Report: Downtown Could Become Urban Jewel

NEW YORK CITY-Far from putting Lower Manhattan’s future on the back burner amid the financial crisis, the Wall Street meltdown underscores the importance of planning and acting today for Downtown’s future. That’s one of the key messages in “Downtown 2020,” a report issued Tuesday by Baruch College’s Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute.

“To reach its full potential by 2020, Downtown needs investment now, both public and private,” Jack Nyman, director of the institute, tells GlobeSt.com. He says there needs to be investment in Lower Manhattan’s transportation infrastructure and in new residential and commercial space, as well as improving the area’s appearance and functional amenities. The result of carrying out a long-term vision for Downtown could be “one of the nation’s great urban jewels,” according to the report.

“We feel the highest priority is to complete the World Trade Center sites, and given long lead times, we recommend to start building now,” Nyman says. Large-scale commercial projects “can’t be flicked on like a light switch” in response to an upsurge in demand, he adds, but must be built in anticipation of future needs. In fact, the report calls for six million square feet of new office space Downtown above and beyond what the WTC development will produce.