WATCH: Mary Ann Tighe on the Oculus’ $4B price tag, getting tenants Downtown

CBRE tri-state CEO Mary Ann Tighe joined The Real Deal’s Hiten Samtani for a sit-down interview at TRD Studio, where the pair discussed Lower Manhattan’s transformation since Sept. 11, 2001, and whether the growing World Trade Center complex can compete with Manhattan West and Hudson Yards — or what Tighe described as “virgin territory.”

“There was nothing here but rail, open rail cut,” Tighe said. “People came as tourists to Hudson Yards and Manhattan West, because they didn’t know what to expect. “So, again, when you got here, you were appropriately dazzled.”

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Tighe also addressed the struggling World Trade Center mall, and why she thinks the Oculus transit hub — which cost $4.2 billion to complete — isn’t a “big waste of money.”

“It’s a place where 12 subway lines come together, plus the PATH train, and it’s an active shopping mall that generates significant rent every year for the Port Authority,” Tighe said. “To me, the Oculus has already produced value up the kazoo.”

Check out the above video, and be sure to watch the full interview here.