NEW YORK | 200 Greenwich - 2 WTC | 1,270 FT | 80 FLOORS | ON HOLD

[Xing Lin]

Originally Posted by NYguy

Nice! Thanks.

Originally Posted by ChiND

Your work is amazing as always, Xing! The latest version is gorgeous, though it looks better from the north, south, and east than from the west.

Originally Posted by SamLYNY

When looking at the brilliant renders by Xing Lin I can see 1 and 2 WTC looking quite striking together with the current 2WTC silhouette, especially from certain angles... so I'm a fan!

I can't get enough of your work Xing!

Thanks so much for the kind words guys!

Originally Posted by Music guy

I feel over time we've grown a bit numb to this site's challenges and extraordinary complexities. Let's face it, its easy to judge. This is arguably the most complex construction site on the planet.

New York Guy, thanks for the remarkable photos. They were a reminder of how much has already been achieved.

This was very well put -- the 2WTC foundations that we see are just the visible part of the huge, interconnected underground workings that span the entire site. Unless the diamonds design is revived against all odds, whatever rises here will have some very interesting engineering at its lower levels to accomodate the PATH terminal superstructures.

A look back at how the proposals stood in 2007, 2016, and currently:



Photo source



Photo source

[O-tacular]

Seeing the comparisons I actually prefer the new version. I like the tree alcoves.

[ChiND]

Originally Posted by HyperPower

When/ if AMEX makes the move you can almost guarantee there's going to be changes to the design just like JP Morgan's Tower in midtown they're going to want to tinker with their toy

I agree.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by The New York Lion

This is amazing news. This is the first time we've had confirmation that Larry and AMEX are actually in talks.

The last time Larry spoke like this, he had FOX on the hook.

I suspect AMEX will anchor this tower and it will be completed before the 30th anniversary of 9/11.

Damn. This made me feel old! How has it taken almost 3 decades so far to get tower 2 built? Crazy!

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Music guy

I feel over time we've grown a bit numb to this site's challenges and extraordinary complexities. Let's face it, its easy to judge. This is arguably the most complex construction site on the planet. And though the buildings may not be masterpieces, each strives to honor in its individual way - perhaps with a bit too much value engineering - the fallen complex and the loved ones lost.

Originally Posted by Xing Lin

This was very well put -- the 2WTC foundations that we see are just the visible part of the huge, interconnected underground workings that span the entire site. Unless the diamonds design is revived against all odds, whatever rises here will have some very interesting engineering at its lower levels to accomodate the PATH terminal superstructures.

As we approach the 9/11 anniversary, we are now in our second generation of people growing up who never saw the original WTC complex, or weren't around to witness the horrors of that day. It's often forgotten how we got to be where we are now, or what that site - called "ground zero" for so many years - looked like in the interim. Many battles were fought just to get to the point we're at now. The foundations of this tower have been built, and whatever design rises here will rise from that.

But another look back, using some of those old Joel Woolhead photos, to get a sense of where we are.



The footprint of Tower 2 as it was originally expected to be built...













Interesting steel work in the lower levels...


















Steel above street level...Greenwich Street entranceway can be seen in the next 2 photos...

[ChiND]

[QUOTE=NYguy;10267000]As we approach the 9/11 anniversary, we are now in our second generation of people growing up who never saw the original WTC complex, or weren't around to witness the horrors of that day. It's often forgotten how we got to be where we are now, or what that site - called "ground zero" for so many years - looked like in the interim. Many battles were fought just to get to the point we're at now. The foundations of this tower have been built, and whatever design rises here will rise from that. [Quote]

That’s true.

[SamLYNY]

I know it's an unusual kind of post, but I threw together a gif simply to demonstrate how much impact I think this will actually have on the skyline. I actually found it a bit moving.

Sorry the image quality is so poor, I took the original image from Google street view, at one of my favorite vantage points in the city - Victory Blvd & Louis St, over on Staten Island. I tried to match the colour and detail of the original, so apologies for the fuzziness - I was going for realism!

In another thread (270 Park), there was brief discussion on what makes a building 'city defining', and in this case I think 2 WTC really does redefine the skyline and the character of the city when stood next to its older sibling.



