The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 62

In the past week, reports have surfaced over growing problems between the Port Authority and Larry Silverstein over funding the construction of Towers 2, 3, and 4 along Church and Greenwich Streets, and hinting at delays in the full buildout of those towers for perhaps two decades.

Many of the critics, including some at the Port Authority, claim that the delay in building out the Ground Zero office space is because of the current real estate market troubles. Yet, Lower Manhattan has one of the strongest real estate markets in the country despite the trouble:

Downtown Manhattan today is the strongest office market in the United States in terms of vacancy rate, according to data to be released today by real-estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

Stronger than Midtown. Stronger than cities like Chicago and Los Angeles that are widely, but mistakenly, believed to be better insulated from ongoing financial shocks.

But those financially reluctant or philosophically opposed to rebuilding a new World Trade Center not only refuse (like the churchmen in Brecht's "Life of Galileo," who insisted that the sun revolved around the Earth) to "look through the telescope" -- they won't even take a walk around the neighborhood.

In fact, the Port Authority is reporting that the full site wont be built out until 2037.

This is unacceptable. It shouldn't take 36 years to rebuild the towers at Ground Zero and force Lower Manhattan to endure 36 years of construction at site so central to Lower Manhattan. It was once a hub of commerce and vitality, and with the bustling community of Battery Park City to its immediate West, it would remain a gaping hole in life in Lower Manhattan for years to come if the Port Authority has its way.

In fact, the lower costs for office space in Lower Manhattan is a reason to build out the space. Lowering the prices of quality office space even further would serve to entice businesses to come to Manhattan to do business, including many that might not have considered such a move just a few short years because of the prohibitive leasing costs. Now, that the prices have leveled off or dropped in many cases, the leasing of office space in Manhattan means that deals can be had for Class A space.

This is an opportunity for economic development and growth. You don't just build an office building for the here and now, but but decades to come. Failing to build out the World Trade Center now is a folly of epic proportions and is a failure of imagination and will.

All the nattering nabobs contemplated that 7WTC, built by Larry Silverstein in three years, would be a white elephant and unable to be leased for years on end. It's now pushing past 75% leased, and additional commitments are pending. That's even as the current market troubles and credit markets have roiled the local economy and put the futures of financial companies in doubt.

That follows a similar complaints about the original WTC and even the Empire State Building, which were seen as a white elephant when completed and took years (or decades) to be fully occupied.

The city, the state, and the Port Authority owe it to New Yorkers, and particularly the memories of those murdered on 9/11 to not let this drag out for decades to come. It's absolutely inexcusable.

Keep in mind that the NY Jets and Giants are building a new stadium that will open next year and the Mets and Yankees both built new stadiums in under three years. There is absolutely no reason that it should take decades to build new towers at Ground Zero.

It's a lack of will that is keeping the site from being built out as currently imagined.

UPDATE:
On a good news front, it appears that the Cordtland Street station adjacent to the WTC may reopen by December. It was closed after 9/11, but may reopen to R/W Northbound commuters. The 1 train station at the WTC will remain closed as it is wholly within the WTC construction zone. The R/W station was closed to permit construction of the Dey Street connector with the Fulton Street Transit Hub, which itself is seriously behind schedule and over budget.