The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, offered Larry Silverstein commitments to fill 1 million square feet of office space with government leases and the rights to rebuild three lucrative towers on the site in exchange for concessions that could fund the memorial, state and city officials said.The latest plan was crafted after negotiations between Gov. Corzine of New Jersey, Gov. Pataki of New York, and Mayor Bloomberg.
``I think it's a fair and appropriate offer, and I hope that he takes it,'' Gov. George Pataki said.
Silverstein officials didn't immediately comment on the proposal, which was delivered Wednesday evening.
The Port Authority presented the offer after weeks of negotiations with officials from New York and New Jersey -- which control the agency -- and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
City and state officials said they agreed to commit more than $3 billion in tax-exempt bonds to build out the trade center site and would give Silverstein the option of developing retail space at all five planned towers.
The Port Authority would build two of the five skyscrapers, including the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, the symbolic replacement for the twin towers. The Freedom Tower has been seen by business leaders as the most difficult to rent because of its proposed location far from a transit hub and its potential as a terrorist target.
Instead of moving into the Freedom Tower, the Port Authority and city agencies would agree to move into one of the towers that Silverstein would develop, while seeking commitment from the federal government to move into the Freedom Tower, officials said.
If Mr. Silverstein accepts it, the officials said a deal would signal a major realignment at ground zero, clearing the way for construction to begin on the $2 billion Freedom Tower, the biggest, costliest and most symbolic skyscraper planned for the site. That, in turn, could restore public confidence in the project and allay fears that the money will run out before the work is finished.The NY Post frames it somewhat differently:
For Governor Pataki in particular, who is leaving office and may harbor presidential ambitions, a deal could put an end to the embarrassing squabble over a project to which he has tied his legacy, the Freedom Tower.
Details of the plan were described by officials from the city, both New Jersey and New York State, and the Port Authority. They included Mr. Ringler and Mr. Coscia from the authority; John P. Cahill, Mr. Pataki's chief of staff, who now oversees Lower Manhattan redevelopment; and Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff. They insisted that the proposal was fair to Mr. Silverstein, who will retain the right to build three office towers on the most valuable parcels, though on a strict timetable. The Bloomberg administration and the Port Authority are also offering to lease 1.2 million square feet in the buildings.
The ball was tossed into Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein's court yesterday with a new proposal that would give him a single, $250 million tower and $50 million in cash in exchange for his surrendering the lion's share of the site.Tower 5 is where the existing Deutsche Bank building is currently situated.
The drastically scaled-back role for Silverstein is one of two options presented to the developer last night by Port Authority officials.
The offer to Silverstein was worked out by Gov. Pataki, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and Mayor Bloomberg after weeks of talks.
Under the option that would trim Silverstein's role, he would be given the right to build only the 57-story Tower 5 a block south of the main World Trade Center site, and he would get $50 million in cash.
The Port Authority would take over development of the remaining four towers at the World Trade Center, including the Freedom Tower.
The option is available to Silverstein if he doesn't accept new terms to rebuild the majority of the site.
"The reason that option is in there is to be as fair as possible to Larry," said PA Chairman Anthony Coscia.
"It's an easier financial option if he chooses not to take the more complicated build-out of the entire site," Coscia added.
Coscia said he wants the deal wrapped up by the authority's September board meeting.
Under a second option, Silverstein could retain his role as Ground Zero developer if he accepts the Port Authority proposal for reworking his lease at the site in a package that would leave him with three towers on Church Street.
For what it's worth, Team Twin Towers is still trying to petition to get its own design involved in the process. There doesn't seem like any chance of that happening, but there is one quote from their email that made a lot of sense and should be heeded by those involved in the process:
Austin Tobin, a man who personally sacrificed a great deal to raise the Twin Towers the first time, would often invoke the words of Daniel Burnham, the architect who built New York's Flatiron Building, when trying to build support for the World Trade Center: "Make no small plans -- for they have no power to stir the blood." Those words echo the core principle of the Alliance: "Dream no small dreams" for they have no power to stir the human heart. Small plans and small dreams have no place at Ground Zero. That is what this is all about.UPDATE:
According to CBS Channel 2, Larry Silverstein responds that he's going to take the necessary time to analyze the proposals. The first proposal would have Silverstein building only two of the five towers at the site and develop the Freedom Tower for the Port Authority. The PA would build everything else. The other would simply have Silverstein develop the Deutsche Bank building - that's it. Sure, there's a bunch of money involved as a consolation prize, but neither plan strikes me as a good deal for Silverstein. He's the one with the lease for developing on Ground Zero. The Deutsche Bank building isn't even part of the original 16 acres of the site. It also sounds like the Port Authority's plans hew more closely to those of Bloomberg and Corzine than to Pataki's original idea for the site. After all, it was intended to have Silverstein develop Pataki's preferred master plan - the Libeskind plan, which set forth the schedules and tower locations. That certainly appears to be the effect of Pataki exiting stage left in November. He needs something to be done, and needs Bloomberg and Corzine on board to make it happen.
And it's Silverstein's real estate interests at Ground Zero that are going to get tossed aside.
Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center, spitzer, silverstein.
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