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

[pattali]

Maybe some good news for Silverstein and WTC2/3 :

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091202/us_nm/us_worldtradecenter_bonds_1

[westmc9th]

Originally Posted by NYguy

http://www.observer.com/2009/real-estate/silverstein-wants-26-b-wtc-bonds-what

Silverstein Wants $2.6 B. in WTC Bonds—But for What?




By Eliot Brown
November 18, 2009

Anyone paging through the end of The Times' business section Wednesday might have noticed an unusual legal notice nestled in between the commercial real estate classifieds and a bank ad (a reader had to point it out to us):

NEW YORK LIBERTY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Notice of Public Hearing

World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein, it seems, is eager to issue the $2.6 billion in tax-free bonds he was pledged to rebuild office towers at the site. The reason: the triple tax-exempt bonds meant to spur downtown development, dubbed "Liberty Bonds" in classic post-September 11 style, are slated to expire at the end of the year. The Port Authority, which has its own set of bonds, has been trying to get Congress to extend the expiration date. (The hearing, scheduled for Dec. 3 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, would authorize final issuance of the bonds.)

So just what does Mr. Silverstein plan to do with the $2.6 billion he'd raise from the bonds?

The economic crisis and a lengthy stalemate have made this crucial question unanswerable, as the choices range from building nothing, to building one tower or building two (the Richard Rogers-designed Tower 3 is assumed to be kaput, at least for the next few years).

While these public hearings on bonds are rarely thrilling spectacle, one does wonder just what will be said about the unknown, given that the state board, the Liberty Development Corporation, is giving its final stamp on bonds worth hundreds of millions in tax savings.

To recap, here's some background:

For at least the past year, Mr. Silverstein has been locked in a negotiation-turned-dispute-turned-legal fight over the site's future. Unable to build the three towers he once committed to build (they relied on significant private financing, which is near-impossible, particularly with no private tenants to speak of), he is battling the Port Authority over his obligations.

Back in the spring and summer, the Port Authority, which owns the site, offered to back financing on one of Mr. Silverstein's towers; Mr. Silverstein demanded the backing of two, saying the agency owed him because of its lengthy delays.

Stalemate ensued.

Mr. Silverstein and the Port began a lengthy arbitration process at the end of the summer, consisting of a panel of three arbitrators who ultimately will make some sort of decision on the dispute between the two, though they can be as narrow or broad as they choose.

Settled in the former design studio on the 10th floor of Mr. Silverstein's 7 World Trade Center, the panel heard day after day of testimony from those involved with the site, and a decision of some sort is expected before the end of 2009.

But even once that decision comes, few expect the arbitrators to prescribe a solution over dates that resolves all the outstanding issues . By the current contract under dispute, Mr. Silverstein must complete all three of his towers within the next five years.

AND TREMENDOUS NEWS HE GOT HI MONRY ALL 2.6 BILLION OF IT IF YOU CHECK OUT THE ARTICLE ^^^^. this is amazing

[NYguy]

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5B161620091202

NY agency OKs tax-free debt for World Trade Center

Wed Dec 2, 2009
(Reuters)


A $2.6 billion tax-free bond sale for World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein was approved on Wednesday by a state economic agency though the rebuilding of the shattered complex remains stalled.

The Liberty Development Corporation plans to issue the debt for the developer via Goldman Sachs in the last two weeks of December, a spokeswoman for the umbrella agency, the Empire State Development Corporation, said by telephone.

Following its "common practice," the board approved Silverstein's Liberty bonds one day before holding a public hearing on the offering, she said.

"In case there is a large amount of public testimony, then the board is asked to meet again to review the testimony and the board will deny or affirm the sale," the spokeswoman said.

Bettina Damiani, project director for Good Jobs New York, an advocacy group, criticized the state agency for not waiting until after the public had a chance to comment.

"For the corporation to approve the bonds before a public hearing is the height of hypocrisy," she said.

The agency acted on the same day that the state Legislature approved a bill to rein in public authorities, the state's so-called "shadow government," which have $140 billion of debt outstanding.

Liberty bonds were part of the $21 billion of aid Congress approved to help the city get back on its feet after the September 11, 2001, air attacks that killed thousands and destroyed the World Trade Center.

But rebuilding the World Trade Center complex is years behind schedule. Meanwhile, the developer, Silverstein, and the lead agency, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, have submitted their latest clash over financing and plans to an arbitrator.

Silverstein, who will have to repay the Liberty bonds, also qualifies for $700 million of this debt to be issued by the Port Authority. The Liberty bond program expires this year and the authority has said it wants Congress to extend it for another year.

A Silverstein spokesman declined comment.

A Port Authority spokesman was not immediately available to comment.

[NYguy]

http://www.bondbuyer.com/issues/118_231/liberty-bonds-world-trade-center-1004549-1.html

Liberty Bonds by Christmas?
N.Y. Agency Plans $2.6 Billion Deal

Thursday, December 3, 2009
By Ted Phillips


The Liberty Development Corp. plans to market $2.59 billion of tax-exempt Liberty Bonds before Christmas for development at the World Trade Center site in order to meet a year-end deadline.

The bonds will be sold to partially finance construction of three office towers with 6.2 million square feet of office space that Silverstein Properties Inc. plans to build on the site.

Due to delays and legal wrangling at the site, the bond proceeds will be put into escrow because the proceeds can’t be used right away for construction.

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Congress created the Liberty Bond program, which authorized $8 billion of private-activity bonds to revitalize Lower Manhattan. The program, which was extended once before, expires on Dec. 31. New York City and New York State officials have sought an extension of the program through Congress, but with no guarantee that an extension would happen, the LDC, which is a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corp., decided to meet the deadline.

