious about keeping Merrill. I read this quote in a Nov 14 WSJ article:

Government officials and developer Larry Silverstein have a second chance to woo Merrill Lynch & Co. to the World Trade Center.

Sensing an opening, Downtown forces presented a revised package that people familiar with it say is cheaper than Vornado's, but of similar quality and size. People familiar with Merrill's thinking say its decision -- which could include staying put Downtown in Brookfield Properties' World Financial Center -- could come anytime.

However, it wouldn't shock me if the Hotel Penn site was still on.

[NYguy]

http://downtownexpress.com/de_236/undercover.html

Silver’s namesake lining

November 16 - 22, 2007

Efforts to keep investment bank Merrill Lynch in Lower Manhattan were on hold “at least a little” while the company searched for a new C.E.O., Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told UnderCover Tuesday.

Now that John Thain, C.E.O. of NYSE Euronext, has been named to the post, Silver is hoping to convince Merrill Lynch to take advantage of incentives and relocate to the World Trade Center.

Stan O’Neal, Merrill’s recently sacked C.E.O., seemed to be the one pushing for an expensive move to Midtown.

Keeping Merrill Lynch would “guarantee the viability of Downtown as the financial capital of the world for the next 50 years,” Silver said.

[CoolCzech]

Given the financial trouble that O'Neal created at Merrill, I really doubt that an expensive new tower is in the offing... those poor people will have their hands full recovering for a while.

[Crawford]

Given the financial trouble that O'Neal created at Merrill, I really doubt that an expensive new tower is in the offing... those poor people will have their hands full recovering for a while.

An "expensive new tower" will be built regardless of who is in charge. Their lease is running out and they have no room in their existing setup. They will be in new facilities whether at the Penn Hotel site, the WTC or WFC.

I bet you they go to Penn. The other two sites make no financial sense, and every indication from the bank is for a new Midtown tower.

[Dac150]

I think there is a chance they'll stay in Downtown, and if they are, my bet is placed on the WTC.

[Crawford]

I think there is a chance they'll stay in Downtown, and if they are, my bet is placed on the WTC.

That would be strange, because the site cannot accomodate large trading floors. Merrill is the world's largest trading firm.

[Dac150]

That would be strange, because the site cannot accomodate large trading floors. Merrill is the world's largest trading firm.

Yes I realize that, but there have been talks of making 3 WTC taller if Merrill decides to take up the offer. Now even at that I feel it wouldn't be large enough to meet their needs. Who knows, maybe they'll take 3 WTC and keep some offcies in the WFC. The offcies will just be an underground walk away.

I don't believe that Merrill is going to be taking intentions form O'Neal into consideration. The man has caused them the biggest corporate loss in nearly 100 years, and on top of that he wanted a 4 billion dollar tower. Now I'm not aware of the companies finances, but I do know that any company that takes that big of a financial hit isn't running out to build a new multi billion dollar tower.

[Roy McDowell]

What's the white skelaton structure in the middle?
http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/66466720/original.jpg

[NYguy]

What's the white skelaton structure in the middle?

The entrance to Santiago Calatrava's train terminal (PATH station).

[NYguy]

An "expensive new tower" will be built regardless of who is in charge. Their lease is running out and they have no room in their existing setup. They will be in new facilities whether at the Penn Hotel site, the WTC or WFC.

I bet you they go to Penn. The other two sites make no financial sense, and every indication from the bank is for a new Midtown tower.

You're probably right.

Also, although they are the lead, they aren't the only firm looking at these towers for space. The clock is ticking.

[NYguy]

I don't believe that Merrill is going to be taking intentions form O'Neal into consideration. The man has caused them the biggest corporate loss in nearly 100 years, and on top of that he wanted a 4 billion dollar tower. Now I'm not aware of the companies finances, but I do know that any company that takes that big of a financial hit isn't running out to build a new multi billion dollar tower.

Regardless of who's in charge, the company has to stay in business, and has to have an address. I'm sure O'Neal wasn't the only hand in considering those options. Otherwise, they would have picked the Hotel Penn site long ago. I think it comes down to the Hotel Penn site, or Tower 3. I don't believe they are going to pick up and start from scratch because time is ticking.

[Roy McDowell]

The entrance to Santiago Calatrava's train terminal (PATH station).
I like Calatrava's work it resembles the one swan like structure he did in Milwaukee. Are there any renderings showing the inside?

[Dac150]

I'm sure O'Neal wasn't the only hand in considering those options. Otherwise, they would have picked the Hotel Penn site long ago.

Well that was all before the big financial loss. I have no doubt that the weather has changed inside the heads of the Merrill Lynch board of executives. What may have seemed practical 1 month ago, may not be the case in present time.

[NYguy]

Well that was all before the big financial loss. I have no doubt that the weather has changed inside the heads of the Merrill Lynch board of executives. What may have seemed practical 1 month ago, may not be the case in present time.

I was a big financial loss, but not one that would hurt the company to that point. (btw, Merrill is far from the only one feeling those losses).

