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UPDATE: WTC Deadline Looms

NEW YORK CITY-Today is the deadline set by Gov. Pataki for Silverstein Properties and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to resolve all differences regarding the World Trade Center rebuilding process.

By Barbara Jarvie | Updated on March 13, 2006

NEW YORK CITY-At a press conference announcing that Architect Lord Norman Foster won the commission to design 200 Greenwich St.–the third building constructed at the World Trade Center–State Gov. George Pataki said Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had a 90-day deadline to “resolve differences on every element” regarding the rebuilding effort. “We’re going to keep every option open.” Those 90 days are up today.

“We’re going to come up with a resolution,” WTC leaseholder Larry Silverstein said at the time. He noted that he expected his firm will develop the entire site. He noted that buildings on the site are ideally suited for use by corporate users requiring large amounts of space, as opposed to residential use. “That’s its best and highest use.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg had called on Silverstein to “do the right thing and hand off responsibility for building Towers 3 and 4, in exchange for a reduction of its rent.” In a letter issued by the Silverstein group, officials say that the notion that increased government involvement will speed things up “does not pass the smell test. Construction of towers 3 and 4 cannot begin until the government (specifically, the Port Authority) completes the excavation and construction of the new slurry wall. Government schedules call for completion in mid-2008, and Silverstein has vowed to begin construction immediately thereafter. They also point out that any other developer who came in after would likely proceed more slowly because without insurance proceeds, they would have to borrow more money and raise equity that would require a substantial return on investment.

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