MESSAGE
| DATE | 2006-05-09 |
| FROM | From: "RUL@"
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] [nyc.politics] WTC Rebuilding #433:Silverstein Accepts Official Offer...
|
On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 15:57:26 +0000, Obwon wrote:
>
> le-at-main.put.com
>
> It's been quite a while since I sent out two list-emails in
> one day, but Cecil Shepherd just sent me a copy of this
> advance NY Times article (it refers to events this
> afternoon,expect a revised version in tomorrow's
> print edition) where Silverstein accepts the offer,
> subject to various things working out that may yet
> not work out.
>
> And yes,reporter Bagli couldn't resist sticking in his
> line about the FT being "widely regarded as too big"
> ...PLEASE send letters-at-nytimes.com letters attacking
> the FT for being too small!
>
> (stay under 150 words,include not-for-press postal
> address and phone #)
>
> In the hours since I wrote last,the Twin Towers Alliance
> signature count has grown to 1341 and the long-secret
> identity of the Van Wagner billboard client has been
> privately obtained and a new pro-rebuilding plan has
> been circulated...we ARE not idle,we MUST NOT be idle...
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 18:45:20 -0400
> From: Cecil Shepherd
> Subject: Developer to Accept 'Economic Terms'
> of World Trade Center Deal
>
> April 25, 2006
>
> By CHARLES V. BAGLI
>
> Larry A. Silverstein said today that he was accepting the
> economic terms of a new deal at ground zero, which reduces
> his overall role but still allows him to build three
> skyscrapers on the most valuable parcels on the 16-acre
> site, ending nearly five months of struggle over the future
> of the trade center site.
>
> "This is a fair deal," Mr. Silverstein said at a news
> conference this afternoon. "I trust that Governor Pataki,
> Governor Corzine, Mayor Bloomberg and the Port Authority
> will move quickly to finalize this agreement and move
> forward with the rebuilding."
>
> He added: "Make no mistake, we have made real concessions.
> This is about moving the rebuilding forward as quickly as
> possible."
>
> The deal, if it is ultimately approved by all sides, would
> also end the uncertainty that downtown executives say has
> hampered the resurgence of Lower Manhattan, while clearing
> the way for construction to start on the Freedom Tower.
>
> But the turmoil at ground zero will not disappear.
> Rebuilding officials expect that the focus will now shift
> from commercial development at ground zero to the troubled
> memorial project. Consultants are expected to deliver a
> report in the next week showing that the cost of the
> memorial and a museum has swelled to as much as $800 million
> from $500 million. Fund-raising has been sluggish at best.
>
> Under the new agreement, Mr. Silverstein, who leased the
> World Trade Center site from the Port Authority six weeks
> before it was destroyed in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,
> would cede responsibility for building the Freedom Tower,
> the largest, most symbolic and troubled skyscraper planned
> for the site, to the authority.
>
> Despite its symbolic role, the Freedom Tower was widely
> regarded as too big, located in the wrong spot, and unlikely
> to be attractive to corporate tenants, who view the building
> as a target.
>
> The deal is an attempt to put the project on a viable
> financial footing. The state has pledged to contribute $250
> million and round up 1 million square feet of leases, most
> likely to federal agencies. The tower would also get about
> $970 million in insurance proceeds toward an estimated cost
> of $2 billion.
>
> For the 74-year-old developer, the deal is a capitulation.
> Mr. Silverstein has long insisted that he has both the right
> and the ability to develop the entire ground zero site. The
> new arrangement recognizes that he does not have enough
> money to do the $7 billion job and, Mayor Michael R.
> Bloomberg argued, that he could have defaulted on his lease,
> walking away with millions and an unfinished project.
>
> Officials from the Pataki, Corzine and Bloomberg
> administrations have said the plan amounts to a blueprint
> for rebuilding the entire 16-acre World Trade Center site by
> 2012, with the Port Authority providing $100 million for the
> Sept. 11 memorial.
>
> The unified plan was put together and proposed last week by
> Gov. George E. Pataki, Gov. Jon S. Corzine and Mayor
> Bloomberg after nearly three weeks of wary negotiations.
>
> The latest impasse arose with the groundbreaking for the
> Freedom Tower, which had been planned for this month. There
> was also a growing realization that there was not enough
> money to rebuild the entire site, although Mr. Silverstein
> insisted that he could do the job.
>
> Mr. Pataki had championed the Freedom Tower, the largest of
> five proposed towers, as a way of restoring New York's
> skyline with a symbol of resilience.
>
> Mr. Bloomberg raised the possibility that Mr. Silverstein
> would build only two towers before running out of money in
> 2009, defaulting on his lease and walking away from the
> project with hundreds of millions of dollars. Better to deal
> with the problem now, he said.
>
> Under the unified government plan proposed last week, the
> Port Authority would take control of the Freedom Tower
> project, using $1.7 billion in tax-free Liberty Bonds and
> about $970 million in insurance money. Mr. Silverstein would
> be paid to build it. The Pataki administration would provide
> $250 million and has pledged to secure leases for about one
> million square feet from federal agencies, which would
> enable the authority to obtain additional financing. Mr.
> Schumer said last night that federal customs officials were
> interested in a large block of the space.
>
> The authority would also take control of a site on Greenwich
> Street, which it would probably sell to a residential
> developer.
>
> Mr. Silverstein, in turn, would develop three office towers
> along Church Street, between Vesey and Liberty Streets. To
> ensure that he builds quickly, the city and the Port
> Authority are offering to lease 1.2 million square feet at
> market rates, according to Anthony R. Coscia, chairman of
> the Port Authority, and Kenneth J. Ringler, the authority's
> executive director, and the city would provide Liberty Bonds
> for financing. But his development fee would be restricted
> to 2.5 percent, not the 5 percent he originally demanded.
>
> In the coming months, the authority would design plans with
> Mr. Silverstein for a shopping mall that would be part of
> two of his towers, then sell it to him and a retail
> developer. In addition, Mr. Silverstein would be required to
> adhere to strict construction schedules and contribute at
> least $140 million toward the cost of common infrastructure.
>
>
> Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
>
>
> ---------- End forwarded message ----------
>
> Fight their spin...fight for what's right!
>
> -=-=-
> The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
> at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.
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