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

[Dac150]

Originally Posted by CoolCzech

I'd be a lot more concerned if it was no. 4 that was to be redesigned: I think out of all of the towers, it's the most elegant and powerful because of its seeming simplicity. No. 3 isn't bad or anything... just a little too busy for my liking.

You see I love that building too, as it is very elegant and powerful in design. I doubt that a redesign for that building will occur, but I'm keeping an open mind to any outcome. The way I see it I'll have that same feeling until they are all up and completed. As the WTC design process has proven time and time again, anything can happen.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Dac150

An take on this NYguy?

It won't really be a different tower, just larger, with more space. This isn't new, Silverstein has been working on this for months (it was reported earlier that he had Rogers design a larger veriosion.)

But it was either this location or the Hotel Penn site for Merrill and then Merrill's moves were put on hold a few months ago, so the talk of the change was put on hold as well. Silverstein had to move on with preparing the site for construction, but as Merrill re-entered talks of moving, everything was put on hold to allow for the design changes that Merrill would need. It's all worth it.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Dac150

I doubt that a redesign for that building will occur, but I'm keeping an open mind to any outcome. The way I see it I'll have that same feeling until they are all up and completed. As the WTC design process has proven time and time again, anything can happen.

It won't be a major redesign, but they will have to adjust the base of bother towers, likely meaning smaller floorplates at the base of Tower 4.

In order to accommodate Merrill Lynch, Tower 3 would need to be redesigned, and the foundation plans for Towers 3 and 4 would have to be amended as well, said the Port Authority in a statement.

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05272008...ver_112709.htm

DARK SIDE TO MERRILL'S MANEUVER




May 27, 2008 -- THERE are two ways to look at the news that the Port Authority is giving Larry Silverstein a few months longer to finish Ground Zero's Towers 3 and 4, so he can first try to woo Merrill Lynch to the site:

1) Nothing would be better for Ground Zero than a completed Tower 3 occupied by a Wall Street tenant from day one.

2) Nothing would be worse than yet another construction delay with nothing to show for it if Merrill doesn't come.

Silverstein and the PA - for once acting as partners rather than as squabbling relatives - are swinging for the fences with No. 1. But the risk is that they'll be caught looking at No. 2 in a game where they're already way behind.

The biggest question is: Can Merrill, battered by writedowns new CEO John Thain has fought to contain, afford to buy or even lease a new, 2.5 million square-foot building that will cost nearly $2 billion to construct?

Of course, a Merrill move to the WTC site would be the best news since 9/11. But if the financial giant doesn't bite, Silverstein and the PA will have only found another way to push back overdue reconstruction.

Just a few months ago, Silverstein and the PA declared that the 2012 dead- lines for the office towers were good as gold.

Anthony Shorris, former PA executive director, said, "By the end of 2012, as they say, it'll all be over but the shouting."

But now, maybe not. If you missed the news in the pre-Memorial Day exodus, the PA just gave Silverstein an additional six months to complete Tower 4, and four months more on Tower 3, before he'd have to forfeit the buildings to the PA.

The agreement gives Silverstein until mid-2013 to finish Tower 3, where Merrill Lynch is considering moving, vs. the earlier deadline of Dec. 31, 2012.

The Tower 4 extension was necessary because excavation for both foundations is being done in tandem.

The added wiggle time allows Silverstein to enlarge Tower 3's foundation so it can accommodate a redesign of the building to suit Merrill's needs.

(Richard Rogers' original design is striking, but it's basically guesswork as to what a tenant might want.)

Having redesign flexibility is necessary for Merrill to even consider moving to Tower 3 - but it does not guarantee the firm will decide to do that.

In asking the PA to extend construction deadlines, Silverstein presumably found Merrill's interest to be sincere - not a ploy to gain leverage with its current landlord, Brookfield Properties, in talks over renewing Merrill's World Financial Center lease, which is up in 2013.

Merrill, represented by Jones Lang LaSalle's sure-handed Peter "Big Rig" Riguardi - who's also an adviser to the PA - could lead Silverstein on a merry chase. The firm is already deep into talks with Brookfield to extend its WFC lease until 2018.

Besides the cost to Merrill of moving to Ground Zero, there are a lot of other "ifs" to factor in.

There's no telling how Merrill's inevitable request for subsidies beyond those already available to it if it moves to the WTC site will play at City Hall and in Albany.

Nor is it easy to believe that even slightly altering Tower 3's current design won't mess up plans for Tower 4, the new PATH terminal and the memorial - all of them linked in a Gordian knot of subterranean infrastructure.

With so many imponderables, it would not seem out of the question for Silverstein and the PA to one day declare yet another postponement beyond mid-2013. If that happens, who can guess when anything might be finished?

None of this means a Merrill Lynch deal for Tower 3 is not worth pursuing. But Silverstein and PA chiefs Anthony Coscia and Christopher Ward are going to need a lot of luck.