Meawhile...
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5htbf_g8TSBS8a-oBTx50RPqyVqMgD8SJKNV04

Merrill Lynch CEO O'Neal Out

Despite the third-quarter loss, analysts consider the vast majority of Merrill's business to be in perfectly fine shape.

[Dac150]

(btw, Merrill is far from the only one feeling those losses).

Citigroup.

[NYguy]

Citigroup.

Yup, among others. Merrill will remain strong, which is why Downtown is pulling so hard for the company to say there.

[CoolCzech]

Regardless of who's in charge, the company has to stay in business, and has to have an address. I'm sure O'Neal wasn't the only hand in considering those options. Otherwise, they would have picked the Hotel Penn site long ago. I think it comes down to the Hotel Penn site, or Tower 3. I don't believe they are going to pick up and start from scratch because time is ticking.


They should all have spoken up 5 years ago, before the current WTC plan was set in stone. The WTC could have been designed around their needs...

[NYguy]

They should all have spoken up 5 years ago, before the current WTC plan was set in stone. The WTC could have been designed around their needs...

Yeah, remember all the cries about "too much office space"? They're singing a different tune now. Imagine if the entire site had been left for just a memorial (as Guiliani had wanted). Where would Downtown be then?

[CoolCzech]

Yeah, remember all the cries about "too much office space"?


I keep waiting for a single editorialist to admit just how wrong they were back then. I guess I'll have to wait quite a while longer...

[NYguy]

I keep waiting for a single editorialist to admit just how wrong they were back then. I guess I'll have to wait quite a while longer...

Just don't hold your breath...;)

[NYguy]

Comparison to our newest sensation...

http://www.pbase.com/image/77334128.jpg__http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/89036645/original.jpg

[Austin55]

are their any floorplans availible? Ive looked all over but only found elevations and render.

[mudvayneimn]

When I first saw that proposal I thought that would have been awesome if it was in the NWTC (maybe even taking FT's spot), but I actually think it will look much better in it's current proposed location. 3WTC is what has my heart, and that new building is definately trying to steal it! lol

[CoolCzech]

Nouvel's new building makes 3 WTC look downright pedestrian...

[Dac150]

I think 3 WTC's design is much better. That's just my opinion.

[NYguy]

are their any floorplans availible? Ive looked all over but only found elevations and render.

Rogers' website may or may not have something like that, I can't recall.


When I first saw that proposal I thought that would have been awesome if it was in the NWTC (maybe even taking FT's spot), but I actually think it will look much better in it's current proposed location. 3WTC is what has my heart, and that new building is definately trying to steal it! lol

Two of the best new towers for the city right now, and I love Foster's tower. I've been trying to wrap my head around how a taller and larger Tower 3 would fit in with the others. May as well make them all equal in height to the old Twins. Then we could have the triplet towers. (No offense to Extell's west side proposal).

[CoolCzech]

"May as well make them all equal in height to the old Twins. Then we could have the triplet towers. (No offense to Extell's west side proposal)."

Heck, Why NOT? The biggest challenge for lower Manhattan right now is lack of Class A office rental space. Yeah, it would mess up Libeskind's concept of an ascending spiral, but at the rate of new tower construction, it might not be too long before other towers would obscure the view of the "spiral" anyway. And while they're at it, they should figure out how to merge bases, to create those huge trading floors that are suddenly considered so necessary...

[NYguy]

while they're at it, they should figure out how to merge bases, to create those huge trading floors that are suddenly considered so necessary...

I don't want the merged bases. If they need to create more room, they can drop tower 4, and distribute the space to the other towers. It's a nearly 1,000 ft tower, smack up against tower 3.

[NYguy]

http://www.nysun.com/article/66833

Port Authority Races To Avoid Ground Zero Penalties

By GRACE RAUH
November 21, 2007

To avoid penalties of $300,000 a day, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is racing to finish work on the east side of the former World Trade Center site by the end of the year. Real estate industry experts are skeptical it will be able to meet the January 1 deadline.

Following the redevelopment agreement struck in April 2006, the Port Authority, which owns the property, is in charge of excavating and building slurry walls along the eastern portion of the site to prepare it for the construction of three large office towers being developed by Silverstein Properties. If the Port Authority does not finish the work by the end of the year, it will have to pay $300,000 each day to Silverstein Properties, which leased the World Trade Center site six weeks before it collapsed.

Construction workers for the Port Authority are now working 10-hour shifts to prepare the site, with two shifts of workers Monday through Saturday. Some additional work also is taking place on Sundays, but not at the same level as the rest of the week, a spokesman for the Port Authority, Steven Coleman, said

The president of the Real Estate Board of New York, Steven Spinola, said the Port Authority is working "extremely hard."

"There is a shot they will make the deadline," he said in a recent interview.

Another downtown development official said it is "unlikely" the Port Authority, a bi-state agency controlled by appointees of the governors of New York and New Jersey, would prepare the site before deadline.

Mr. Coleman wrote in an e-mail message that the Port Authority's "plan remains to deliver the site on December 31."

