NEW YORK | 150 Greenwich St. | 977 FT / 297 M | 72 FLOORS

[StarScraperCity]

I can't wait to see this one rise eventually. I like it every bit as much as the others, because it isn't really trying to fight for attention. I love how it's the tower's simplicity that makes it stand out.

[NYguy]

Though work here hasn't been delayed, Silverstein still received a victory over the Port Authority regarding site turnover:

http://panynj.com/AboutthePortAuthority/PressCenter/PressReleases/PressRelease/index.php?id=1169

STATEMENT BY THE PORT AUTHORITY AND SILVERSTEIN PROPERTIES ON ARBITRATION DECISION REGARDING WTC SITE 2 AND 4

Date: December 12, 2008


"The arbitration panel ruled that work must continue on World Trade Center sites 2 and 4 in order to complete the Port Authority’s site turnover obligations, and as a result the panel reinstated liquated damages effective to October 5. In anticipation of this ruling, the Port Authority and Silverstein Properties had already begun working cooperatively to resolve the outstanding issues that remain.

"The arbitration process quickly resolved this dispute, working exactly as intended, and we appreciate the hard work and professionalism of the three-member panel. Both parties remain 100 percent committed to delivering on our shared commitment to rebuild the World Trade Center. We are also pleased that in their ruling the arbitrators recognized the joint cooperation that has and will continue to exist between the Port Authority and Silverstein Properties in resolving the myriad of complex construction issues that have arisen and will inevitably arise as construction moves forward.

"The Port Authority also has informed Silverstein Properties that it will not meet its December 31, 2008 deadline for the final site turnover obligations, which include tracts of land for Towers 2 and 3 that abut the Number 1 subway box and temporary World Trade Center PATH Station. We will work jointly to resolve the issues that will cause this last deadline to be missed."

ARBITRATION DECISION SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

With respect to Site 4, by changing its plan for excavation under and support of the subway box, and by erecting the soldier pile wall, the PA has neither completed the East Bathtub Preparatory Work nor delivered Site 4 in Construction-Ready Condition.

________________________________


With respect to Site 2:

-Caissons. Lack of MTA approval for installation of the caissons prevents Site 2 from being in Construction-Ready Condition.

-Access. SPI's claim of being denied uninterrupted access is rejected under the conditions now prevailing at the site.

-Void. SPI's claim with respect to the void is sustained; the PA is obligated to remove the bracing materials and other construction remnants and to backfill the void.

-Rock bolts. The PA is required to "burn off' the rock-bolt projections in the North Slurry Wall of the East Bathtub.

-Tie backs. The work having been completed, this problem is moot.

-Rock Ledge. For lack of sufficient evidence, the panel does not rule, but instead assumes that if there is a problem the parties will work it out without further assistance from the panel.

-Demobilization. Since that process has now been completed, the issue is moot at this time.


The panel finds and concludes that due to the conditions on the sites as discussed above,

The PA's October 5, 2008 Certification of Final Site Completion for Site 4 did not effectively constitute a final turnover of Site 4.

The PA's October 5, 2008 Certification of Partial Site Completion for Site 2 did not effectively constitute a partial turnover of Site 2.

A certificate of partial completion of Site 2 or of final completion of Site 4 may not properly be issued until the conditions identified in this decision have been cured or otherwise agreed to by the parties.

Liquidated damages owed by the PA to SPI have continued to run since October 5, 2008, and must be paid promptly by the PA, with applicable interest to the date of payment.

As noted above, the PA is charged with paying the fees and expenses of the arbitrators.


Final note.

The panel notes that in developing the design for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center, and in preparing the MDA and its related agreements, the parties have admirably cooperated in facing and resolving many of the conflicts and problems that arose. We commend them in this effort. Now that they are into actual construction, that level of cooperation must not only continue but increase, particularly in communicating with respect to problems as soon as they arise, so that efficient and practical adjustments and solutions can be developed with minimal difficulty.

