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

[meh_cd]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

I believe that I read somewhere that the cross-bracing was removed due to concerns that birds would flock to the beams and cause massive droppings to the ground below.

Yeah, right. Because that is such a large issue on other buildings with cross bracing.

Also, I believe that apartments that include cross braces in John Hancock Center in Chicago are actually more expensive. Not offices, sure, but I do not think it was anything other than a cost-cutting measure.

[kpdrummer82]

The lights are on....

[RobEss]

Originally Posted by kpdrummer82

The lights are on....

What does this mean, precisely?

[kpdrummer82]

Originally Posted by RobEss

What does this mean, precisely?

Somethings happening. Not something important but, still something.

[Guiltyspark]

Originally Posted by kpdrummer82

The lights are on....

But nobody's home...

[NYguy]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...TATE/305129977

World Trade Center site sits empty as rivals lease up
With no big deal inked since Condé Nast, all three buildings there have huge vacancies.

By Daniel Geiger
May 12, 2013

As of today, more than 3 million square feet of vacant office space is expected to open in 2014 at 1 WTC and the neighboring tower under construction, 4 WTC. And more than 2 million square feet are on the drawing board at 3 WTC, whose construction is stalled at seven stories for lack of commercial tenants.

Meanwhile, many real estate experts had thought law firm Jones Day might anchor the yet-to-be-built 3 WTC, but it is instead close to inking a 400,000-square-foot deal at Brookfield Place, the four-building office complex just across West Street from the trade center site.

"It's definitely disappointing," said Christopher Ward, former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the WTC site. "Jones Day should have been the deal that 3 World Trade Center landed."

The heated race for tenants hasn't led to Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority undercutting each other on price at the WTC site. In fact, the site's relatively high rents are a key reason it has lagged behind other properties in attracting takers. Jones Day, for instance, is said to be negotiating a lease in the $50s per square foot at Brookfield Place. And Time Warner would get an even cheaper rent at Hudson Yards, where that site's developer, the Related Cos., has pledged to give early tenants their space at cost in order to get construction going there.

"It's not surprising Time Warner is going to the yards; they could probably get a rent in the low $40s per square foot," Mr. Ward said. "Buildings at the World Trade Center need to get in the mid-$60s per square foot, at least."

Pressure is mounting, however, to find a taker for 3 WTC, an 80-story, 2.8 million-square-foot skyscraper that Silverstein Properties wants to build between 4 WTC and the transit hub. Currently, 3 WTC stands at seven stories, accommodating retail space and mechanical systems, but can't proceed higher without a large commitment from an office tenant.

If Silverstein can't find any takers within a year, when the site will have nearly transitioned from a construction zone into a neighborhood, it will have to build a permanent roof to protect the structure. That's a relatively tight timeline in the world of jumbo-size leases. Restarting the tower after that would be more costly.

Silverstein, though, has been through this before. After initially struggling to lease 7 WTC, the company filled the building at above-market rental rates just a few years after it was finished in 2006, and completely leased it by 2011, despite earlier suggestions from Mayor Michael Bloomberg to slash rents.

"There is a really good feeling downtown right now about leasing," said Peter Riguardi, New York area president of brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle. "We're nearing the end of 10-plus years of construction there, and with the site almost done, I think tenants are now clearly going to see this is a place they want to be."

[hunser]

Hmm I don't know but maybe Silverstein should also consider leasing space in 3WTC at cost. After all, this is the WTC we are talking about here.

[Onn]

Boy, can't even count on the lawyers anymore to get it done. What is this world coming to.

I feel bad for Silverstein, there probably isn't a whole lot he can do to boost his prospects for building purely speculative office buildings. Hudson Yards is going to snatch the biggest potential candidates away from him. And Lower Manhattan still seems saturated with fair priced office space, its not like businesses already there have much of an incentive to move to something better. Since 9/11 the center of business activity has shifted to Midtown, that looks like where it's going to stay for the next 10 years.

[Enigmatism415]

He's going to have to trim those prices down to at least $50/sq.ft.

This is a money-losing maneuver in the short run, but more conducive to the success of the entire complex in the long run. Erecting 3WTC within the year is important enough to sacrifice returns that are commensurate with investment, let alone profit.

Besides, wasn't there a second prospective tenant for 3WTC with a tentative deal in the works anyway?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by hunser

Hmm I don't know but maybe Silverstein should also consider leasing space in 3WTC at cost. After all, this is the WTC we are talking about here.

The problem is that both Silverstein and the Port Authority know that Silverstein can and likely will get the better rents. People have to understand that when the original WTC was built, it was years before it really started to fill up. Downtown can't just absorb 10 msf of new office space overnight. Midtown can't even do that. Remove the WTC, and look at how many new office towers have been built Downtown in the two decades. Relatively few. Add to that, New York was hit hard by the financial crisis, so things were set back even further. Goldman Sachs managed to get a new tower up, but not without incentives from the City and State.

But the state doesn't want to repeat what happened when the original complex was built, and flood the lower Manhattan market with subsidized office space. So Silverstein not only needs to lease some of the space in tower 3, he also needs to do it at a minimum...


http://observer.com/2012/01/silverst...-trade-center/

As is stated in the 2010 agreement during a special board meeting held on August 26, 2010, immediate construction of the building’s podium and office tower can't follow unless the developer can “pre-lease 400,000 square feet of the office tower at a minimum average rent of at least $60 per rentable square foot for the first five years of the term,” according to the agreement.

Meanwhile...

Jones Day, for instance, is said to be negotiating a lease in the $50s per square foot at Brookfield Place. And Time Warner would get an even cheaper rent at Hudson Yards, where that site's developer, the Related Cos., has pledged to give early tenants their space at cost in order to get construction going there.