The developer, Larry Silverstein, yesterday announced that his company had hired the Yonkers Contracting Company to build the foundations for the two office towers, a move that could put more pressure on the Port Authority. In a news release, Silverstein Properties said it expects to begin work on January 2, and a spokesman for the company said the company had received no indication that the work would be delayed.

The first of the two office buildings to be built along Church Street, known as Tower 2, is designed by architect Fumihiko Maki, and the city has a tentative deal to lease 600,000 square feet of office space from the developer. The second tower to be built, known as Tower 3, is designed by Lord Richard Rogers and is slated to rise about 1,050 feet and contain about 2 million square feet of office space. Both are scheduled for completion in 2011.

The World Trade Center project director for the Silverstein Properties, Janno Lieber, said in a statement that the company would keep to a tight schedule as it begins construction.

"As we have seen from the market, New York's economy urgently needs new first-class office space in order to retain jobs and maintain a competitive edge in the global economy," he said.

__________________________

Obviously some errors in there

__________________________

http://www.globest.com/news/1040_1040/newyork/166156-1.html

WTC Work Moves Forward With Foundation Contracts

http://www.globest.com/newspics/nyc_175greenwichwtc3.jpg

By Melissa Kress
November 20, 2007

NEW YORK CITY-Work on World Trade Center Towers 3 and 4 has taken a step forward now Silverstein Properties has awarded Yonkers Contracting Co. of New York the contracts to build the foundation for the two buildings. World Trade Center 3 will rise at 175 Greenwich St. and World Trade Center 4 will rise at 150 Greenwich St.

The Yonkers Contracting Co. contracts are the first awarded for the $7-billion, five-year construction project that will consist of three new towers rising on the eastern portion of the 16-acre World Trade Center site. The foundation awards for the two towers total $40 million.

The foundation work is slated to begin Jan. 2. According to Silverstein Properties, the initial work will take place 85 feet below Church Street and involve about 50 construction workers. Individual tower footings will be excavated a further 10 feet to 12 feet and the foundation work will enable the towers’ superstructure to begin around six months later, the development company adds.

The start of the work will come just days after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey turns over the sites for the two towers to Silverstein, as outlined in a November 2006 agreement. World Trade Center Towers 3 and 4 are expected to be ready for occupancy in 2012.

“These contracts are the first part of the actual construction of 150 and 175 Greenwich,” World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein says in statement. “It’s the beginning of the vibrant new business district that we are creating Downtown.”

Yonkers Contracting is no stranger to the World Trade Center site. The PA of NY/NJ hired the company to help restore PATH services to the area after the Sept. 11 attacks. Other area projects Yonkers Contracting has worked on include Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station and emergency repair work on the Brooklyn Bridge.

“Yonkers Contracting Co. responded to the World Trade Center disaster with site remediation services and is proud to have led the joint venture that re-opened the PATH tunnels and temporary station ahead of schedule,” Yonkers Contracting CEO Carl Petrillo says in a statement. “We are privileged to be back at the World Trade Center site, pleased to be participating in its redevelopment, and look forward to starting work in the New Year.”

The contracts come two months after the final designs for the towers were revealed, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners designed 175 Greenwich, a 71-story tower set to rise 1,147 feet above street level on a site bounded by Greenwich, Church, Dey and Cortlandt streets. The building will contain 193,000 sf of retail, 54 office floors with 2.1 million sf and five trading floors. Maki Associates is the design firm behind 150 Greenwich, a 64-story tower set to rise 975 feet on a site bounded by Greenwich, Church, Cortlandt and Liberty streets. It will contain 56 office floors with 1.8 million sf, and five floors of retail. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey inked a deal to take a third of the office space for its new headquarters.

[CoolCzech]

Silverstein must be savoring the fact that, for once, it's the PA looking to pay money to him, if it doesn't stay on schedule...

[Thefigman]

As much as I'm glad the government will start paying for their delays on the project, I still wish they'd finish so we can start to see these buildings rise.:whip:

[NYguy]

As much as I'm glad the government will start paying for their delays on the project, I still wish they'd finish so we can start to see these buildings rise.:whip:

They'll finish. That's just speculation on the part of others. They may actually finish before Christmas, in fact. Silerstein won't start work on New Years day, but the day after.

[NYguy]

http://www.nyobserver.com/2007/spitzer-goes-bat-silverstein-vies-keep-merrill-downtown

Spitzer Goes to Bat for Silverstein, Vies to Keep Merrill Downtown

http://www.nyobserver.com/files/imagecache/article/files/Breaks-LarrySilverstein1H.jpg

by Eliot Brown
November 20, 2007

With its lease at Brookfield Properties’ World Financial Center set to expire in 2013, Merrill Lynch is eyeing a move of its headquarters to one of three locations in Manhattan.

But as Merrill weighs its options, Governor Eliot Spitzer has stepped in to coordinate a bid by developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority to have the bank move to Mr. Silverstein’s planned Tower 3 at the World Trade Center site. The governor’s maneuvers have dropped hundreds of millions from the cost to Merrill of moving its headquarters there.