Through a continued and applied spirit of cooperation throughout the construction process, the PA and SPI should be able to complete as quickly as reasonably possible the entire redevelopment project, not only as a revitalized commercial center for New York City, but also as a symbol for the entire nation of the indomitable American spirit and its determination to rise above and overcome the tragedy of 9/11.

[CHAPINM1]

How's the progress of this one coming? From pictures taken 1 to 2 weeks ago I'd guess that this one should be above street level by possibly March or April!

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by CHAPINM1

How's the progress of this one coming? From pictures taken 1 to 2 weeks ago I'd guess that this one should be above street level by possibly March or April!

I don't remember the exact schedule, but I wouldn't hope for anything before summer, possibly fall.

[NYguy]

Tower 4 hasn't really been delayed, but you know how the media loves those "WTC delay" stories...

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1245855120081212

World Trade Center rebuilding faces new delays

Fri Dec 12, 2008
By Joan Gralla

NEW YORK, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The New York-New Jersey Port Authority will miss another deadline for rebuilding the World Trade Center and must resume paying developer Larry Silverstein $300,000 a day in penalties until it finishes preparing his sites, both parties said on Friday.

Silverstein is building three office towers and the Port Authority is building the 1,776-foot (541-meter) Freedom Tower, which will not be delayed, an agency spokeswoman said.

"The Freedom Tower is on track and is rising," she said. The Freedom Tower, designed to symbolize New York's revival after the Sept. 11 attacks, should open in 2013, four years later than originally planned.

Silverstein's towers, which will encircle the memorial, may now be delayed further though the agency stressed it was cooperating, instead of clashing, with the developer.

"We're still determining any impact, but we're working together to minimize any potential delays," the Port Authority spokeswoman said.

The Port Authority also said it will miss a Dec. 31 deadline for additional site preparation, including tracts of land for two of Silverstein's towers.

These are Tower 2, designed by architect Norman Foster, who topped it with four diamond-shaped towers, and Tower 3, whose facade designed by Richard Rogers features diagonal supports.

After missing a July deadline, the Port Authority later said it had finished preparing some sites, but Silverstein contested the work and arbitrators ruled in his favor.

The ruling reinstated penalties that help offset the $215,000 a day in rent the developer pays the Port Authority.

Disputes about insurance, design, security and the memorial to the nearly 3,000 people who died when the World Trade Center was destroyed have added years to the rebuilding process.

Silverstein and the agency rewrote their contract in 2006, adding deadlines and penalties. The agency missed its first deadline in February and finished that work 48 days late.

In March, New York Gov. David Paterson inherited the project from two predecessors and chose a new overseer to clear logjams.

Arbitrators on Friday ruled the agency failed to finish the part of the anti-flooding support wall and failed to finish site work for Tower 4, which Japan's Fumihiko Maki designed with a metallic mesh to echo Manhattan's Chrysler building.

The agency's effort to speed the work by modifying supports for a subway that runs through the site caused the delay.

Arbitrators also ruled that the Tower 2 site was not ready because the state agency that runs the subway had not approved plans.

The Port Authority wants the U.S. government to extend a 2009 deadline for Liberty Bonds, tax-free debt approved to help fund the project. The credit crunch that has halted many New York City developments makes those bonds especially attractive.

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12162008/business/20_ft__wall_holds_up_tower_4_144446.htm

20-FT. WALL HOLDS UP TOWER 4



December 16, 2008

WHEN the Port Au thority and Larry Silverstein announced last week's arbitration decision involving World Trade Center construction, the big news was the $50 million in penalties the PA must pay Silverstein over delays in turning the sites over.

What matters more to the public, however, is the impact on Tower 4 - the first of three skyscrapers that Silverstein is to build at Ground Zero.

After all, there's still a World Trade Center to rebuild - to some extent irrespective of the financial meltdown and a widely predicted lack of demand for new office space.

Tower 4 is the smallest of the new structures, but it's still a massive, $1 billion-plus project with 64 floors with 1.8 million square feet of office space.

