NEW YORK | 200 Greenwich - 2 WTC | 1,226 FT | 55 FLOORS

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by CoolCzech

I still don't get what the PA's vested interested in impeding the reconstruction of the WTC is... it's Silverstein's project, his risk.

Are they just beholden to other real estate interests?

I posted this in the tower 3 thread...
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04212009/business/cushman_zeroes_in_on_1_wtc_165382.htm?page=0

[CHAPINM1]

If they wait on this one maybe we could see a height increase, they could extend the roof height to 1,362 feet (the same height of the former tower 2 roof) and raising the top of the spire to roughly 1,442 feet. Both towers 1 and 2 would have the same roof heights of the original 1 and 2.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by CHAPINM1

If they wait on this one maybe we could see a height increase, they could extend the roof height to 1,362 feet (the same height of the former tower 2 roof) and raising the top of the spire to roughly 1,442 feet. Both towers 1 and 2 would have the same roof heights of the original 1 and 2.

Not worth the wait for that minor increase in height. Tower 3 is the one that Silverstein flirted with making larger and taller, and the one he would prefer to wait on. It was delayed once before because Silverstein wanted to sign Merrill Lynch to the larger tower.

[Nomadd22]

Isn't #2 the most important one as far as utilities routing for the rest of the site?

[xtpf5240]

is this officialy built or not???

Im lost by the posts here... are they still phased 'proposal'?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Nomadd22

Isn't #2 the most important one as far as utilities routing for the rest of the site?

I don't think so.

[NYguy]

The elephant in the PA's quarterly report...
http://www.panynj.gov/wtcprogress/pdf/1Q2009_Report.pdf

* Turnover of Tower 2/3/4 Sites – Incomplete

On March 26, 2009, the Port Authority turned over the site for Tower 4 to
Silverstein Properties. The sites for Towers 2 and 3 will be turned over in a
matter of months. This milestone is integral and subsumed in the ongoing
Silverstein negotiations.

[NYguy]

Posted on wtc.com (April 23)

[Nomadd22]

It's hard to stop looking at that last picture. The last of the excavation finally underway. It's like the end of a 40 year long dream.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Nomadd22

It's like the end of a 40 year long dream.

It feels like 40 years since this was first proposed...

[NYguy]

http://downtownexpress.com/de_315/fedup.html

...Silver offered to broker an agreement to get the project back on track, but only if the Port agrees to help Silverstein build two of his three office towers, and if Silverstein invests more money in the project. He said the New York and New Jersey governors, who share control of the Port, the mayor, W.T.C. developer Larry Silverstein and Port executive director Chris Ward should all be at the table to resolve the dispute.

Last month, the Port and Silverstein took diametrically opposed positions: Silverstein, which has responsibility for Towers 2, 3 and 4, wanted the Port to help finance Tower 2 and Tower 4, but the Port only wanted to help with Tower 4, where the Port and city have committed to lease 1.2 million square feet of space. Instead of skyscrapers, the Port planned to build short retail podiums along Church St. where Towers 2 and 3 were supposed to rise.

On Friday, Silver demanded for the first time that Silverstein and the Port find a way to build Tower 2 in addition to Tower 4. Tower 2, in the northeast corner of the site, would “complete the circle” formed by One World Trade Center, the Freedom Tower, to the west, and Tower 4 to the south, Silver said.

Silver’s call for Tower 2 put him more in Silverstein’s camp than the Port Authority’s, and he almost sounded like Larry Silverstein as he spoke optimistically of Downtown’s recovery and used Silverstein’s 7 W.T.C. as an example of building for the future.

“What we have to do is be ready for the next boom cycle in the economy,” Silver said. He later told reporters, “We can’t sit around, wait for the economy to improve and then build into what may be the next downturn …by the time we complete it.”

[NYguy]

http://www.globest.com/news/1416_1416/newyork/178829-1.html

Citing the inherent competitive advantages of new office space and forthcoming improvements to Downtown, a study from CB Richard Ellis says Towers 2 and 4 at the World Trade Center will command high rents when completed in the next four to six years. The study was provided to GlobeSt.com by Silverstein Properties Inc., which is developing both towers and also plans a third one at Ground Zero.
"Buildings of high quality in optimal locations benefit more from booms, and suffer less from declines," the report states. "The 25 buildings that commanded the highest rents in 1998 out-performed the rest of Midtown in both up and down markets. The premium is currently 85%. These buildings boast either iconic architecture, new construction or highly efficient space, all of which will be available at WTC."

