Tuesday, January 24, 2006

The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 88

A Chinese real estate company is leasing the top five floors of the newly completed 7 WTC, and is the largest deal on the building thus far.
The preliminary lease agreement for the China Center is the third and largest at the building rebuilt by World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein after it collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001. The 52-story tower had no signed tenants until last month, and has leased a total of 60,000 square feet to Ameriprise Financial and the New York Academy of Sciences.

It is set to open for business in April, the same month that groundbreaking is scheduled on the Freedom Tower at the trade center site. The Freedom Tower has no signed tenants.
That too will change as businesses evaluate their options and see the buildings as an attractive and reasonable alternative to construction in midtown.

Here's a good overview of the work expected to commence this year at Ground Zero. This is just the start of what should be a very hectic and busy construction schedule. While there has been construction at Ground Zero, this spring will mark the start of construction on the permanent replacements to the WTC complex. There will be additional demolition and construction outside the immediate vicinity of Ground Zero as the Deutsche Bank building begins the slow deconstruction process, the Goldman Sachs headquarters building gets underway to the immediate northwest, but the imposing hulk of the badly damaged Fiterman Hall remains an impediment to further development.

The New York Executive Budget includes $80 million for the Snohetta-designed cultural center, which was at the heart of the Drawing Center/IFC kerfuffle.

The initial phases of construction will focus on the foundations, mechanical spaces, the memorial spaces, and the transit facilities that wound their way through the site.

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