September 11

Eleven years ago today the US was attacked and the World Trade Center towers fell. Today the site of Trade Center buildings hosts one of the most sophisticated transit hubs and a commercial office and mixed-use development scheme that rivals any other. I highlight this, not only because it is the anniversary 9/11, but also to celebrate that the renewal and rebirth of the site that is testimony to the resilience, resolve, and extraordinary abilities of our of the US development community. The redevelopment, a technical feat of extraordinary proportions, has been fraught with debate, litigation, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, governmental meddling, and a host of other challenges. However, throughout the process, in partnership with the development-friendly Bloomberg administration, private developers led by Silverstein and corporate owners such as Goldman Sachs who have reinvested in downtown, have produced what not only will be recognized as the greatest memorial to the victims of 9/11, but also a monument to the growing ranks of victims who worked on clearing a site that is now known to have been a brew of deadly carcinogens.

Tony LoPinto is the Global Sector Leader of Korn/Ferry International's Real Estate Practice and founder of SelectLeaders. The views expressed in this article are the author's own.