Original image credit: Google

The completion of this iteration of 2 WTC could stand as a poignant moment for many New Yorkers. From certain vantage points, like this one, the silhouette of the new tower will echo the iconic presence of the original World Trade Center, and for those who remember, these views might bring on a bittersweet feeling. It's a reminder of what was lost, but also of how far the city has come.

I hope one day this building rises, and if so, I know that when people drive down this street, the view will be a reminder that while the world has changed, the spirit of New York City remains unbroken.

[NYguy]

^ It'll definitely beefen up the WTC spot on the skyline, as it should.



SEPTEMBER 2, 2024


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Perhaps someone can put a rendering of 2 WTC in this pic

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[Michagain]

Can't wait until something like this appears — the contemporary "Gotham" pinnacled skyline, where buildings pile up as a cathedraled mountain. A whole different drama than what the foreboding twin towers embodied. (I know, 2 WTC is just one building but it adds perfect bulk, especially where 1 WTC appears most tapered.)

Man, I wish there was a full-size rendering of this by Lin. I scavenged around but didn't find one.

Originally Posted by SamLYNY

Photo credit: Bill Benzon, render by Xing Lin

[SamLYNY]

^Here's a link to the full-size (1920x1381 px) render. Its over on the NY YIMBY.

Another quick edit of the view from Washington Sq Park:

[RobEss]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is how most NYC residents (not including us weirdos who care too much about tall buildings) already see 2WTC as a fait accompli - in so many people's minds the Foster-designed tower may as well already be built.

I've seen the tower (completed within the complex) depicted everywhere from children's pop-up books to pizza boxes. I've seen it rendered in the skylines that adorn the windows of laundromats and tailors. It's basically already ubiquitous.

So, I'm curious - what do you suppose the general public reaction would be if this pseudo-fixture of a building was replaced with a different design?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by RobEss

I've seen the tower (completed within the complex) depicted everywhere from children's pop-up books to pizza boxes. I've seen it rendered in the skylines that adorn the windows of laundromats and tailors. It's basically already ubiquitous.

So, I'm curious - what do you suppose the general public reaction would be if this pseudo-fixture of a building was replaced with a different design?

I don't think it's the general public, so much as it is the rendering that became the familiar rendering of the new WTC complex. It was years before BIG's version came out, and even that didn't last long.

[ChiND]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...2-world-trade/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/silve...110000482.html

It looks like 2 WTC will finally rise!!!

[BuildThemTaller]

Originally Posted by ChiND

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...2-world-trade/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/silve...110000482.html

It looks like 2 WTC will finally rise!!!

Seems premature to celebrate considering this is only reporting that negotiations are underway

[The New York Lion]

Originally Posted by ChiND

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...2-world-trade/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/silve...110000482.html

It looks like 2 WTC will finally rise!!!

OMG!

I am sobbing!

[NYguy]

^ Even though we already knew this, it's particularly nice news coming on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary.



https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...2-world-trade/

Silverstein, Amex in talks to build 2 World Trade Center tower
Financial firm would anchor skyscraper, making long-awaited skyscraper feasible





Sep 5, 2024
By Lois Weiss

The financial services firm is in an exclusive negotiating period with Silverstein and could decide as soon as this month whether to move forward with the 93-year-old developer. Silverstein has been trying for most of this century to secure an anchor tenant, which he needs to get a loan to build the tower.

American Express could also choose another Manhattan trophy project or renovate its current home at 200 Vesey Street — a 54-story building previously known as 3 World Financial Center where it owns and occupies the top portion.

“It’s their decision to make,” said a source familiar with the talks with Silverstein. “They are weighing the expense of a brand new, state-of-the-art office building, but a decision could be made in the next couple of weeks — or they could extend the time.”

Although American Express faces no deadline to leave its headquarters, Silverstein “wants [2 World Trade Center] done yesterday and wants it started in his lifetime,” said a source familiar with his thinking.

American Express hired Cushman & Wakefield two years ago to explore a relocation or renovation, as The Real Deal first reported. “Silverstein must be drooling,” an insider noted at the time, referring to the developer’s desire to get 2 World Trade Center going. “It would be the best site for Amex because the employees are already used to the area.”