The LDC plans to market the bonds the week of either Dec. 14 or Dec. 21. The bonds are still subject to a public hearing and require approval from Gov. David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, which is expected.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. is underwriter. Winston & Strawn LLP is bond counsel.

Silverstein, which holds a lease to the site, is in arbitration proceedings with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the site’s owner. The developer has sought greater public financial support for the office towers due to the delays at the site and the economic downturn, but the Port Authority and Paterson were unwilling to give Larry Silverstein, the company’s owner, everything he wanted. Closing arguments in the arbitration are scheduled for this month.

The Port Authority was allocated $700 million of Liberty Bonds to be issued by the New York City Industrial Development Agency for the development of the Freedom Tower, but it is unlikely that those bonds will be issued by the end of the year.

Spokesman Steve Coleman said the authority wants to get an extension on the Liberty Bonds and would not comment on the “hypothetical situation” of issuing the bonds before the end of the year.

[scalziand]

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET

[rich_200]

It's about time for some good news

[Zapatan]

[NYguy]

Make no mistake, these towers will be as impressive as the Freedom Tower...

[Bucktown718]

^^^Who designed this picture? Tower 2 and 3 look almost as same height as freedom tower, dont they will look a little shorter than on this picture?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Bucktown718

^^^Who designed this picture? Tower 2 and 3 look almost as same height as freedom tower, dont they will look a little shorter than on this picture?

Tower 2 is virtually the same height as the Freedom Tower (minus the crown and the spire). The spires of Tower 3 are about a hundred foot shorter, but slightly more in the forefront. Still, the T3 spires could appear a little shorter in the rendering. It's a rendering from dbox btw.

[Dac150]

Looks pretty accurate to me.

[Bucktown718]

Thnx to NYGUY to confirming about the height so thats dope we going to have some super skyscrapers pretty soon. i only wish that they will build something taller than Empire State Building in Midtown

[meh_cd]

Originally Posted by NYguy

Tower 2 is virtually the same height as the Freedom Tower (minus the crown and the spire). The spires of Tower 3 are about a hundred foot shorter, but slightly more in the forefront. Still, the T3 spires could appear a little shorter in the rendering. It's a rendering from dbox btw.

Here's the render in question in case anyone hasn't seen the entire thing:



This render really sold me on Tower 3.

[NYC4Life]

Behold Lower Manhattan's future skyline. Amazing even from a rendering's perspective. Keep our fingers crossed over the next several weeks as arbitration decision looms.

[Wheelingman04]

The Port Authority is trying to kill the old man and the government acts like it has no money even though we continue the wars and escalation in Afghanistan along with other totally stupid shit. This is a place that is far more worthy of money than almost anywhere. I was in those towers friggin 2 months before that shit happened so that has fucked me up for life. I need to see this stuff built so there is some sense of fullfillment at least aesthetically that I can take away from the tragedy.

[CoolCzech]

Originally Posted by Wheelingman04

The Port Authority is trying to kill the old man and the government acts like it has no money even though we continue the wars and escalation in Afghanistan along with other totally stupid shit.

I have to totally agree that as long as they are looting trillions from our children's future, it's beyond me why they can't throw a few billion at the World Trade Center site.

[NewYorker2009]

Originally Posted by Wheelingman04

The Port Authority is trying to kill the old man and the government acts like it has no money even though we continue the wars and escalation in Afghanistan along with other totally stupid shit. This is a place that is far more worthy of money than almost anywhere. I was in those towers friggin 2 months before that shit happened so that has fucked me up for life. I need to see this stuff built so there is some sense of fullfillment at least aesthetically that I can take away from the tragedy.

You have a point there. Right after 9/11 all the government tried to do is cover their ass saying they couldn't have imagined an attack like 9/11 but that's a bunch of bullshit because they were well aware of the hijackers and failed to take action. They could have at least funded the New World Trade Center Complex but no the government spends billions to rebuild Iraq like who gives a fuck about Iraq, what happened to serving for America. What about America's needs. Oh that's right, it's up to the tax payers to generate money to the government. The worst terrorist attack happened here and the government should have helped rebuild but that will never happen so forget about it.

[CoolCzech]

Originally Posted by NewYorker2009

You have a point there. Right after 9/11 all the government tried to do is cover their ass saying they couldn't have imagined an attack like 9/11 but that's a bunch of bullshit because they were well aware of the hijackers and failed to take action. They could have at least funded the New World Trade Center Complex but no the government spends billions to rebuild Iraq like who gives a fuck about Iraq, what happened to serving for America. What about America's needs. Oh that's right, it's up to the tax payers to generate money to the government. The worst terrorist attack happened here and the government should have helped rebuild but that will never happen so forget about it.

Why not? Ain't the WTC the ultimate "shovel ready project?"

[NewYorker2009]

Originally Posted by CoolCzech

Why not? Ain't the WTC the ultimate "shovel ready project?"

Good question, perhaps you should ask the government why they haven't helped in rebuilding the World Trade Center. The answer is because they just don't care. They didn't care enough to do a full investigation into 9/11 if it meant exposing their numerous mistakes. If not help in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, the government should have funded the 9/11 Memorial but they don't care about the lives lost. When Bush was in power all he cared about was Iraq and fixing up Iraq meanwhile it took a great toll on America. Basically I'm trying to say people in the government are selfish bastards and don't care about the American people, that pretty much sums it up.

[NYguy]

Well, the government has pumped some money into rebuilding the site. Unfortunately, most of it is going to developments like the PATH terminal and other transit related structures. The Liberty Bonds were also supposed to help WTC rebuilding, but instead helped towers like the Goldman Sachs and Bank of America headquarters get built.