Even ardent enthusiasts of getting all the towers up as soon as possible recognize that the PA and Silverstein might have to recalibrate the time frame for sites 2 and 3.

But the Fumihiko Maki-designed Tower 4 is another story. The PA has committed to leasing one-third of its 1.8 million square feet to use as its headquarters.

Silverstein also has an option "to require" the city to lease 600,000 square feet more.

With so much going for it, New Yorkers expect to see it rising skyward by the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attack.

But a wall the PA put up to shore up the earth beneath the No. 1 train subway line box stands on the western side of the Tower 4 site - causing the arbitrators to say the PA did not deliver the site to Silverstein "in construction-ready condition" by a deadline earlier this year.

Sources familiar with the project say the wall "impedes the footings and foundation" on the Greenwich Street side. Until the PA can get rid of the wall, it will potentially have a serious impact on the tower's completion date.

"The footings and foundation are basically done except for where the wall is," said a source familiar with the project.

"If Silverstein could go full-bore, it would probably be done in 2012. If they dismantle the wall fairly soon - like next spring - they might be able to accelerate things and still make the deadline.

"But if it takes longer, who knows?"

Silverstein reps declined to comment. PA spokesman Steve Sigmund said, "There is ongoing construction on the Tower 4 foundation and the wall is not an impediment to that construction.

"The two portions of the retaining wall that need issues resolved make up about 20 to 25 feet of the approximately 200-foot wall. We are working with Silverstein on how to resolve the issues on these parts of the wall to support the foundation footings."

[NYguy]

http://downtownexpress.com/de_294/panelrules.html

Panel rules Port owes Silverstein millions



The concrete core of Tower 4 is rising, but Silverstein Properties will not be able to install several structural columns until the Port Authority demolishes a wall, visible at the back of this photo.



By Julie Shapiro
December 19-25, 2008

The Port Authority had to pay Silverstein Properties more than $20 million in penalties after failing to deliver pieces of the World Trade Center site.

Independent arbitrators ruled last week that the Port did not correctly prepare the sites for Towers 2 and 4, which the Port was supposed to turn over to Silverstein at the end of last June so Silverstein can build the towers. For every day the sites are late, the Port has to pay Silverstein $300,000.

The Port claimed the sites were ready in October and stopped paying the penalty, but Silverstein objected, pointing to a 200-foot wall sitting in the way of Tower 4’s foundation.

A panel of three arbitrators decided that Silverstein was right and said the Port had to resume paying the daily penalty, plus interest. The Port paid October and November’s penalties and will pay the December penalty at the end of the month, spokesperson Steve Coleman said.

The Port is now working on a plan to dismantle two 25-foot sections of the wall, but Coleman could not give a timeline for that work. The wall shores up part of the No. 1 subway box.

Work on Tower 4 is well underway, with Silverstein pouring the concrete core that will house the elevators and staircases. But Silverstein will not be able to install several of the tower’s structural columns as long as the wall stays in place. The tower is scheduled to open in 2012, but unless the Port gets the wall down soon, that date could slip, a source familiar with the project said.

While the Port contends with the Tower 4 wall, the agency also has to finish up some smaller jobs on the Tower 2 site, the arbitrators ruled. Those include filling a void along Church St., burning off rock-bolt projections and getting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to approve the installation of caissons.

Even once all those jobs are done, the Port will likely still be paying Silverstein $300,000 a day, because the agency is about to miss another deadline. As of Dec. 31, they are supposed to turn over additional pieces of the Tower 2 and Tower 3 sites near the future Greenwich St., where the building lobbies will be, but those sites will not be ready. Coleman would not estimate how long it would take the Port to finish that work.

The Port also missed a deadline at the end of last year to turn parts of the Tower 3 and 4 sites over to Silverstein and paid $14.4 million for the delay. For missing the June deadline, the Port will pay more than $50 million.

