Construction at the WTC memorial

Just two and a half months before the scheduled opening of the Sept. 11 memorial, the project has come to a stalemate in terms of funding, according to NY1. Due to open on Sept. 11, the memorial is facing a $3 million funding gap, which the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says it cannot fill.

Construction fencing, security cameras and a screening area have yet to be completed at the project.
“This is not that someone hasn’t been pulling their weight; it’s rather that the necessary pieces that you need to put in place have grown over time,” said Port Authority Executive Director Christopher Ward. “This is an enormously complex operation, that you’re seeing construction estimates change and grow over time.” [more]

Since the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is tomorrow, The Real Deal decided to post some photos showing recent development at the World Trade Center site taken by photographer Joe Woolhead. The photos cover 1 World Trade Center and Tower Number 4 as well as the delivery of trees to Memorial Plaza. The first 16 trees were transported and planted on the site at the end of last month, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. The mayor noted this week that the memorial plaza portion of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum will be completed next year, by the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, while Christopher Ward, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, said construction of 1 World Trade Center will be done by 2014. Total construction at the site may be finished the same year. TRD

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A minority stake in the planned One World Trade Center is now publicly up for sale, but the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey isn’t in a rush to settle on a partner for its Ground Zero tower. Though the agency has already reached out to an elite group of developers, seeking a minimum bid of $100 million in the 2.6 million-square-foot building, the deal will likely take six to eight months, said Christopher Ward, the agency’s executive director. The investment will help the Port Authority raise cash for the project formerly known as the Freedom Tower, which is scheduled for completion in 2013. The agency is hoping to get even more than the stated $100 million, and wants the winning bidder to take over marketing and leasing at the building, which already has leasing commitments for close to half of the building. “We wanted a number that was high enough for the developer to have skin in the game,” Ward said. Boston Properties, the Related Companies, the Durst real estate family, Hines, Vornado Realty Trust and Brookfield Properties are among those currently identified as interested parties. [Crain’s]

Mass transit dollars need to keep rolling in to keep real estate development in New York City, and the country, moving, according to industry experts. The correlation between the health of mass transit and the long-term condition of surrounding real estate on a local level as well as nationwide was the focus at this morning’s Baruch College panel, “Transformative Infrastructure: Key Decisions on Transportation.” “Transit is a bellwether for urban decay,” said Christopher Boylan, deputy executive director of community affairs at the Metropolitan Transit Authority, pointing to the parallel improvements in transportation and quality of life in New York City since the 1970s. Much like crime and poverty have improved in the city over the decades, Boylan said that the transit system has shown marked progress. “The fact that you can get on the Lexington line and understand the announcement was a wonder eight or nine years ago,” Boylan said. “It’s not anymore.” [more]

World Trade Center site and developer Larry Silverstein

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will turn control of the site for office Tower 2 at the World Trade Center to developer Larry Silverstein in the next few days, Port Authority Director Christopher Ward told the City Council. Once the site has been turned over, the Port Authority will no longer have to pay Silverstein the $300,000 per day it has owed him since it missed a Dec. 31, 2008, completion deadline at the site. But the Port Authority and Silverstein are still in disagreement over the financing of two planned office towers. [more]

Left to right: PA Executive Director Christopher Ward, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Larry Silverstein

Mayor
Michael Bloomberg invited developer Larry Silverstein and executives
from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to meet with him and
other elected officials to discuss the World Trade Center stalemate
next week. Silverstein asked the authority to help finance two of the
towers, and the authority offered to buy back one tower, but its
officials have said that aiding both would stress the agency’s balance
sheet. If there isn’t an agreement, the rebuilding schedule will be
off, and the memorial might not be ready by the 10th anniversary of
Sept. 11, 2001. [more]

The Port Authority dropped Phoenix Constructors to take advantage of
falling construction costs in building the World Trade Center
transportation hub, but the Post says it will be interesting to
see if the authority gets competitive bids low enough to keep the
already over-budget project within its $3.2 billion estimate. The
authority has spent or committed about $1 billion of that sum to jobs
already underway. Christopher Ward, the Port Authority’s executive
director, said the three biggest construction jobs in building the
transportation hub will soon be bid out. The jobs include bringing the
structure up to street level, building the permanent box for the No. 1
subway line, and constructing the above-ground winged “oculus” of the
terminal facade.
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The
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said it won’t help finance
more than one of Larry Silverstein’s three planned office towers at the
World Trade Center site. Christopher Ward, the authority’s executive
director, said financing more than one tower would risk public money at
a time when the leasing outlook appears bleak. Ward said the authority
would be willing to finance one tower and then build portions of the
other two that would allow retail on the site, and when the credit
market improves, Silverstein could seek funding for additional towers.