Related is looking to make its money on the residential end of that development.

Originally Posted by Onn

Boy, can't even count on the lawyers anymore to get it done. What is this world coming to.

I feel bad for Silverstein, there probably isn't a whole lot he can do to boost his prospects for building purely speculative office buildings. Hudson Yards is going to snatch the biggest potential candidates away from him.

I believe law firms as a group are the second largest users of office space in Manhattan. But those firms can be anywhere, like the new 11 Times Square or 250 West 55th street. Of the big boys, you have 15 Penn put on ice indefinitely, and Related is close to signing the large tenant it needs to get its largest tower built in the Hudson Yards. The other towers up next in the Hudson Yards (1 Hudson Yards, 3 Hudson Blvd) while large, don't have the amount of space towers 2 and 3 will have. The major competitor would be Manhattan West, and Brookfield has said it needs higher rents to justify building that platform. I doubt they would give cheaper rents than the WTC.

So overall, it's just a waiting game. And if anyone should know about the real estate industry in New York, its Larry Silverstein. He's no newbie at this. Because this tower is already rising, he may not have as much time as he would like, but the natural order of things dictates it.

[Enigmatism415]

So what's the time limit before the building is capped? When the article states "within a year", does it really mean starting from the time of writing?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Enigmatism415

So what's the time limit before the building is capped? When the article states "within a year", does it really mean starting from the time of writing?

It means just that, he needs to find a tenant within the year. Ongoing work on the partial podium should be complete.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/downt...of-aug-1-2012/

Construction at 3 W.T.C. proceeds, despite lack of tenants

August 1, 2012


3 World Trade Center continues to rise in the sky, even though developer Larry Silverstein has yet to secure office tenants for the building.

Construction of the tower’s steel perimeter and concrete core has reached the eighth floor, according to Bud Perrone, a spokesperson for Silverstein Properties. Perrone stressed that work at the site has not been stalled: The building’s steel perimeter will reach the seventh floor in the fall, he said, after which there will be another year’s worth of work on the interior. However, if Silverstein doesn’t find a tenant by end of 2013, when the tower is supposed to reach the eighth floor, then the project would be temporarily halted, Perrone said.

Silverstein is 100 percent committed to building the 72-story tower as quickly as possible, according to the spokesperson. “If, during this period, Silverstein Properties is able to secure a pre-lease for 400,000 square feet, then construction will continue uninterrupted to the top,” said Perrone. “Working with our leasing agent, C.B.R.E., we are marketing the tower widely and remain optimistic that we can meet our pre-leasing targets over the year, which would assure that construction continued without interruption.”

[MrSlippery519]

Originally Posted by NYguy

It means just that, he needs to find a tenant within the year. Ongoing work on the partial podium should be complete.

Hopefully the rumors of a tenant are still progressing along, as we all know these things can take months if not a year in some cases.

I also feel in the coming months once 1wtc is fully cladded and 4wtc is the same we might see some more interest in the complex start to pick up as something is actually "done"

[Design-mind]

It seems to me like Larry is really putting himself out there to see his dream project come to fruition. Hopefully we can see a tenant step up to the plate soon.

[Submariner]

Given the extraordinary appetite for ultra high end residential in the city, why couldn't Silverstien convert at least a spall portion of these two towers to residential to help generate cash flow to make the buildings a reality? I'd bet that there are more than a few wealthy buyers who would love to live in the WTC complex and look over the memorial and park.

[Roadcruiser1]

Originally Posted by Submariner

Given the extraordinary appetite for ultra high end residential in the city, why couldn't Silverstien convert at least a spall portion of these two towers to residential to help generate cash flow to make the buildings a reality? I'd bet that there are more than a few wealthy buyers who would love to live in the WTC complex and look over the memorial and park.

The site isn't zoned for residential. Besides the World Trade Center was always an office site. To this day there is only one building throughout the history of the World Trade Center that isn't an office building and that is the old Marriott World Trade Center which was destroyed on 9/11.

[drumz0rz]

ehem... So couldn't Silverstein re-purpose a portion of one of the remaining towers into a hotel? I bet people would pay a premium for a room with sweeping views of the memorial, 1 WTC and beyond. You could look down on that beautiful transit hub... I think this building would be ideal for that (over 2WTC). The only issue I can think of would be that they'd need to redesign the lobby as it would have to at least offer a separate entry for hotel guests (you could have a sky hotel lobby with just security / an elevator bank at the ground).

Of course they can already do that at the W hotel (until a building eventually replaces 130 Liberty Street) but the W has small typical hotel windows and doesn't sit in the actual plaza.

[fimiak]

He owns the property of the residential tower right next door to the WTC, 30 Park Place. It's been on hold since 2011, but the foundation has been completed. LS will go ahead with that project when he feels he can make the most money, which is after 1WTC, 3WTC, 4WTC, probably the Transit Hub, and maybe even 2WTC are complete. It's simple capitalism.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by drumz0rz

ehem... So couldn't Silverstein re-purpose a portion of one of the remaining towers into a hotel? I bet people would pay a premium for a room with sweeping views of the memorial, 1 WTC and beyond. You could look down on that beautiful transit hub... I think this building would be ideal for that (over 2WTC).

Originally, as it was planned, the hotel space was supposed to go to tower 2. But that idea was scrapped, and the area has since seen hotels go up everywhere, so its not really necessary. Besides, the point is to rebuild office space, not just put up buildings. So residential towers (not allowed on Port Authority property) won't be going up on site. The tower 5 site is in some sort of limbo area, not technically part of the original PA land.

[T-Mac]

I took this photo last week while in New York.