Just four weeks ago, Merrill’s location decision seemed to be a foregone conclusion, people involved in the discussions say, with company executives set to recommend to their governing board that the firm move to the site of the Hotel Pennsylvania in midtown, owned by Steven Roth’s Vornado Realty Trust.

But since, the landscape has changed markedly.

Just as the board meeting was approaching, Governor Spitzer brought forward a proposal for Merrill to go into World Trade Center Tower 3; it was hundreds of millions less than what Mr. Silverstein and the Port Authority initially proposed, people in the discussions say. The substantial price cut came as a result of Governor Spitzer injecting himself into the process to mediate an impasse between Lower Manhattan’s perennially bickering couple: Mr. Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, owner of the World Trade Center site.

At the same time, Merrill announced it faced $7.9 billion in write-downs, postponing the headquarters decision as CEO Stanley O’Neal departed. Many involved in the discussions say they believe Mr. O’Neal had a very strong hand in the firm’s location decision.

Messrs. Roth and Silverstein as well as Brookfield CEO Ric Clark have patiently sat around, waiting on Merrill. In a conference call with investors late last month, Mr. Clark described the state of talks as suspended, a state that people involved in the discussions say has mostly continued.

“If we were having this call two weeks ago, we probably would have reported that it was very highly unlikely that Merrill would remain at the World Financial Center,” Mr. Clark said. “Today, under the circumstances—well, I guess the best way to put it is to say that we have no clue.”

For months, the Bloomberg and Spitzer administrations, perhaps daunted by the specter of Merrill’s 2.5 million square feet becoming available at the same time as the World Trade Center towers open just across the street, have been urging Merrill to choose either Brookfield or Silverstein Properties.

However, Governor Spitzer felt a need to put his stamp on the Silverstein bid, motivated by the fat in the original bid by the Port Authority and Mr. Silverstein, including infrastructure costs and other expenses, according to one person involved in discussions.

“The governor made sure there was a single unified joint proposal,” said Avi Schick, the Spitzer-appointed chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. “We think it’s a fair offer downtown, it’s an attractive offer; it’s more than competitive.”

In the past few days, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has met with new Merrill CEO John Thain about keeping the bank downtown, according to Mr. Silver’s spokesman.

The cost to Merrill for the Hotel Pennsylvania site could be as much as $4 billion, people familiar with the plans say; the downtown bids are about $1 billion cheaper.

While Mr. Thain surveys the situation, the bank does not have that much time to dawdle, as a move to a soaring tower at the Hotel Pennsylvania would require years to approve and then build. The skyscraper, built on the half-block hotel site, would be about three million square feet, according to people involved in discussions.

In a brief interview with The Observer on Sunday, Mr. Roth, the Vornado CEO, said the building would be built solely atop the Hotel Pennsylvania, not invading the neighboring Manhattan Mall, which Vornado also owns. Mr. Roth confirmed the tower would be independent of the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Station, meaning Vornado would not seek a transfer of the needed air rights from Madison Square Garden but would rather need to gain approval through the city’s public review process.

[NYguy]

NOVEMBER 25, 2007

In just over a month, the mighty Towers 3, and 4 will rise, summoned from
the pit known as ground zero...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/89508732/large.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/89508738/large.jpg

[Ghost]

Is that steam or smoke?
PANYNJ has a hell of a job going on there if they don't want to pay delay bills for Silverstein...

[speedy1979]

Is that steam or smoke?
PANYNJ has a hell of a job going on there if they don't want to pay delay bills for Silverstein...

That's steam. You'll see little orange and white smoke stacks on the streets of Manhattan with steam puffing out. Don't ask me why.

[NYguy]

Is that steam or smoke?
PANYNJ has a hell of a job going on there if they don't want to pay delay bills for Silverstein...

That's steam. You haven't been on a New York block until you've walked through or around that steam. It's part of the local scenery.

As far as the PA goes, I believe they'll finish before Christmas. They have until sometime this summer to finish the norhern end of the pit, site of Tower 2.

[NYguy]

Photo by
Shells Bells Adventures (http://flickr.com/photos/shellsbells/)


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2409/2081483213_81f83c57ec_o.jpg

[NYguy]

A lot of the final design on this one depends whether or not Merrill Lynch decides to move
here, which is more likely now than it was a month ago. Either way, this tower can stand
with the best of them...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/90034618/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/90034618/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/90034616/large.jpg

[NYguy]

A week from Wednesday (Jan 2) we will bid farewell to this thread as it joins its brother and moves into the supertall forum. A sad, but joyous time for all...

[NYguy]

Photo by hum drum (http://flickr.com/photos/careydenniston/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2377/2127542132_d6da655acb_b.jpg

[CoolCzech]

In just over a month, the mighty Towers 3, and 4 will rise, summoned from
the pit known as ground zero...



You're a Poet and
Don't Even Know It,
NYguy!

