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 to issuing tax-exempt Liberty Bonds to fund the construction work.
When Silverstein and the Port Authority finally came to an agreement with previous investors and Fidelity Investments to issue $1.23 billion of bonds, Foye helped ensure Governor Andrew Cuomo would sign off on the funding immediately, overriding the 10-day review period he would otherwise have. At the time, Silverstein credited Foye for his work on the deal, which allowed the developers to market the bonds right away — before any more global financial turmoil could temper the demand for the bonds.
“We wanted to minimize risk [in placing the bonds] with all the unrest in the world economy,” Foye said.
Ultimately, the bond offer was oversubscribed 8-1, as the yield of $514 million worth of bonds maturing in 40 years fell .05 percentage points to 5.05 percent, and yields on the debt that matures in 20 years fell 0.1 point to 4.85 percent.
Meanwhile, the Post reported Silverstein is close to refinancing 7 World Trade Center. [Post]