Contrary to skeptics’ warnings, the effort to rebuild the World Trade Center did not go massively over budget.
The total cost of the redevelopment, over a decade in the making, will come in at the low end of the $14.8 billion-to-$15.8 billion estimate made in 2012, according to Steve Plate, head of major capital projects at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The new WTC’s steel-winged, Santiago Calatrava-designed transit hub, called the Oculus – which will open the first week of March – will have a final cost between $3.7 billion and $3.99 billion, equal to the 2012 estimate, which was commissioned by the Authority’s board amid widespread criticism of cost overruns at the Downtown project, Bloomberg reported.
The 365,000-square-foot Oculus will connect 11 subway lines, the PATH train, several bus lines and ferries. It will serve about 200,000 passengers, about a third of the number served by Penn Station.
“We had an obligation to do something special,” Plate said, according to Bloomberg. “We did it very prudently and intentionally to give the best quality, the best product and the best structure that we could provide to the city of New York. And we’re very proud to report that we feel very strongly that that mission has been accomplished.” [Bloomberg] – Ariel Stulberg