NEW YORK | 175 Greenwich St. | 1,079 FT | 80 FLOORS

[NYguy]

A little more from the Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...WhatsNewsFifth

Mr. Silverstein already has begun construction of his first tower. Under the agreement, foundation work on the second tower will begin immediately. The parties agreed that his third tower would get no public financing, which means it likely won't be built until the real-estate market improves. The entire site will be built to street level to allow other parts of the development to move forward, and to avoid leaving a hole in the ground where the third building eventually might be built.

Crain's New York

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...TATE/100329894

Under the deal, the Port Authority would agree to finance one of developer Larry Silverstein’s buildings commonly known as Tower 4. About 60% of the 2.3-million-square-foot tower is already pre-leased to the Port and the city. But under the new agreement, the Port would provide a master lease for the project to support the issuance of Liberty Bonds that would be used to finance its construction. Construction on that 64-story tower on the southeast corner of the site has already started, and it is expected to be completed in 2013.

Meanwhile, The Port agreed to provide some financing for a second building known as Tower 3 so that construction can start immediately. However, Mr. Silverstein will have to find $300 million in equity and pre-lease 400,000 square feet—16% of the 2.47-million-square-foot, 71-story tower—by the time its podium is complete. Erecting the podium is estimated to take about two and a half years.

If Mr. Silverstein hasn’t met the goal, construction would halt. If he is able to fulfill the obligation, the city, the state and the Port would provide a backstop of a total of $390 million. The city and state would also provide a total of $210 million in equity.

Hope that clears things up a bit.

[pattali]

I just hope that US economy restart within the next 2 years. All the signs are up !

[NYguy]

http://tribecatrib.com/news/2010/mar...tc-towers.html

Mayor Bloomberg also hailed the new agreement, pointing out that the long-awaited beginning of construction on Tower 3, as well as key elements of the Port Authority's $3.2 billion transportation hub adajcent to it, will translate into thousands of construction jobs at the site.

"This really is great news for our city's economy, and it really will spur our continuing recovery from the national recession," Bloomberg said. "In very short order, thousands of [workers] in our still hard-hit construction industry will be at work in the eastern half of the World Trade Center site."

"We're finally going to fill that hole in the ground," the mayor added as the press conference ended.

[MolsonExport]

ahhh fuddle-duddle. The one on hold is the only one that I like, appearance-wise. Foster's & associates, of course.


Foster and Partners, courtesy of Silverstein Properties


WTC-1 is a very uninspiring tower that looks like a shaved carrot stick.

[uaarkson]

The references to Tower 3's 'podium' means the below ground levels and not a retail stump, right?

[New Skyline]

Originally Posted by NYguy

Meanwhile, The Port agreed to provide some financing for a second building known as Tower 3 so that construction can start immediately.
Erecting the podium is estimated to take about two and a half years.

At last: Great news! Let's drink to that

But do they mean it could take two and a half years to erect the entire east side podium? (Tower Three aswell as Tower Two podium?)

#The entire site will be built to street level; - that could take 2,5 years??

^^^^^
# = Posted by NY Guy

[Wheelingman04]

^ That is some real bullshit!!

[37TimPPG]

Originally Posted by New Skyline

At last: Great news! Let's drink to that

But do they mean it could take two and a half years to erect the entire east side podium? (Tower Three aswell as Tower Two podium?)

#The entire site will be built to street level; - that could take 2,5 years??

^^^^^
# = Posted by NY Guy

I think PA and Silverstein want it all built - so they said 2.5 years so as to give the Real Estate market in Manhattan plenty of time to rebound and recover. Smile, everyone! It's all happening...maybe not as fast as we would like but it's happening. This is tremendous news

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by New Skyline

But do they mean it could take two and a half years to erect the entire east side podium? (Tower Three aswell as Tower Two podium?)

#The entire site will be built to street level; - that could take 2,5 years??

It's going to take a couple of years for Silverstein to get at least the podium (retail and mechanical space) for Tower 3 built. If he doesn't have 16% of the building leased, construction will be put on hold then. There are no plans as of now to build the podium for Tower 2, but likewise, the lower levels are going to be built, mainly because all of the lower levels have to be built now. There's no timeline for when Tower 2 will be built, but it can be built at any time provided Silverstein obtains financing.

Keep in mind that they haven't even begun blasting at the sites of towers 2 and 3, although they have been blasting in preparation for Calatrava's "wing" building between those sites. Once that's done, it's going to take at least another year to get the sites up to grade, just as it did the other towers.

