State Condemns Parcel to Complete New 7 WTC Site

NEW YORK CITY-The state’s powers of eminent domain are being invoked to condemn a strip of city-owned land that will be part of the new 7 World Trade Center site, Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed yesterday. The condemnation would enable Con Ed to build a much-needed new substation and leave enough room for developer Larry Silverstein to build a class A office building on a parcel aligned to the original street grid.

The land in question is situated along the north side of Vesey Street from Washington Street to West Broadway and is 26 ft wide at its widest point. By claiming it for the new 7 WTC, the state, through the Empire State Development Corp., will enable leaseholders Con Ed and Silverstein to proceed with a plan to redevelop the site on a smaller footprint while reinstating the street grid.

Under the design submitted by Silverstein and Con Ed, the new 7 WTC would be bordered by Barclay Street on the north and Washington Street on the west. Its eastern boundary would recreate the former Greenwich Street corridor, which was blocked by the original 7 WTC, and its southern border would be the new northerly line of Vesey Street. Silverstein has hired Tishman Contruction Corp. as well as architecture firms Skidmore, Owings & Merril and Cooper Roberts Simonsen for the project.”These plans open the door for the rebuilding of the Con Ed substations lost in the collapse of World Trade Center 7,” Bloomberg says. “It is important that we proceed with the plans for a new substation, better and more modern than it was before, in order to meet the energy needs of the community as we look towards the rebuilding process.”