3 WTC

Three World Trade Center is close to being topped off — 73 stories shorter than initially planned. Crain’s reported that if developer Larry Silverstein, president of Silverstein Properties, cannot find an office tenant for the planned 80-story tower by the end of the year, he’ll cap it off at seven stories and seek retail tenants to fill the structure.

After talks with UBS broke off Silverstein has not come close to finding a tenant, Crain’s said, but if one is found in time, Silverstein will resume construction as planned on 3 WTC with slight delays to the expected 2015 completion date. [more]

From left: Kara and Stephen Ross at a benefit for the Everglades Foundation at the Breakers in Palm Beach; Larry and Klara Silverstein, with their daughter Lisa and son-in-law Tal Kerret, at the New York Philharmonic (credit: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg News)

From the December issue: The holiday season is upon us, and New York’s society scenesters are busy with glittering galas and luncheons. Real estate moguls are no strangers to these events, and clusters of the industry’s biggest players can be seen at almost every party.

“People from the real estate world really do make a splash,” said Amanda Gordon, the social columnist for Bloomberg News. “The business is all about relationships, so they thrive at events where they can develop relationships that may bear fruit later, or celebrate those [relationships] that have worked out really well for them.” [more]

SL Green Realty CEO Marc Holliday was this year’s real estate honoree at National Jewish Health’s 43rd annual New York fundraising event, held Saturday night at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Midtown. The event consistently draws a strong real estate presence, as it was founded by developer Larry Silverstein, and this year proved no exception. Many big names in the industry were among the 1,271 attendees, mostly real estate-related professionals, that helped raise more than $3 million for the newly created Holliday Memorial Fund for Lung Cancer Research at NJH. — Marc Becker [more]

After more than 50 years of investing almost entirely within the confines of New York City, Larry Silverstein has signed on to a $666 million venture to buy and develop properties in Poland, Bloomberg News reported.

The developer of new towers at the World Trade Center site has teamed up with Poland’s richest man, Jan Kulczyk, for the project. The duo made their joint purchase in August, buying an eight-story Warsaw office building, Bloomberg said, and is currently in talks to build several new towers in the Polish city.

Kulczyk has “done everything, but one thing he hasn’t done much of is real estate development,” Silverstein said. [more]

Starwood Capital is raising money for a new investment fund, CEO Barry Sternlicht said yesterday at NYU Schack’s capital markets conference at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and may also choose to sell a key portfolio as the government discourages the fund from leveraging its assets (see photos from the day-long event above).

“We want to leverage the portfolio and the government doesn’t want us to,” he said. “We’re going to have to sell it because it’s stupid to own it unleveraged. Our leverage levels are less than 30 percent. It’s crazy.”

Starwood previously raised $2.8 billion through two funds in 2010 — the Starwood Global Opportunity Fund VIII, which raised more than $1.8 billion, and the Starwood Capital Global Hospitality Fund II, which raised $965 million, The Real Deal previously reported. [more]

As the new executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, Patrick Foye made pushing through financing to complete construction at 4 World Trade Center his first priority, the New York Post reported, and that was instrumental in getting the deal done last week.

With financing running dry for the completion of the tower, Silverstein Properties President Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority had been working for the better part of a year on issuing tax-exempt Liberty Bonds to fund the construction work. [more]

From left: Silverstein Properties President Larry Silverstein and a rendering of 4 World Trade CenterSilverstein Properties President Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey are finally set to issue the $1.3 billion in tax-free bonds needed to fund continued construction of the World Trade Center next month, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Silverstein Properties has been running low on cash for the completion of 4 World Trade Center, which currently stands at 56 stories and is slated for 72 stories. The developers had originally planned on issuing the bonds last December, but reneged as interest rates on municipal bonds rose and the cost grew too high.
[more]

From left: Silverstein Properties President Larry Silverstein and a rendering of 4 World Trade CenterThe previously reported deal for the city’s Human Resources Administration to take more than half of a million square feet at 4 World Trade Center could be upended by a private-sector tenant, according to the New York Post.

The developer of the 2.2 million-square-foot building, Silverstein Properties President Larry Silverstein, had previously said that if a private tenant takes the space the city’s commitment “may not be necessary.” He and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which owns the site, would prefer private tenants to fill the space, in part because they would pay more. The HRA lease starts at $56.50 per foot for its 582,000-square-foot space, about $10 to $15 less than tenants have paid in recent deals for space in nearby 7 World Trade Center. [more]

The New York City Human Resources Administration will be moving its staff into 4 World Trade Center in early 2015, GlobeSt. reported. The HRA will take 582,000 square feet on floors 22 to 35 in the 2.3 million-square-foot tower, making it the second largest government tenant there. The agency will be moving out of its current three locations at 180 Water Street, 2 Washington Street and 250 Church Street, according to Connie Ress, deputy commissioner for communications and marketing at HRA.

Those three current locations total approximately 700,000 square feet, and about 3,000 employees will be making the move. [more]

When Larry Silverstein was asked to lend some of his time to be the featured guest at a B’nai B’rith real estate luncheon event held yesterday he was happy to oblige, and even agreed to pay for lunch, he told an audience of about 70 at the event in 7 World Trade Center. The developer said the organization has done extraordinary work in its more than 100 years of existence.

The animated, charasmatic and joyful impressario of Silverstein Properties stood behind a sleekly designed transparent lecturn, near 12-foot windows overlooking the development site, and talked for nearly 40 minutes about what he’s called his most important project –the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.

He imparted two themes of New York development he’s learned in his 55-year career: Don’t bet against New York — it always comes back and strongly, and, referring to the built-on-spec 7 WTC, if you build it they will come. – Marc Becker
[more]