It will be nice to be able to take friends and family to the erswhile Ground Zero and no longer have to make excuses for the fact that damned pit is still there, nearly a decade later... :banana:

[NYguy]

You're a Poet and
Don't Even Know It,
NYguy!

It will be nice to be able to take friends and family to the erswhile Ground Zero and no longer have to make excuses for the fact that damned pit is still there, nearly a decade later... :banana:

Oh, I'll be getting a poem ready for this one...;) It's hard to say what's more exciting for 2008 - the fact that the Freedom Tower will start rising above ground, or the fact that three more WTC towers will be underway.

[giantSwan]

That's steam. You'll see little orange and white smoke stacks on the streets of Manhattan with steam puffing out. Don't ask me why.

Off topic, but if your interested in steam and manhattan...here's a link to some resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_steam_system

Several of the larger northeastern cities in the US have steam delivery system in place.

[mudvayneimn]

A lot of the final design on this one depends whether or not Merrill Lynch decides to move
here, which is more likely now than it was a month ago. Either way, this tower can stand
with the best of them...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/90034616/large.jpg

Someone mentioned this came from a video on wtc.com, but I cannot find it for the life of me! What is the name of the video?:shrug:

[NYguy]

As we look toward the new year, this is one of the most anticipated developments that will get underway in 2008. And Silverstein will waste no time, with a scheduled Jan 2 starting date...:tup:

[NYguy]

Someone mentioned this came from a video on wtc.com, but I cannot find it for the life of me! What is the name of the video?:shrug:

It's at the very end...
Tower 3 Design Update (http://wtc.com/media/videos/World%20Trade%20Center%20Tower%203%20Design%20Update)

[CoolCzech]

There are some beautiful new rendering's of 3's lobby at:

http://www.wtcrising.com/main.cfm?actionId=globalShowStaticContent&screenKey=cmpNews&show=images&section=Renderings&assetGroupID=196&s=wtcrising

[NYguy]

http://downtownexpress.com/de_242/angergrows.html

Anger grows as Port races to meet deadline

http://downtownexpress.com/de_241/portrace.gif
http://downtownexpress.com/de_242/ANG.gif

Work on the Tower 3 and 4 sites at the W.T.C. is now proceeding around the clock.

By Julie Shapiro
Dec. 28, 2007 - Jan. 3, 2008


As New Yorkers scramble for New Year’s Eve dinner reservations, the Port Authority is rushing to finish work in the eastern bathtub at the World Trade Center site.

With a matter of days left before the Dec. 31 deadline, the Port has kicked into high gear with 24-hour work, seven days a week. For the past several months, work had been 20 hours a day, six days a week.

“We are [going to make the deadline],” Steve Coleman, a Port Authority spokesperson, said on Dec. 26. “We’re working on it right now.” Coleman sounded less certain several days earlier, on Dec. 21, when he told Downtown Express, “We’re hopeful.”

If the Port does not turn the site for Towers 3 and 4 over to developer Silverstein Properties on time, the agency will pay a penalty of $300,000 a day. Anthony Shorris, the Port’s executive director, said last week that “our plan is to allow [Silverstein] to begin construction Jan. 2.”

Josh Rosenbloom, director of city operations for the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, fielded questions on the deadline at last Thursday’s Community Board 1 Quality of Life Committee meeting.

“It’s going to be very close,” Rosenbloom said. “It’s not certain.”

In the midst of the construction crunch, Christmas brought a brief reprieve to the sleep-deprived residents living in buildings near the Trade Center.

“It was weird — it was absolutely silent yesterday,” Andy Jurinko, a 125 Cedar St. resident, said on Dec. 26. “You could hear a pin drop. It makes you realize how much noise there usually is.”

From his window, Jurinko, a painter, watches the construction progress.

“The hole has become quite cavernous,” he said of the preparatory work at the tower sites. “You can start to see where things are going to go.”

Not all the construction workers had time for a Christmas break.

One worker, who was hauling black garbage bags off the site just before Christmas Eve, said he’d be working until late at night.

“It’s fine, though, it’s good,” he said, smiling. “It’s a lot of monies.”

Another worker, who looked exhausted, shrugged his shoulders when asked about the long hours.

“We need to keep going,” he said. “We’re working round the clock.”

Silverstein has a contract with Yonkers Contracting Company, Inc., to build the foundations for Towers 3 and 4, which are designed by Fumihiko Maki and Richard Rogers. The work will begin 85 feet below Church St., and the towers’ superstructure will rise about six months later, according to a previous press release. A spokesperson for Silverstein Properties declined to comment.

Downtown residents have not been able to escape the full-throttle construction effort.

Pat Moore, chairperson of the Quality of Life committee and Jurinko’s wife, first noticed the 24-hour-a-day work on Dec. 18.

“It’s led me to believe they’re not going to meet their deadline,” Moore said.

Jackhammering near the site on West St. awakened board member and Gateway Plaza resident Bill Love at 3 a.m., and he looked out his window to see the site bustling with work. When he got up again at 6 a.m., they were still going.

