The WTC Connector

The World Trade Center connector between the PATH transit station and Brookfield Place (former WFC).

The steel supports for the head-house over the escalators leading to the connector from Brookfield Place

The connector looking towards PATH. Eventually, this area will be lined with shops and be incorporated into the larger Westfield mall under construction around the PATH transit hub and between and around the memorial/museum and skyscrapers on the site.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 160

Westfield Properties envisions opening up its retail center in 2015 after signing new agreements with the Port Authority.

After years of negotiation, Westfield (WDC.AX) last week signed a deal with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for a $1.25 billion joint venture to lease the retail space at the World Trade Center.

Westfield, one of the world's biggest mall owners, said the first retailers for the redeveloped site could be announced by the first half of 2013, with an opening date set for March 2015.

Potential tenants of the rebuilt World Trade Center got a peak at what the new shopping area may look like during a trade conference in Las Vegas on Monday.

Westfield Co-Chief Executive Peter Lowy said 352,000 sq feet of shopping would be spread over three above-ground levels and two below ground.

Westfield is also entitled to operate another 90,000 sq feet of retail space among the 8.8 million sq feet of office space under construction.

Lowy said Westfield planned to be selective about possible tenants.

"We're going to do something that no one can imagine," Lowy told Reuters during the International Council of Shopping Centers annual convention, or RECon.

The mall would include space related to the PATH Transit Hub and the lower levels of 2, 3, and 4 WTC. One should note that before its destruction on 9/11, the WTC mall was one of the most profitable in the world on a per square footage basis, and there's no reason to think that the new retail center would not be successful.

In fact, neighboring Battery Park City's Brookfield Properties is renovating its Winter Garden and retail options to compete with the expected World Trade Center offerings.

Meanwhile, there's still a kerfuffle over where Fritz Koenig's The Sphere should be relocated. It has to be moved out of Battery Park City because of construction at the temporary location, and it should be relocated to the WTC Memorial, but the Memorial officials claim that there's no room for it. I find that preposterous considering that they could make room at any number of places on the site. It deserves to be relocated back at the site and it is a very visible reminder of the attacks as one of the enduring symbols to be recovered.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 157

The Freedom Tower is nearing its ultimate height of 105 stories (more than 1,300 feet) before the spire is constructed to top the structure out at its symbolic 1,776 feet.

The building is creeping towards edging out the Empire State Building as the tallest in New York City within the next couple of weeks, but it is the spire that will push the building to the top of the heap as tallest in North America (ahead of the Willis (Sears) Tower in Chicago).

There have been incalculable challenges in rebuilding at Ground Zero, not the least of which is the ongoing battles between the Port Authority and Silverstein Properties, and Tishman Construction has been caught in the middle on more than a few of those issues. This article highlights some of the issues and how Tishman has ended up playing mediator between the parties to get things built. The article focuses mostly on the towers (Freedom/1WTC, 3WTC, and the Transit hub).

That kind of glosses over the fact that the Port Authority continues to be obstinate over construction costs associated with completing the National 9/11 Museum, which was supposed to be completed this fall, but now appears to be heading towards a mid 2013 completion date as work has completely stalled.

It also ignores the fact that the Port Authority, despite being squeezed to find ways to cut costs, refused to bend on limiting costs at the PATH Transit hub, despite the fact that the $2.2 billion costs have soared to $3.8 billion and the extra costs are doing nothing to add capacity. At a time when we should be looking to maximize funds to add capacity, the Port Authority has opted to go with a plan that does not make fiscal sense. At least with office buildings, the Port Authority can recoup the costs over time with higher rents. The same can't be said with a transit hub, though some will point out that the more attractive the hub is, the more rent can be collected from the associated retail rentals that will operate throughout the complex.

Meanwhile, Westfield Properties, which operates the Garden State Plaza and owns the rights to the retail space at the World Trade Center, is selling eight of its properties to fund the World Trade Center construction/buildout costs.