[NYguy]

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2817/roughlyqo8.jpg

Tax breaks, redesigns try to lure NYC businesses

By AMY WESTFELDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Dangling millions of dollars — sometimes billions — in incentives to big companies to become part of the latest megaproject is often the cost of doing business in the city's development market.

But the lure of big business reached a new level when a developer last week offered to redesign a building in the hope that Merrill Lynch & Co. would agree to move to ground zero. The government extended deadlines for two towers at the World Trade Center site to allow developer Larry Silverstein to build wider trading floors Merrill has sought.

The offer didn't seal a deal with Merrill Lynch, but it showed industry watchers how far governments and developers will go in an economic downturn to commit skittish tenants to big, sometimes uncertain projects.

"It's realistic," said Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City business group. "Things are slow because the economy is uncertain. Major prospective tenants are waiting to see how things roll out."

Across the city, big development projects are slowing down or falling apart because of uncertain financing, making an anchor tenant's commitment a potential make-or-break factor, experts say.

Merrill Lynch negotiated with Silverstein last fall to move into a ground zero tower designed by British architect Richard Rogers, and also weighed a move to midtown before dropping out of talks for each site. It renewed negotiations with Silverstein this spring, once again seeking changes to the tower's design to accommodate trading.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center, agreed to extend the deadlines for two of Silverstein's towers to "allow us to find out: Can we secure a huge financial institution downtown?" said executive Chris Ward.

"We needed to make sure that Merrill had a window of negotiation," he added. "The economics will be the economics. We just wanted to open up the six-month window and leave it that."

Merrill Lynch declined comment on its plans. Critics questioned whether such an incentive — even a redesigned building, instead of a tax break — is a sound one for Merrill Lynch, which currently has office space in a building just west of ground zero.

"Should this all go through, they'll decide to move across the street," said Bettina Damiani, project director at Good Jobs New York, a government watchdog group.

She said many companies prioritize transportation options and the location of their labor force over incentives like those the city and state offers.

"To give away the fiscal store to companies for the short-term, press-release hit ... shouldn't be at the expense of the city's fiscal future," she said.

Robert Lieber, the city's deputy mayor for economic development, said the city isn't offering greater incentives than it has previously to big corporations downtown. The real estate market downtown has largely stabilized, he said.

He said the less-developed far West Side poses different challenges for potential tenants. "You don't have the infrastructure, you don't have the transportation," he said. "The incentives out there are different and are more significant."

Wylde said creative incentives may be needed in this economic climate, saying developers need a few months to see what major lease is signed next.

"The next six months is going to be a continued period of significant uncertainty," she said. "Then people will make commitments ... or we're going to sort of have to rethink everything."

[Dac150]

I'm nervous that we'll be seeing a new face for Tower 3. I love that Rogers design.

[aluminum]

I have a feeling that the design is going to become even more awesome. I know this is stupid, but is there any chance of WTC3's roof going higher than the 417m mark as its a 3msf tower now, for comparison Freedom Tower's 2.6msf.

[CHAPINM1]

Originally Posted by aluminum

I have a feeling that the design is going to become even more awesome. I know this is stupid, but is there any chance of WTC3's roof going higher than the 417m mark as its a 3msf tower now, for comparison Freedom Tower's 2.6msf.

Since Tower 3 may be in the same neighborhood as Towers 1 and 2, these may end up being the Triple Towers...

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by aluminum

I have a feeling that the design is going to become even more awesome. I know this is stupid, but is there any chance of WTC3's roof going higher than the 417m mark as its a 3msf tower now, for comparison Freedom Tower's 2.6msf.

That was the talk last year when Silverstein first had Rogers design a larger version for Merrill, but then Merrill had its own financial problems, and put any talk of a move on hold. Now they are back, and most likely negotiating with Silverstein on one of Rogers' larger versions, with Merrill having more input now.

Merrill is considering a move to what would be a 3 million square foot skyscraper at the northwest corner of Cortlandt and Church Streets. A tower that size would allow Merrill to consolidate 10,000 employees now at 2 and 4 World Financial Center and 222 Broadway. Merrill would prefer to own the building, rather than lease it from Mr. Silverstein, who would nevertheless build it.

Merrill Lynch’s lease at the World Financial Center, across West Street from ground zero, expires in 2013.

The timing and location would be perfect. I guess if Merrill does decide to move here, this one would be known as the Merrill Lynch tower.

[NYguy]

wtcrising.com

[NYguy]

As we await Merrill's final decision, a blast from the past (last fall)

[NYguy]

Video has some good images of blasting at the Tower 3 site...
http://www.vimeo.com/1240056


http://www.nysun.com/new-york/ground...ut-time/80814/

Ground Zero Redevelopment Progresses, Without Time Line

By PETER KIEFER
June 26, 2008

A highly anticipated progress report on construction at ground zero is expected to focus on a scaled-back redesign of the PATH transit hub, demolition of the Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St., and difficulties involving work on the no. 1 subway line, according to sources familiar with the report.

