T
wenty-two years after the tragedy of 9/11, Larry Silverstein is still working to find a tenant for Two World Trade Center, a tower that has eluded him despite his triumphs in rebuilding or launching other buildings in the World Trade Center complex. American Express is currently in lease talks with him to anchor the tower, which is currently a beer garden site. Silverstein built Two World Trade Center and Seven World Trade Center across the street, both of which are filled with major corporate tenants and thriving. However, the missing tower has long frustrated him due to political infighting in New York City. Despite this, he has been a hero without enough honor in his hometown.
Silverstein fought tooth and nail to get Three and Four World Trade Center built, despite the animosity from real estate and government circles. He signed a lease on the World Trade Center complex in June of 2001, just three months before its towers were destroyed by terrorists. The Port Authority made construction impossible by failing to excavate the site, causing Silverstein to pay $120 million a year in ground rent for buildings that no longer existed. His insurers wanted to pay only half of what he was owed, $4.68 billion for two separate jet attacks. However, then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer intervened and got him "one hundred cents on the dollar."
Silverstein tapped distinguished international architects Richard Rogers and Fumihiko Maki to design Three and Four World Trade Center, respectively. However, they had to wait for the PA's years-delayed construction of a "bathtub" to form the towers' foundations. Tower Three was nearly derailed for good after the 80-story giant was stalled at the seven-story "podium" level due to a tough lending market. Silverstein had to ask the PA for "backstop financing" - not a loan but a guarantee - for a construction loan. The plan, blessed by newly elected Gov. Andrew Cuomo, wouldn't cost the agency a cent. However, rogue PA commissioners balked, simply because they didn't like him.
Silverstein believes that the construction of World Trade Center - the missing puzzle piece at the WTC site - will happen in his lifetime. He has already signed a lease worth $800 million with media company GroupM to be the anchor tenant. Only a dramatic improvement in the financial markets enabled Silverstein to sell enough government-backed Liberty Bonds to save the project. The new World Trade Center's crown jewel was to be the "Freedom Tower," a name given to it by Pataki and which then-developer Donald Trump said made it "Terrorist target No. 1 with a bull's-eye around its neck." However, Silverstein started work on it but ceded responsibility for building it to the Port because they recognized they didn't have enough capital for it while also building towers 3 and 4. He said if they really wanted it, they could have it. As for Two World Trade: Does he think it will happen in his lifetime? "Yes, I do. I think this time, it's going to happen."
