Developer would replace all WTC space
From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN New York Bureau
Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Posted: 2245 GMT ( 6:45 AM HKT)


NEW YORK (CNN) -- Larry Silverstein, the developer who leased the World Trade Center six weeks before it was destroyed September 11, 2001, plans to replace all 10 million square feet of commercial space with five buildings over the next decade.

Silverstein outlined the ambitious rebuilding schedule in a rare public speech Tuesday to the Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York, raising questions over who has the upper hand -- him or the architect chosen after a public design competition.

Silverstein said he would be the primary builder of the 1,776-foot signature tower envisioned by architect Daniel Libeskind, whose site plan was chosen in February by officials led by Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Silverstein referred to the plan as "the site plan that Dan Libeskind developed for us."

It was chosen by a city-state agency, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., jointly controlled by Bloomberg and Pataki.

Pataki wants to break ground on the Libeskind tower, dubbed the Freedom Tower, in the summer of 2004. Its steel frame could be completed by September 2006 and the building ready for occupancy in 2008.

After that, Silverstein said, he plans to build four more buildings -- one every year -- "to the extent the demand is there."

There are currently 12 million square feet of vacant commercial space in Lower Manhattan.

"If demand falls off, then we'll slow that pace. If demand accelerates, we will increase that pace," he said.

The second building would be completed in 2009 and the last in 2012, under his plan.

"By '08, we will have completed the world's tallest tower at the Trade Center site, the Freedom Tower. It will support two and half million square feet, it will be first-class office space," Silverstein said.

Libeskind's revised design for his skyline-restoring tower has 70 occupied floors with a restaurant and an observatory above, plus an antenna for TV stations.

Silverstein has already signed a memorandum of understanding with 11 stations to construct the broadcast mast, which would strengthen television signals to 700,000 metropolitan households without cable or satellite TV hookups.

The Libeskind plan allocates 4.5 acres for a memorial and envisions a commemorative museum, a modern transit hub, a performing arts center and shopping space.

But Silverstein, who hired his own architects to develop a rebuilding plan, told reporters it "has not yet been determined" whether Libeskind would design the Freedom Tower.

"I would assume it will not look completely different," Silverstein said.

Silverstein said he would announce this summer a team of architects to design the rest of the buildings he wants.

"Those architects will respect the site plan as defined by Dan Libeskind. And clearly, when we're when we're finished the 16-acre site will reflect what Dan's vision is for the site," Silverstein said.

The site's owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has signed a multimillion-dollar contract with Libeskind's firm, which opened a New York office last month.

Neither the Port Authority nor the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. has signed a rebuilding deal with Silverstein, but each agency has said it respects his legal rights.

Silverstein said he talks several times a week to Libeskind. The architect could not be reached for comment.

"Daniel Libeskind's vision for the site, born out of an unprecedented public process, will be realized," said Matt Higgins, LMDC's chief operating officer, adding the architect "will be meaningfully involved" in the design of the main tower.

Silverstein hopes to collect $7 billion from 20 insurers he is suing; they want to pay him half that amount.

The insurance dispute stems from Silverstein's view that the crashes of the two hijacked planes, nearly 20 minutes apart, into the two 110-story twin towers, which collapsed independently, were two separate events entitling him to collect more disaster proceeds.

A trial judge's ruling against that view is due to be argued in a federal appeals court next month.

Besides the potential capital, Silverstein has a contractual right as the leaseholder to rebuild.

Silverstein already is rebuilding a 1.7 million-square-foot office tower just north of the 16-acre site, where his 52-story 7 World Trade Center previously stood.

The replacement building is due to be completed in two and a half years, but no tenants have been signed.

"We have zero commitments for 7 because it is too early," Silverstein said.