"It's been implied that we aren't in any hurry to get this done," he during a Crain's New York conference in Manhattan yesterday. "Retail spending is going elsewhere, which stunts downtown's growth. That is unacceptable."

Ringler did not say what kind of retail the Port Authority or its consultant Jones Lang LaSalle are pursuing for the site or what firms could possibly develop the shops. But he did explain, in part, what the retail space would look like. Between towers 3 and 4, the retail will be in an enclosed pedestrian galleria, similar to the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center. The first phase of the World Trade Center site will have 200,000 sf of retail and the entire project could contain as much as one-million sf, Ringler said.

Virginia Pittarelli, executive managing director at Madison HGCD, told GlobeSt.com, "We need at least one, if not two, major department stores to really an anchor to what would be built down there." Nordstrom and Target are two possible tenants without a Manhattan presence that could be a good fit, she said. Other stores she mentioned as favorable potential tenants were the Esprit, the Gap concepts, Home Depot, Lowe's and Whole Foods. "You've got to fill all categories at all price points," she said.