Planners Say Project Would Be A Boon
By James Bernstein
Staff Writer
December 20, 2003
The skyscraper planned for the World Trade Center site is expected to provide the city with one of its biggest economic boosts since the original WTC was built three decades ago.
The greatest impact, at least initially, will be felt by the city's construction industry, which is anticipating at that at least 2,000 jobs will be created building what's known as the Freedom Tower, which is to be the world's tallest building, soaring 1,776 feet into the sky.
Cost of the construction is estimated to be $1.5 billion, said Edward Malloy, president of the New York City Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents 60 unions.
"The amount of work there is going to be is awesome," Malloy said. "It's the biggest thing to come around in a long time."
Richard Kielar, a spokesman for Tishman Construction Corp., which has been named lead contractor for the Freedom Tower, said the project was the Manhattan-based company's largest since it oversaw the building of the original WTC.
The twin towers, completed in 1973, cost $1.1 billion.
Lou Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers' Association, which represents 1,500 construction companies, said the project could call for 100 to 150 different firms.
"There's a tremendous economic impact" for the city, Coletti said. "Out of this tragedy we are going to find a revitalized downtown."
Estimates from the developer, Silverstein Properties, and others, are that as many as 75,000 people will work in and around the Freedom Tower.
Larry Silverstein, head of Silverstein Properties, was on hand yesterday when state and city officials unveiled the design for Freedom Tower. He said he wants to build one new skyscraper at the former WTC site each year after Freedom Tower is completed. Silverstein expects to finish a five-building complex in 2013.
Kathryn S. Wylde, president of the New York City Partnership & Chamber of Commerce, said that commercial office rents in Manhattan's downtown had been 20 percent to 30 percent lower than in Midtown, mostly because downtown buildings are older and transportation not as accessible. Freedom Tower will change things, with its upgraded communications systems and improved access to transportation, Wylde said. "We see it as a magnet," Wylde said.
Those who might not do so well include landlords with who will have to compete with the new complex for tenants, and anyone who has to live through the construction, which could last at least through 2009. But to Rick Davidman, owner of DFN Gallery which is five blocks north of the planned building, the construction is one more step in the area's recovery. "Generally, the economy has improved," he said. "The transportation down here has improved. It doesn't feel as much of a war zone as it once did."
Staff writer Ritu Kalra contributed to this story.
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