In response to the non-stop construction, C.B. 1’s World Trade Center Committee drafted a noise resolution earlier this month. Discussion of the resolution turned contentious during the full board meeting Dec. 18, after several people pointed out that the board has to choose between building deadlines and sleep.

The noise resolution calls on the Port Authority and the State Department of Transportation to keep all construction activity between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. and to adopt last July’s New York City Noise Code. Neither agency is required to follow community board resolutions or city regulations.

“If you want it built, you’re going to have to put up with the noise,” board member Paul Sipos said after Love introduced the resolution.

“But people have to sleep,” Love said. “State D.O.T. is behind on their schedule — it’s not our fault that they’re behind.”

Jeff Galloway, a lawyer who deals with construction delay litigation, defended Sipos.

“If we say ‘Thou shalt not work after 10 p.m.,’ then we will not have this thing built [on time],” Galloway told the board. “The reason they work at night is not because they enjoy working at night.”

Julie Menin, chairperson of the board, brought up her suggestion that Port Authority add a double day shift to the World Trade Center site, to cut back on nighttime hours.

Galloway replied that while the Port “would love a double day shift” because workers’ wages are cheaper during the day, there is a limit to how many workers and how much equipment can physically fit in the space at one time.

Moore, whose Cedar St. apartment is inundated with construction noise and vibrations from the Trade Center, could barely sit still during the exchange.

“I’m apoplectic,” Moore said when Menin called on her. “I don’t care how long it takes [to finish the construction]. We do not sleep… They work whenever they feel like it.” Her voice unsteady, Moore continued: “You can’t live, you can’t sleep, it’s just not fair.”

Barry Skolnick, a W.T.C. Committee member, defended the committee’s unanimous decision in favor of the noise resolution. “We care about quality of life,” he said. “Deadlines don’t mean everything.”

Moore added that the committee was being reasonable by asking for 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and said even 11 p.m. would be fine — but she’s tired of hearing construction noise start as she goes to bed and continue into the predawn hours.

Galloway did not dismiss the quality of life concerns, but said the board has to realize that the resolution represents a decision that could have large implications.

“We can choose noise or time,” Galloway said. “We can’t have both.”

John Fratta, chairperson of the Seaport/Civic Center Committee, said “We have to have a balance between people who want to build buildings and people who need sleep,” drawing widespread applause from the board.

Despite the back-and-forth arguments, the board came together and voted unanimously in favor of the noise resolution.

Paul Hovitz, outgoing chairperson of the Youth and Education Committee, got in the last word.

“We need to support live residents as opposed to deadlines,” he quipped.

[NYguy]

Also keeping an eye on this one:
http://downtownexpress.com/de_242/undercover.html

Fulton tower?

The cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority may be looking to make more cuts to the Fulton St. transit center and build a residential tower over the hub, a source tells UnderCover. The glass, domed public building of several stories may also be history.

The transit center’s price tag seems to grow by the day and this would not be the first big change. The space above the transit hub was at first supposed to house a glass egg-shaped structure, flooded with natural refracted light, and was later scaled back to a rectangle with a glass dome, while keeping the retail and public space. Now, the M.T.A. is considering a residential tower on the site, recouping some money by selling or leasing the air rights.

A second source also said the financially troubled hub could face cutbacks, and said the latest plans for the station “will annoy some people.” The source added that the changes aren’t yet definite.

At $888 million, the transit center is already $41 million over the federal allocation for the project, Metro reported last week. That means it’s time for some “soul-searching,” M.T.A. board member Nancy Shevell told Metro.

The good news, though, is that the M.T.A. remains supportive of connecting the E to the R/W, our first source said. The source hopes some of the money from the tower could be used to fill another Downtown need.

“It would be great if it wasn’t just a commercial building but had some public amenity,” the source told UnderCover, imagining a performing arts center on the site. “Maybe something positive can come out of this.”

_________________________

1 NY Place anyone?....;)

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/29449556/original.jpg

[CoolCzech]

Why not a station with a tower over it, like the what's planned for the Port Authority?

[NYguy]

Why not a station with a tower over it, like the what's planned for the Port Authority?

Probably an option. There's already at least 1.3 msf of development rights above the center, which was the proposed site of 1 NY Place.

[scalziand]

What was 1 NY place? I can't find any information about it.

[NYguy]

What was 1 NY place? I can't find any information about it.

It was the first supertall proposal for New York after 9/11, a 1050 ft 90-story residential tower.

[NYguy]

http://www.observer.com/2007/port-authority-could-owe-larry-silverstein-12m-plus-delays

Port Authority Could Owe Larry Silverstein $12 M.-Plus for Delays

by Eliot Brown
December 31, 2007

The Port Authority acknowledged today that it will miss its deadline of Jan. 1, 2008 to finish up excavations on the bathtub for World Trade Center Towers 3 and 4, thereby owing developer Larry Silverstein more than $12 million in delay penalties given the agency’s current timeline.