That sounds like a windfall for Silverstein, but it barely offsets the rent Silverstein is paying to the Port Authority for the Trade Center land. Silverstein pays the Port $215,726 a day, and the delays will make the towers more expensive for Silverstein to build.

Coleman said the money to pay Silverstein is coming out of the Port’s operating budget. Also, the Port would have paid contractor Phoenix Constructors a $14 million bonus if Phoenix had met the June 30, 2008 deadline, and that saved money will help pay Silverstein, Coleman said.

The Port also had to pay for the arbitration, but Coleman declined to release that figure.

Downtown Express reported earlier this fall that communication had broken down between the Port Authority and Silverstein, but it appears that the arbitration restored a measure of accord.

“Absolutely relations are good from a working perspective,” a source familiar with the discussions told Downtown Express. Compared to previous disputes between the Port and Silverstein, “This was pretty low key,” the source said. “There wasn’t the kind of public recriminations or craziness that used to mark the project.”

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by NYguy

The concrete core of Tower 4 is rising, but Silverstein Properties will not be able to install several structural columns
until the Port Authority demolishes a wall, visible at the back of this photo.

Another look at progress on the site from wtc.com

[GarCastle]

I find it funny how the press makes it sound like the PA is paying a penalty when all it means is that they are crediting Silverstein his lease payments and an additional percentage for lost revenue considering the properties that he is leasing is nothing but a hole in the ground so he cannot make money off leasing it. I doubt Silverstein needs any financial sympathy, but I mean really... his 6-weeks freshly leased properties were destroyed leaving him a hell of a mess for years.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by GarCastle

I find it funny how the press makes it sound like the PA is paying a penalty when all it means is that they are crediting Silverstein his lease payments and an additional percentage for lost revenue...

Yeah, the Port Authority payments get the headlines, but if you read deeper in the articles, it's usually clarified:

the Port will likely still be paying Silverstein $300,000 a day, because the agency is about to miss another deadline......The Port also missed a deadline at the end of last year to turn parts of the Tower 3 and 4 sites over to Silverstein and paid $14.4 million for the delay. For missing the June deadline, the Port will pay more than $50 million.

That sounds like a windfall for Silverstein, but it barely offsets the rent Silverstein is paying to the Port Authority for the Trade Center land. Silverstein pays the Port $215,726 a day, and the delays will make the towers more expensive for Silverstein to build.

[theWatusi]

well great progress on the core anyway

[2-TOWERS]

NY GUY is that an old parking garage in the back

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by 2-TOWERS

NY GUY is that an old parking garage in the back

Probably. The old remnants of the original PATH station have already been removed.


derek7272

[NYguy]

From wtc.com, image from Jan 6th...

[pattali]

I don't understand why vertical rebar are not green epoxy coated for this tower, horizontal rebar are epoxy coated. I understand that green epoxy coated was for foundation near water...

Sweet progress too.

One more thing, 20 feet problematics wall behind is removed ?

[gttx]

I'm not too familiar with the PA, but from what I've read it seems like they're all a bunch of hacks. Can anyone confirm or deny this suspicion?

[NYguy]

^ When it comes to public agencies, the Port Authority is usually one of the better ones. The agency normally gets things done (mostly due to the fact that it's pockets are usually full), despite being run by two different states. The WTC rebuilding had become such a mess because so many stakeholders were, and are involved in the decision making process.

Originally Posted by pattali

One more thing, 20 feet problematics wall behind is removed ?

From all of the photos I've seen, the wall is still there. Although it has been decided that the PA will remove the wall, no particular date has been mentioned.

(wall still visible in the background)

[CSABA8]

What a great progres the last 3-4 weeks ,but it seems like not too many workers on the site.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by CSABA8

What a great progres the last 3-4 weeks ,but it seems like not too many workers on the site.

There are as many as is needed obviously, at this stage in the game.

[2-TOWERS]

great foundation work, . only 1-2 WTC were at bedrock , nice to see all the other buildings all in bedrock.