Westfield, one of the world's biggest shopping centre operators, said it would dispose of the eight "non-core" malls in Illinois, New England, California, Ohio and Florida as part of strategic reshuffling plans.

"The proceeds from the transactions will initially pay down corporate debt and then be redeployed in higher return development opportunities in the US, including the World Trade Center," said Westfield co-chief Peter Lowy.

"We have previously flagged the potential divestment of non-core assets in the US and this transaction is an important step in the repositioning of our portfolio to major retail assets with strong retail characteristics," he added in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

Starwood Capital Group, a Connecticut-based private equity firm, would take a majority stake in seven of the shopping centres and "manage and control" the assets. Westfield would retain a 10-percent stake.

The eighth centre, Eastland in California's West Covina, would be "sold in a separate transaction", the retailer said.

The remodelled World Trade Center, which is to include a memorial and museum to the September 11 attacks, will feature 550,000 square feet of retail space due to open in 2015.

New York's Port Authority in February cleared Westfield to take a US$612.5 million 50-percent stake in developing, leasing and operating the site's retail and dining space.

That makes sense considering that prior to 9/11, the WTC mall was one of the most profitable retail centers in the world on a per-square foot basis.

Meanwhile, as the tower comes upon the height of the former Twin Towers, some people are starting to put 1WTC into its context - critiquing it as it gains its final form and moves away from the abstract models that have preceded it for the past 5+ years. This critique is particularly interesting because it notes that when seen from afar, 1WTC does refill the Lower Manhattan skyline - something that had been absent since the towers fell. It does capture the heft and gravity of the former towers, though it lacks its twin (but some will further note that when seen from some vantages in Brooklyn that Gehry's 8 Spruce Street residential building gives Lower Manhattan its twin towers appearance.

That would not include the yet-to-be-completed 2 and 3 WTC, each of which would top out at over 1,000 feet, and would raise the height of skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan surrounding 1WTC. 1WTC would be the tallest of the crowd, but for now, it is a singular achievement.

It is also notable that the upper portion of the tower very much matches the renderings provided by SOM; the lower portion is something of a mystery since the original glass cladding had to be scrapped when it didn't pass muster for security purposes. The cladding for the bottom of the tower has yet to be revealed.

When it does, I'll be around to report on it.

The Rebuilding of Ground Zero, Part 143

Construction continues throughout Ground Zero, including the 9/11 Memorial and Museum complex. In the past week, various components of the museum were installed in the underground museum, including a damaged fire truck, and a cross of steel recovered from Ground Zero that was later displayed at a nearby church.

The installation of the cross has resulted in a lawsuit by American Atheists, a nonprofit group based in New Jersey, claiming that the cross was impermissible under state and federal Constitutional law:

But the move quickly provoked a lawsuit from American Atheists, a nonprofit group based in New Jersey. It argued that because the cross is a religious symbol of Christianity and the museum is partly government financed and is on government property, the cross’s inclusion in the museum violates the United States Constitution and state civil rights law. The lawsuit, in turn, provoked the ire of the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative public interest law firm, as well as others.

Now, the dispute over the “World Trade Center cross” is becoming the latest in a string of heated conflicts over how to memorialize the Sept. 11 attacks. It comes less than two months before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and in the wake of a feverish debate over the construction of an Islamic cultural center and mosque within blocks of the trade center site.

Marc D. Stern, who is the associate general counsel of the American Jewish Committee and has long studied church-state issues, said the lawsuit presented “an extra-difficult case.”

“It’s a significant part of the story of the reaction to the attack, and that is a secular piece of history,” he said. “It’s also very clear from the repeated blessing of the cross, and the way believers speak about the cross, that it has intense present religious meaning to many people. And both of those narratives about this cross are correct.”

Ira C. Lupu, a professor at the George Washington University Law School and an authority on faith and the law, described the lawsuit as “plausible.” The outcome, he said, could depend on how the beam was displayed when the museum opened.

