Final piece in WTC tenant puzzle continues to elude developer Silverstein
Last week’s announcement that the state green-lighted Brookfield’s and Silverstein Properties’ plan for a supertall, mostly residential tower at Five World Trade Center ignored the more compelling matter of Two World Trade Center — the office skyscraper that Larry Silverstein has tried to build for more than 15 years.
Some news ꦍreports last week absurdly claꦐimed that 5 WTC was the “final piece” of the complex, apparently forgetting that the 2 WTC site — which would finally complete the tower quartet at “Ground Zero” — remains a small-scale art installation.
The 2 WTC saga has included a fruitless quest for an anchor tenant afte๊r News Corp, parent of the New York Post, decided not to pursue a non-binding agreement in 2016; a failed flirtation with Deutsche Bank, and several major design changes.
A Silverstein spokesman said on Friday, “We are actively looking for an ancho🍌r tenant forꦺ 2 WTC and are optimistic we will find one.”
Silverstein’s confidence is based o🍬n success at the rest of the 16-acre WTC. The developer’s 3 WTC and 4 WTC are 90 percent and 100 percent leased, respectively. The Durst Organization and the Port Authority’s 1 WTC is also nearly full.
The rep confirmed that architects Foster + Partners had redesigned 2 WTC after Si🦄lverstein brought Foster in to replace a more cutting-edge scheme by Bjarke Ingels’ firm, BIG.
In January 2020, Silverstein told us during a discussion about a possible 5 WTC, “What’s closest to my heart is Tower Two.”
He also said, “With the level of lease-up activity at Tower Three, my hunch is it won’t be terribly long before an announcement comes up w♐ith respect to Tower Two.”
But then the pandemic intervened.
Meanwhile, Five World🔯 Trade still faces its own hurdles. Critics, including former Mayor Bill de Blasio and several elected officials, are demanding that the entire residential portion — some 1,200 planned apartments — be used as “affordable” housing, a requirement that would be un-affordable to the developers.
The current plan calls for about 25% of the units to be set aside for lower-income tenants. The gripes will be aired at sev🤡eral planned public hearings.
It’♑s a sure bet that both new skyscrapers will rise 💧one day. The only real question is, which one first?