[OneWorldTradeCenter]

Good news!

What means immediately? When will they start construction?

[hunser]

Originally Posted by OneWorldTradeCenter

Good news!

What means immediately? When will they start construction?

not for quite a time, unfortunately. maybe they can start this summer already. for more information read NYGuy's previous post(s).

Originally Posted by NYguy

Once that's done, it's going to take at least another year to get the sites up to grade, just as it did the other towers.

i can live with that as long as both towers have a good chance to be built this decade. just "a bit" more patience and in a couple of years we can enjoy a whole new skyline ... 1 & 4 WTC, beekman, 99 church, 157 west, leonard and other upcoming skyscrapers. and then again some years later 2 & 3 WTC will soar into the air. when all is done, it will be a breathtaking moment.

[Zapatan]

Well this is all great news, I always had a little shred of hope. 2.5 years isn't terrible, as long as the towers are going to get built, and NOT decades away, that's all that really matters.

Congrats NYC.

by the middle of this decade four super high towers will once again grace lower manhattan, sweet deal.

[Zapatan]

So if I'm not mistaken, there are to be redesigns of both towers right?

[Dac150]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

So if I'm not mistaken, there are to be redesigns of both towers right?

Where does it say exactly that there are going to be redesigns of any towers?

[Zapatan]

I saw it on SSC, I don't know if it's true that's why i was asking, just because you didn't read it doesn't mean it's not true.

[Dac150]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

I saw it on SSC, I don't know if it's true that's why i was asking, just because you didn't read it doesn't mean it's not true.

Read some of the above articles and you’ll understand better; that’s why they’re posted.

[djvandrake]

Well the news of this deal is most interesting. I would of course like to see tower 2 and 3 financed and built ASAP. But, reality being what it is I'm thrilled that work will begin on tower 3 without any more major bickering (if the Port board plays ball) AND the benchmarks set for Silverstein for continuing construction seem very achievable.

The fact that the foundations will be built and the entire site brought to grade in the next few years bodes well for the overall project to be completed as designed, and I'm stoked that tower 3 will be in work soon.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

So if I'm not mistaken, there are to be redesigns of both towers right?

If Silverstein didn't get the towers started right away, there were going to have to be redesigns so the Port Authority could move along with construction of Calatrava's winged building, and everything else. Silversein will undoubtedly try to cut as much costs of his buildings as possible. Whether that could mean some revisions isn't clear. Tower 2 went through a few revisions a couple of years ago. We haven't seen any Tower 3 revisions, although Silverstein flirted with the idea.


Meanwhile, we may have a deal, but that doesn't mean everyone's happy about it. Can't we all just get along?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/ny...l?ref=nyregion
Port Authority Official Criticizes Towers Deal

By CHARLES V. BAGLI
March 26, 2010

The news on Thursday that the Port Authority and the developer Larry A. Silverstein had ceased hostilities and come to a tentative agreement at ground zero was greeted with a great deal of fanfare. But judging from a blistering note the next morning from the Port Authority’s vice chairman, the next 120 days are going to be anything but peaceful.

“The notion that a private developer and/or his investors profit while the public sector is at risk for billions of dollars is unacceptable,” he wrote to the authority’s executive director, Christopher O. Ward, and eight fellow commissioners.

“By enabling the construction of Towers 3 and 4, we are further crystallizing” a loss of $1 billion to $2 billion on 1 World Trade Center, Mr. Silverman wrote. “If we owned a losing McDonald’s at 18th and Park, would we build two more restaurants on the same block?”

Mr. Silverman said he recognized the “public interest” in rebuilding Lower Manhattan, but he and other commissioners wanted to reiterate to Mr. Ward the importance of ensuring that the developer not profit or take development fees while public money is at risk. He also said that the authority should get a bigger return for its investment if the buildings are successful.

Asked about Mr. Silverman’s e-mail message, Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the authority, said: “We believe this is a strong framework for building out the entire World Trade Center site. The board directed the staff to finalize an agreement, and we look forward to doing so responsibly. We’re committed to partnering with Silverstein Properties on the east side of the site.”

[OneWorldTradeCenter]

One simple question: If they can´t lease the office space. Why is there no residential space or even a hotel. That could solve the problem. Maybe there´s more need for residences than offices. Build a mixed-use tower??

[Acer1]

This is going to be the same height as the proposal, correct? It's not going to be smaller than tower 4?