Context is everything here. The steel was a rallying point and a measure of comfort for those who saw it in the wake of the attacks and it has a religious significance. How those concepts are expressed and how the artifact is displayed will determine the outcome.

Of course, this suit is the last thing that the cash strapped Museum needs right now. It needs funds to ensure that the site opens on schedule and that the museum can operate going forward, both as an educational center and for preserving artifacts in its collection. Considering that the Athiest organization says that they're looking for equal representation, I see room for a negotiated deal before the museum opens to the public.

Meanwhile, news reports indicate that both President Obama and former President Bush will attend ceremonies at Ground Zero to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

Mayor Bloomberg said Friday on his radio show that Obama and Bush would be given pre-selected readings, and that none of the dignitaries would be making speeches.

"This cannot be political," he said.

When Bush was president, he visited the site on anniversaries, but did not participate in the morning ceremony where the names are solemnly read aloud. Obama has also visited at other times, but never for the name-reading ceremony.

Also for the first time, the names of all the people killed at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the field in Shanksville, Pa., will be read aloud. In previous years, just the names of the trade center victims were read.

The ceremony will also include several current and former governors, along with Bloomberg and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

UPDATE:
Westfield has signed a long term deal with the Port Authority to handle the retail site development.

The Port Authority has a tentative deal with mall operator Westfield Properties to bring retail and restaurants to the World Trade Center site, the Journal and Post report. Westfield—an Australia-based company that also operates the concessions at JFK—would pay $612.5 million of the expected $1.55 billion retail construction costs in exchange for a 50 percent stake in the project. (The Port Authority would foot the rest of the bill.)

Yesterday, the Port Authority authorized more contracts for construction in and around Ground Zero, including at the Vehicle Security Center that is located on the site of the former Deutsche Bank building:

• Authorized the award of a construction trade contract to Zwicker Electrical Co. Inc., for electrical, telecommunications, security and fire alarm systems for the World Trade Center Vehicle Security Center.
• Authorized the award of a construction trade contract with Rael Automatic Sprinkler Co., Inc., for a fire protection system for the World Trade Center Vehicle Security Center.
• Authorized the award of a construction trade contract with WDF Inc., for a heating and air conditioning system for the World Trade Center Vehicle Security Center.
• Authorized the award of a construction trade contract with Pace Plumbing Corp., for plumbing for the World Trade Center Vehicle Security Center.
• Authorized the award of a construction trade contract with Skyline Steel Corporation for miscellaneous iron for the World Trade Center Vehicle Security Center.
• Authorized the award of a contract to Berardi Stone Setting Inc., for the pre-purchase, storage and handling of granite pavers and curbs for the World Trade Center Streets Program.
• Authorized the award of a construction trade contract to Delta Sheet Metal Corp. for a ventilation system for the World Trade Center Retail and Parking Pre-Tenant Fit-Out.
• Authorized the award of a construction trade contract to WDF Inc., for a plumbing system for the World Trade Center Retail and Parking Pre-Tenant Fit Out.
• Authorized the award of a construction trade contract to WDF Inc., for a heating and air conditioning system for the World Trade Center Retail and Parking Pre-Tenant Fit Out.
• Authorized the award of a construction trade contract to Rael Automatic Sprinkler Company Inc., for a fire protection system for the World Trade Center Retail and Parking Pre-Tenant Fit Out.
• Authorized an increase of $45.2 million to certain existing World Trade Center contracts to perform design and construction work to support adjacent stakeholder work, permanent power relocation requirements and tenant modifications.

UPDATE:
In a bit of bad news for Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority, UBS has decided against relocating from Connecticut to Ground Zero due to its ongoing reduction in workforce and uncertain business situation. This means that Silverstein will have to look for another major tenant to help fill the buildings he's hoping to construct at Ground Zero.