World Trade Center rebuild clears last hurdle

By Joan Gralla

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The rebuilding of New York’s World
Trade Center cleared its last major hurdle on Wednesday,
setting up construction of the Freedom Tower and other high
rises where the mighty Twin Towers once stood.

The landowner, the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey, approved the deal that developer Larry Silverstein had
agreed to on Tuesday, ending four years of often acrimonious
debate over what to do with the site destroyed by the September
11 attacks.

Construction on the 1,776-foot (540-meter) Freedom Tower,
the tallest and most symbolic of the buildings on the site,
could begin within a few days of board approval, officials have
said. It should be completed by 2011.

Three other new office buildings and a residential tower
will eventually surround a memorial, museum and cultural center
dedicated to what relatives of the September 11 victims
consider a sacred site.

The project has been a source of contention since the
immediate aftermath of the suicide hijacking attacks that
killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and
Pennsylvania.

The architectural master plan and memorial have sparked
often emotional debate, although the more recent battle had
more to do with dividing the billions of dollars at stake.

The Port Authority board unanimously approved a “conceptual
framework” calling for Silverstein to build the Freedom Tower,
but hand it over to the authority once it is completed.

Silverstein will build and keep three other office towers
on the site, and the Port Authority will take over a damaged
bank building on a neighboring parcel that will be rebuilt for
residential use.

The two sides also agreed to a 62/38 split in Silverstein’s
favor over the two main sources of funding for the project: the
$3.4 billion in tax-exempt Liberty Bonds and Silverstein’s $4.6
billion in insurance proceeds.

Separate New York state and city agencies will be
responsible for releasing $1.7 billion each in the Liberty
Bonds, a low-cost form of financing created to rebuild Lower
Manhattan.

The Port Authority also agreed to reduce the rent in
Silverstein’s 99-year lease, which he signed two months before
the attacks.

Silverstein has already built 7 World Trade Center, a tower
on the site of a building that collapsed on September 11.

A source familiar with the issues said Port Authority
approval became possible thanks to some last-minute tinkering
after Silverstein announced on Tuesday that he had accepted
what the Port Authority called its final offer.

One assurance granted Silverstein capped his liability for
infrastructure costs at $140 million, the source said.