7 World Trade Center - by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

[pianoman11686]

Apparently the employees will be moving from a lot further away:

7 World Trade Center Is Said to Be Close to Signing Its First Tenant

By JOSEPH P. FRIED

Published: July 26, 2005

After trying for months to find its first tenant, the developer of the first new building at the World Trade Center site is expected to soon sign a lease with a unit of American Express that is to become an independent company, people briefed on the lease negotiations said yesterday.

They said that the first tenant, now still known as American Express Financial Advisors, would take about 20,000 square feet of space in 7 World Trade Center, a 52-story building that is scheduled to open early next year.

The amount of space involved in the first lease is just 1 percent of the building's expected total, 1.7 million square feet, and the deal does not guarantee that the $1.3 billion building will have a flourishing future. But champions of Lower Manhattan's redevelopment in the wake of the Sept. 11 attack said they considered the likely completion of the deal a welcome development.

"There's always an opener," Sheldon Silver, the speaker of the State Assembly, who represents Lower Manhattan, said yesterday. "I think it will be the first of many" deals, he added.

A spokesman for the developer, Larry A. Silverstein, said he and American Express Financial Advisors, which provides brokerage, asset management and insurance services, were in "very serious negotiations." But the spokesman, Howard J. Rubenstein, said Mr. Silverstein would not comment "pending completion of these negotiations," which were first reported by Crain's New York Business.

A spokesman for American Express Financial Advisors, which is based in Minneapolis and will soon become known as Ameriprise Financial, also declined to comment on the negotiations.

The company has 7,000 employees in Minneapolis. It could not be determined how many of their jobs would move to 7 World Trade should the lease deal be completed. The headquarters of its current parent company, American Express, are across the street from the trade center site, in the World Financial Center.

The financial services company would be the building's first outside tenant. Mr. Silverstein plans to move the offices of his own real estate company there from Midtown.

Mr. Rubenstein and Mr. Silver said tenants' interest in renting space picked up after the State Legislature last month passed a package of financial incentives - spearheaded by Mr. Silver and supported by Gov. George E. Pataki - intended to revitalize Lower Manhattan commercially and lure tenants.

Mr. Silverstein has been seeking $50 to $55 a square foot for space in his new building, a price that real estate specialists have seen as an impediment to signing tenants because the average is about $35 in Lower Manhattan these days. With the financial incentives, though, the rent will effectively be reduced to the low $40's a square foot, Mr. Silver said.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

[Jake]

Major work going on on the plaza in front of the building last few days. Much of the base is done and I can't say it looks great but it's not as bad as I thought it would've been. The entrance is coming together and bright gay purple lights were on inside yesterday lol. So if you guys want to see basically what the Freedom Tower is going to look like I suggest you take a trip.

[Kolbster]

Major work going on on the plaza in front of the building last few days. Much of the base is done and I can't say it looks great but it's not as bad as I thought it would've been. The entrance is coming together and bright gay purple lights were on inside yesterday lol. So if you guys want to see basically what the Freedom Tower is going to look like I suggest you take a trip.

Ooo! Sounds exciting! Hopefully those purple lights will be all over the Freedom Tower...spice up city life ya know.

[expose05]

Someone please take a picture of that :D

[Citytect]

A lot of empty space in this nearly completed building...

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b195/nova_cain/nyc05/dt13.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b195/nova_cain/nyc05/582621e9.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b195/nova_cain/nyc05/a0b12d42.jpg

[Jake]

Took a pic today too, but mine is crap by comparison lol
From Gateway Plaza looking at the south side of the base
http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1091&stc=1

BTW, blue seems to be a great color for a building at certain times of the day, mostly early and late, but it seems to me that that tint looks really worn out at midday.

[Citytect]

BTW, blue seems to be a great color for a building at certain times of the day, mostly early and late, but it seems to me that that tint looks really worn out at midday.
That's true. On a beautiful day with fluffy white clouds the building is quite striking. But under dreary grey skies the glass multiplies the gloominess. And under clear, cloudless skies with the sun beaming overhead makes the building seem washed out.

[Jake]

But under dreary grey skies the glass multiplies the gloominess

off topic again but it;s just too funny...

possible future headline:

"Construction halted amid concerns of blue window tint causing depression"

[PHLguy]

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b195/nova_cain/downtown/9619042a.jpg


I'm really diggin' how the base of 7WTC resembles the old facade of the WTC with the reflective metal, vertical colums and of course 2 dark bands wrapped around the building, It was probably done on purpose but I like it!