The Port Authority will owe Silverstein Properties $300,000 for every day until the excavations are done, and in a statement, the agency said that the bathtub would be ready for complete handover to Mr. Silverstein in about two to four weeks after mid-January (when they expect to finish excavations for Tower 4).

The Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Center site and is leasing the land for Towers 2, 3, and 4 to Silverstein, said in the statement that the hit from the penalties will in part be passed along to its contractors.

Silverstein, in a statement, said it will begin “pre-construction activities” as the firm waits on the Port.

Release below:
__________________________________



Statement by Port Authority Regarding Preparation of Towers 3 and 4 Bathtub
At WTC Site to Allow Silverstein Properties to Begin Construction in January

The Port Authority announced today that it has substantially completed the excavation of the basement area for Towers 3 and 4 at the World Trade Center site, and that it would complete the entirety of the excavation of Tower 4 by mid-January, and Tower 3 two to four weeks later. In keeping with this timetable, Silverstein Properties will advance procurement and other preconstruction activities in preparation for full-scale construction.

The construction of the Towers, including below- and above-grade retail and subterranean transit concourses, is expected to be completed by Silverstein Properties in 2011.

The unprecedented 12-month excavation and construction project - which involved the removal of nearly 300,000 tons, or enough concrete, soil and rock to fill Giants Stadium - will be completed within weeks of its original schedule established in an agreement with Silverstein Properties in mid-2006. Fifty miles of trucks was required to remove the material from the “bathtub” in recent months. In addition to clearing the site, the work involved the intricate installation of approximately 400 tiebacks, which if placed end-to-end would stretch down Interstate 95 from Manhattan to Philadelphia, and the pouring of enough concrete to pave a sidewalk from Wall Street to Rockland County, N.Y.

As a whole, the project is more than 90 percent complete. The excavation for the bathtub for Towers 3 and 4 must be dug to elevation 240. To date, 80 percent of the site for Tower 4 has reached elevation 240, and the remaining portion ranges from between elevations 241 and 248. The site for Tower 3 has been excavated to as low as elevation 264.

Under a master redevelopment agreement approved by the Port Authority Board of Commissioners in September 2006, the bistate agency agreed to take over development of 1 World Trade Center, the Freedom Tower and the Tower 5 site. Silverstein Properties is responsible for construction of Towers 2, 3 and 4.

The Port Authority’s agreement with Silverstein Properties calls for it to make payments of approximately $300,000 per day if any section of the excavation is not completed by January 1.

The Port Authority expects these costs will be largely offset by reduced payments to its contractors, and Silverstein Properties will reinvest these payments in the ongoing $16 billion of construction throughout the site.

The Port Authority is on schedule to complete the below-ground excavation for the Tower 2 site by the end of June 2008. Currently, nearly every section of the 16-acre World Trade Center site is under construction. There are currently more than 700 construction workers and 100 pieces of heavy equipment on the site.

Major construction on 1 World Trade Center, the Freedom Tower began in mid-2006. The tower’s footings and foundations are nearly complete, and steel will begin to rise above street level during the first part of 2008.

Construction of the foundations for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub and Memorial also are under way. Major steel beams for both projects are scheduled to be erected during the upcoming year.

[NYguy]

Maybe we all need to get down there with shovels....

DECEMBER 29, 2007

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/91047073/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/91047089/large.jpg

[NYguy]

Port Authority offers proof of progress at the site:


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/91049908/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/91049910/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/91049919/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/91049922/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/91049923/large.jpg

[scalziand]

Thanks for the information on 1 NY Plaza, NYguy. We'll see if the PA declares the site ready to hand over the site tom- err today.

[NYguy]

Thanks for the information on 1 NY Plaza, NYguy. We'll see if the PA declares the site ready to hand over the site tom- err today.

From the release:

The Port Authority announced today that it has substantially completed the excavation of the basement area for Towers 3 and 4 at the World Trade Center site, and that it would complete the entirety of the excavation of Tower 4 by mid-January, and Tower 3 two to four weeks later.

As a whole, the project is more than 90 percent complete. The excavation for the bathtub for Towers 3 and 4 must be dug to elevation 240. To date, 80 percent of the site for Tower 4 has reached elevation 240, and the remaining portion ranges from between elevations 241 and 248. The site for Tower 3 has been excavated to as low as elevation 264.

[CoolCzech]

Remarkable how fast even the PA can move when money is a factor...

[NYguy]

Remarkable how fast even the PA can move when money is a factor...

Their costs for the delays will be offset somewhat...
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01012008/news/regionalnews/deadline_dummies_514494.htm

DEADLINE DUMMIES
BLOWN WTC TARGET DATE COSTS PA 300G A DAY

By LEONARD GREENE
January 1, 2008

...the PA will have to cough up $300,000 a day in fines for each day it is late, which can total up to $13 million based on some estimates.

Also losing money is the job's contractor, which, Shorris said, forfeits a $10 million bonus for missing the deadline, money that will largely offset the PA's penalty.

[CoolCzech]

Silverstein must be savoring the prospect of being on the receiving end of PA panalty payments, for a change...

