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Originally Posted by worldtrade2021
But 5 WTC was designed by KPF as a mixed use residential and commercial building in February 2021 before the Coalition for an Affordable 5 WTC was formed https://archinect.com/news/article/1...d-trade-center. Why would the architects design it as having residential units in the first place if this was before there was the push for residential space at 5 WTC?
It still seems like it was likely a zoning law or pressure from some politicians that resulted in the architects having 5 WTC include residential units, even though it was not stated outright https://ny.curbed.com/2019/6/26/1875...roposals-cuomo. They had the option of making it a purely commercial development but for some reason they included residential units. Had they not done that, the current debate about how many residential units should be 'affordable' at 5 WTC probably wouldn't even be taking place.
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Architects (in this case KPF) are not the ones who dictate zoning types for land/what is to be built on a plot, they are just designing for what usage/function they are told to design, it's the developers (PANY, Silverstein Properties & Brookfield Properties) that make that decision and even before them it is DOB and the city (and in some cases the state) that determine the initial zoning for sites/districts. The architects have no say in that matter, nor do singular politicians or special interest groups, nor hasslers/protesters.
There seem to be a lot of "confusion" and questioning on why 5 WTC is being developed as mixed use but the answer is right on the official WTC website,
"This proposed mixed-use development is the result of a request-for-proposals (RFP) announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo in June of 2019, seeking a development team to lease or purchase and redevelop Site 5. The RFP was issued jointly by the Port Authority and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC)."
You yourself even linked an article about the RFP, that is the reason it was changed from purely commercial beforehand to mixed use because of the RFP, not anything else. It was the state that set forth the RFP saying developers could build commercial, or residential and Silverstein/Brookfield answered the RFP by choosing to develop it as mixed use.