They’ll also have the benefit of opening after Manhattan’s vacancy rate starts to decline from its projected peak in the first quarter of 2011, according to the report. Based on estimates of office-based employment by Moody’s Economy.com, CBRE forecasts the market’s vacancy rate peaking at 14.3% with a 50% sublease ratio or 17.4% with a 70% sublease ratio. Either way, it will be on a downward trend by the time Tower 4 opens in 2013 and Tower 2 opens in 2015

[scalziand]

Ya'know, 14% isn't all that high a vacancy rate.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by scalziand

Ya'know, 14% isn't all that high a vacancy rate.

Compared to other markets, New Yorks vacancy rate isn't as bad as the media makes it seem. The media likes to go into overdrive on that rate because just a couple of years ago things were so tight. And there are always "looming" layoffs due to the economy. But things will tighten again because there's virtually no new office space being built in Manhattan.

[Derek2k32]

Given the size of Manhattan's office market, a 10% vacancy rate is larger than many cities' entire CBDs.

Last month Midtown alone had 30 million square feet available. That's equivalent to the WTC times 3. A quarter of 7 WTC still remains vacant. It took awhile to absorb space after 9/11 and it will be a slow process again, and it's unlikely the financial industry will be as robust this time around.

It's not The Port Authority's responsibility to finance Silverstein's towers. Using public money to finance uncommitted private office space is irresponsible when there are so many infrastructure projects they need to take care of (and are more important).

When the market begins to tighten, hopefully Silverstein will find tenants and attain financing privately. Isn't that the way it usually works? If Silverstein has such confidence in the market he can cash in some of his many assets and finance it himself.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Derek2k32

It's not The Port Authority's responsibility to finance Silverstein's towers. Using public money to finance uncommitted private office space is irresponsible when there are so many infrastructure projects they need to take care of (and are more important).

Yeah, because Lord knows, we need to spend $4 Billion dollars on a subway station at the WTC - one that's already open and working well...

Please. I'm with Silverstein on this one. He's not asking the PA to pay for anything, and if they had gotten off of their a$$es and gotten these sites prepared years earlier when they should have - [i]before the credit crises hit, these towers could have been well on his way into the sky by now.

Too may people, yourself obviously included, like to mesh this WTC office with the ordinary, which it is not. Everyone hada responsibility, the PA included, to see this site rebuilt as swiftly as possible after those 9/11 attacks. Should it be a priority of the PA or the state? It damn well should have been and it damn well needs to be.

[Indescribable]

After that big announcement is this one still uncertain or a definite no-go?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Indescribable

After that big announcement is this one still uncertain or a definite no-go?

This one is pushing to the forefront again, with Tower 3 taking more of a backseat. There has been no official decision on how far along in construction either will go, that's still to be determined within the next month, assuming all parties can come to an agreement.

[Dac150]

They very well might just build a smaller office tower, one that mirrors perhaps 7 WTC in size, just to in a sense please everyone. If that were to happen I would pretty much consider Fosters design a thing in the past.

Or they could build either 2 or 3 as shown, leaving the odd man out either a smaller tower or retail podium.

At this point I'm open to anything because I have many doubts at this point that we're getting the whole thing as shown. Not that I like that, but sadly its reality. Hopefully though that won't be the case.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Dac150

They very well might just build a smaller office tower, one that mirrors perhaps 7 WTC in size, just to in a sense please everyone. If that were to happen I would pretty much consider Fosters design a thing in the past.

That won't happen. Basically what the PA wants to do is build the retail podiums now - altering Silversteins Tower 3 base in the process - and have Silverstein wait a decade or so to build the office towers. That would mean close to twenty years before completing new WTC office space. That would also mean no new office space Downtown for a couple of decades. But the financial district would have long since died by then, as companies in need of modern office space vacate to (the more espensive) Midtown where undoubtedly new office space will be built.

Silverstein's compromise is to build Tower 2 now (with help from the PA to obtain financing) and worry about obtaining financing on his own for Tower 3 when credit opens up again.