[CoolCzech]

Observer.com

Port Authority Could Owe Larry Silverstein $12 M.-Plus for Delays
by Eliot Brown | December 31, 2007 |



The Port Authority acknowledged today that it will miss its deadline of Jan. 1, 2008 to finish up excavations on the bathtub for World Trade Center Towers 3 and 4, thereby owing developer Larry Silverstein more than $12 million in delay penalties given the agency’s current timeline.

The Port Authority will owe Silverstein Properties $300,000 for every day until the excavations are done, and in a statement, the agency said that the bathtub would be ready for complete handover to Mr. Silverstein in about two to four weeks after mid-January (when they expect to finish excavations for Tower 4).

The Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Center site and is leasing the land for Towers 2, 3, and 4 to Silverstein, said in the statement that the hit from the penalties will in part be passed along to its contractors.

Silverstein, in a statement, said it will begin “pre-construction activities” as the firm waits on the Port.

Statement by Port Authority Regarding Preparation of Towers 3 and 4 Bathtub at WTC Site to Allow Silverstein Properties to Begin Construction in January:


The Port Authority announced today that it has substantially completed the excavation of the basement area for Towers 3 and 4 at the World Trade Center site, and that it would complete the entirety of the excavation of Tower 4 by mid-January, and Tower 3 two to four weeks later. In keeping with this timetable, Silverstein Properties will advance procurement and other preconstruction activities in preparation for full-scale construction.

The construction of the Towers, including below- and above-grade retail and subterranean transit concourses, is expected to be completed by Silverstein Properties in 2011.

The unprecedented 12-month excavation and construction project - which involved the removal of nearly 300,000 tons, or enough concrete, soil and rock to fill Giants Stadium - will be completed within weeks of its original schedule established in an agreement with Silverstein Properties in mid-2006. Fifty miles of trucks was required to remove the material from the “bathtub” in recent months. In addition to clearing the site, the work involved the intricate installation of approximately 400 tiebacks, which if placed end-to-end would stretch down Interstate 95 from Manhattan to Philadelphia, and the pouring of enough concrete to pave a sidewalk from Wall Street to Rockland County, N.Y.

As a whole, the project is more than 90 percent complete. The excavation for the bathtub for Towers 3 and 4 must be dug to elevation 240. To date, 80 percent of the site for Tower 4 has reached elevation 240, and the remaining portion ranges from between elevations 241 and 248. The site for Tower 3 has been excavated to as low as elevation 264.

Under a master redevelopment agreement approved by the Port Authority Board of Commissioners in September 2006, the bistate agency agreed to take over development of 1 World Trade Center, the Freedom Tower and the Tower 5 site. Silverstein Properties is responsible for construction of Towers 2, 3 and 4.

The Port Authority’s agreement with Silverstein Properties calls for it to make payments of approximately $300,000 per day if any section of the excavation is not completed by January 1.

The Port Authority expects these costs will be largely offset by reduced payments to its contractors, and Silverstein Properties will reinvest these payments in the ongoing $16 billion of construction throughout the site.

The Port Authority is on schedule to complete the below-ground excavation for the Tower 2 site by the end of June 2008. Currently, nearly every section of the 16-acre World Trade Center site is under construction. There are currently more than 700 construction workers and 100 pieces of heavy equipment on the site.

Major construction on 1 World Trade Center, the Freedom Tower began in mid-2006. The tower’s footings and foundations are nearly complete, and steel will begin to rise above street level during the first part of 2008.

Construction of the foundations for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub and Memorial also are under way. Major steel beams for both projects are scheduled to be erected during the upcoming year.

[NYguy]

Silverstein must be savoring the prospect of being on the receiving end of PA panalty payments, for a change...

Yeah, I believe those fines will offset his rent for the month...:)

[NYguy]

wtcrising.com

Greenwich Street being reintroduced to the site...

http://www.wtcrising.com/images/FE/chain217siteType8/site187/client/photoGallery/189/greenwich%20st_big.jpg

[NYguy]

Silverstein's towers will begin work in reverse order. First tower 4, then 3, and finally 2.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_243/portmissesdeadline.html
Port misses deadline and says ‘worst’ construction noise is almost over

By Julie Shapiro
Jan. 4 -10, 2008

The Port Authority will now work on finishing up the Tower 4 excavation, which is in the southeast corner of the site. That should take one to two weeks, Shorris said. As soon as the Port finishes that portion of the site, Silverstein will start working on the foundation of Tower 4, Shorris said.

After turning over the Tower 4 site, the Port Authority will focus on Tower 3, to the north, which will take another three to four weeks. Silverstein will continue to collect the full $300,000 a day until both sites are ready for construction. In all, the excavation is 90 percent complete.

The Port’s next deadline is June 30, 2008, when they will turn the Tower 2 site over to Silverstein or face similar penalties.

[NYguy]

Excellent shot of the sites...

by ksten (http://flickr.com/photos/ksten/)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2165/2169971095_f2b9a40af3_b.jpg