The tower, along with the closer-to-fruition 5 World Trade Center, would be the last major piece of the World Trade Center redevelopment, which has been a career-defining mission for Silverstein. Six weeks before the Twin Towers were destroyed on 9/11, the longtime landlord signed a 99-year ground lease with the Port Authority for the site.

Silverstein in 2021 tapped architect Norman Foster to replace Bjarke Ingels as 2 World Trade Center’s designer, six years after hiring Ingels to replace Foster.

But the project could be larger or smaller than the Foster rendering that was leaked in 2022.

“You can build as much as you can finance — there is a lot of flexibility in the square footage,” a source said. A tower could be 3 million square feet or more.

Silverstein has been close to finding a primary occupant before. He had hired the Bjarke Ingels Group to redesign the building to suit media giant News Corp., which later backed out over costs. Citigroup was also close at one point, a source said, but turned tail after a bad quarter. Jane Street Capital was in the mix more recently but not anymore, sources told TRD

Once News Corp. dropped out, Silverstein brought back Foster + Partners, which had sketched out an initial replacement with four angled diamond tops. This time, Silverstein told Lord Norman Foster to design a building that “worked for anyone” and maximized outdoor space.

Foster came up with a plan for an all-electric building that could be sculpted to fit a tenant’s needs. The trade center gets discounted power from the state and there are no taxes on corporate build-outs.

Amex, which owns half of the building it calls home, has been Downtown since 1858. In 1982, while headquartered at 125 Broad Street, it announced it would lease space at Olympia & York’s future World Financial Center. It would be part of the new Battery Park City, created with landfill left over from the construction of the World Trade Center.

The next year, Amex decided it wanted to own its new headquarters and cut a complicated deal with Olympia & York. It bought the ground lease from Battery Park City for what was to become the 2.5 million-square-foot 3 World Financial Center.

American Express, which also has offices uptown at Rudin’s 345 Park Avenue, has a myriad of choices besides 2 World Trade, although not all have enough future expansion capabilities.

Related Companies is shopping the 1.2 million-square-foot 70 Hudson Yards plus 2 million square feet of offices in its planned western rail yards towers. Joseph Moinian and Boston Properties are still pitching the 1.85-million-square-foot 3 Hudson Boulevard.

Tishman Speyer is planning a 1 million square-foot-plus 99 Hudson Boulevard, while further east in that corridor Vornado has plans for a 2.7-million-square-foot 15 Penn.

RXR and TF Cornerstone are also wooing tenants for the 3-million-square-foot 175 Park Avenue adjacent to Grand Central Terminal that will have 2.1 million square feet of offices.

Amex wants to own its space, one source said, but how much of any tower it would own and the ownership structure remain to be determined.

[Zapatan]

Sounds like it's not a done deal yet but nice to hear.

I guess it has to be noticeably taller than 3WTC in order to maintain the spiral. That lessens my fear of a drastic height reduction.

[The New York Lion]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

Sounds like it's not a done deal yet but nice to hear.

I guess it has to be noticeably taller than 3WTC in order to maintain the spiral. That lessens my fear of a drastic height reduction.

I highly doubt there'd be a drastic height reduction.

It's all about the square footage- foregoing the maximum allowable would be like burning money. As we've seen with the rest of the campus, the World Trade Center is a premier global destination for companies of all types and the buildings fill up quickly.

3-3.5 million square feet will fill up quickly once it gets a large tenant like AmEx to kickstart it.

[chris08876]

Finding out by the end of the month is a nice deal. At this point, something needs to rise. Even if there was a 300 ft cut just for the sake of concept... if it rises... more the merrier. Better than a capped hole in the ground.

Long term will be key. Others will come. Hopefully no major alterations are in the works.

[Zapatan]

Originally Posted by chris08876

Finding out by the end of the month is a nice deal. At this point, something needs to rise. Even if there was a 300 ft cut just for the sake of concept... if it rises... more the merrier. Better than a capped hole in the ground.

300ft would put it lower than 3WTC, that's a pretty drastic reduction.

I would be happy with 12-1250 feet for this one.


I'll celebrate when it's official anyway, not yet.