To be presented at a board meeting of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Monday, the report will not include something that had been sought by Governor Paterson: a detailed construction schedule with time lines for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site.

A construction official involved in the project said there was no purpose in the Port Authority providing unrealistic dates, especially with so many structural questions still unanswered.

"The problem isn't the time, the problem is that the various stakeholders have created this incredible jigsaw puzzle," the source said. "The problem is that people have been delivering dates on their own agenda and not on what needs to get done."

Construction delays at the World Trade Center redevelopment project, which includes five new office towers, a memorial museum, a park, a performing arts center, and a transit hub, have bridged the governorships of Mr. Paterson, Eliot Spitzer, and George Pataki.

On Monday, Christopher Ward, who was appointed executive director of the Port Authority by Mr. Paterson in May, is expected to ask for an extension to sort out stakeholder accountability and gain insight on more than 20 unanswered policy, engineering, and design questions facing the reconstruction. A complete assessment will likely be delivered to Mr. Paterson by the end of summer or early fall, according to sources.

During a reporter's visit to ground zero yesterday, contractors working for the developer Silverstein Properties were busy blasting rock and clearing part of the site to pour concrete for the foundation of towers 3 and 4, office buildings that are scheduled to rise along Church Street. Adjacent to that site, workers for the Port Authority were clearing soil, readying portions of the "eastern bathtub" to prepare for a handover to Mr. Silverstein. The Port Authority recently said it would not be able to make a contractually set deadline of June 30 to hand over of part of the site to Silverstein Properties.

On the northwest corner of the site, some below-ground levels of the Freedom Tower are now visible, and dozens of workers were hauling materials while two cranes were working to push more of that building above street level. Thick steel beams that will support the 1,776-foot-tall Freedom Tower could be seen rising from the foundation.

Anticipation surrounding Monday's meeting has been building since Mr. Paterson asked Mr. Ward for a comprehensive assessment of schedules and budgets for construction at the World Trade Center site to be presented no later than June 30.

"Unrealistic deadlines were set forth years ago," the president of local Community Board 1, Julie Menin, said in an interview. "There was press conference after press conference about how Lower Manhattan would be built stronger than ever. And people just didn't question all of those deadlines."

The most recent failure was announced earlier this month, when the Port Authority acknowledged that it would not be able to meet a June 30 deadline to complete excavation work and hand over the east bathtub, where Tower 2 is set to rise, to Silverstein Properties.

As a penalty, the Port Authority will have to pay $300,000 a day, beginning July 1, until it turns over the fully completed bathtub, which will not occur until sometime in August.

[NYguy]

lowermanhattan.info



Silverstein Properties continues work on the future sites of Tower 3 and Tower 4. Date: 6/12/2008




Installation of mini-piles continues around the 1 train box (right side of photo), which runs through the WTC site along Greenwich Street.




Silverstein’s Tower 3 Construction Director Sean Johnson leads group around site.




In some areas of the site excavation is deeper to prepare the site for tower footings and utilites as shown here.




As the site is excavated, blasting is required to remove soil and rock. The blasting site is covered with a mat made of recycled tires.




The tire mats weigh 6,000lbs.




The rock drill, drills the hole for the explosive.




Blast field for soil and rock excavation.




Tower 3 and Tower 4 site preparation.

[Scruffy]

no news. If Merril backs out of another project, aside from them losing credibility, it would be a blow to the whole site to have delayed for them just to walk away.

Here's hoping they do the right thing. Everyone wins if they do. they get a brand new state of the art tower that will house the whole company. Silverstein gets paid off by Merril who wants to buy their new home and he then has tons of capital to invest in 2 or 4 or in any other project in the city he wants. the WTC gets an A class brand name tenant that will undoubtably lead a stampede of other tenants to the towers. brookfield then gets to lease out the old space Merril had occupied at the a higher market rate. with the WTC at that time nearing completion, downtown rates will skyrocket and Brookfield will make out like madmen. who loses here?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Scruffy

no news. If Merril backs out of another project, aside from them losing credibility, it would be a blow to the whole site to have delayed for them just to walk away.

There's always that possibility. But I'm confident in the WTC being successful either way. We've still got at least 4 years before anyone can move in, and the reality is once people actually see these towers rising, they'll feel more secure about the WTC project as a whole. It will be Downtown's best address. It will have transit, shops, restaurants, public spaces, etc. It will be the key to Downtown in more ways than one.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by NYguy

wtcrising.com

Thank you for posting this, and the explanations . A good use of old tires.

[NYC4Life]

Love the 2 shrouded staircases to the left and right. Must be a sight coming up or down those flights of stairs.

[Ghost]

Pics from wtcrising.com:

[NYC4Life]

A site to behold. The tremendous amount of work that still lies ahead is simply astounding. It almost looks impossible but progress is well on its way.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Ghost

Pics from wtcrising.com:

[/IMG]

Like watching work on the Freedom Tower foundation all over again.