[NewYorkYankee]

The base dosnt look AS bad as I thought it would. Although, I would still preferred the glass to continue down. Has anyone seen the base lit up at night yet? Are there any other areas the tower is supposed to light up at?

[Jake]

I haven't looked at it in the dark lately but I think they still have teh construction light bulbs inside so no nice lighting yet, at least none that I know of, The lobby has lights though

[TonyO]

NY Newsday

7 WTC almost complete, awaits tenants

BY PRADNYA JOSHI
STAFF WRITER

August 29, 2005

The sweeping view of the Manhattan skyline from the 52nd floor of 7 World Trade Center looking north could easily be a scene from a Ken Burns documentary.

With a breathtaking vantage point, tenants will hardly notice the reinforced core, the environmentally friendly water usage and cutting-edge art featured in the lobby.

Although many other plans for downtown development remain in flux, Silverstein Properties' 7 World Trade Center is just about done. The $700 million building is about 90 percent complete and will be ready for tenants to move in around March 2006.

At its peak, nearly 1,000 people worked on erecting the building and now about 400 people on any given day labor on the 741-foot tower.

"We get a little extra productivity on the job," said Jack Klein, vice president of construction at Silverstein. "It's more of a privilege to work here."

Already, the Consolidated Edison substation taking up the first four floors is up and running and feeding power to much of lower Manhattan. Currently, workers are installing the 29 elevators, commissioning the mechanical systems that will control the building and installing amenities for a park such as fountain and other greenery that will greet people entering on Greenwich Street.

President Larry Silverstein is aware that many naysayers still hound him about one critical issue: the lack of committed tenants for the building. But this building is being built "on spec," or without an anchor tenant. Such a move can be financially risky, but Silverstein built the original 7 WTC on spec in 1987 and was able to fill it up. In addition, new city and state incentives passed this summer have spurred interest, said Steve Siegel, chairman of global brokerage of CB Richard Ellis, the exclusive real-estate agency for the building.

So far, Ameriprise Financial, a subsidiary that is separating from American Express Co., is rumored to be close to signing a deal for about 20,000 square feet. That still leaves most of the 1.7 million square feet available. CBRE is slated to open a sales and marketing office next month at the base of the building, making it easier to show off the building to prospective tenants. Silverstein also hopes that with an address at 250 Greenwich St., the building's connection to trendy TriBeCa will attract tenants.

http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-08/19192527.jpg
Exterior photo of 7 World Trade Center in lower Manhattan

http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-08/19192525.jpg
Exit stairs of 7 World Trade Center are 20 percent wider. The tube under the hand rail is an emergency lighting system which runs throughout both staircases. Photo taken on August 25, 2005 in lower Manhattan.

http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-08/19192524.jpg
Reinforced concrete walls inside 7 World Trade Center, protect the building core for the full height of the building, including exit stairs, elevators and building lobby. The fireproofing material used to protect the steel structure is more than 5 times as durable as required by building codes. Photo taken on August 25, 2005 lower Manhattan.

http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-08/19192523.jpg
Frank Hussey of Tishman Construction, shows the width of the newly designed reinforced concrete walls of 7 World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. Photo taken on August 25, 2005.

http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-08/19192522.jpg
Exterior photo of 7 World Trade Center in lower Manhattan on August 25, 2005.

http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-08/19192521.jpg
Reinforced concrete walls inside 7 World Trade Center, protect the building core for the full height of the building, including exit stairs, elevators and building lobby. The fireproofing material used to protect the steel structure is more than 5 times as durable as required by building codes. Photo taken on August 25, 2005 lower Manhattan.

http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-08/19192520.jpg
Men working in the lobby of 7 World Trade Center in lower Manhattan on August 25, 2005.

http://www.nynewsday.com/media/photo/2005-08/19192516.jpg
The beam that connects the core and the reinforced concrete walls inside 7 World Trade Center. Photo taken on August 25, 2005 lower Manhattan.

[krulltime]

Chinese firm eyes big site for NY center


by Julie Satow

One of China's largest real estate companies is seeking up to 1 million square feet of office space in Manhattan to create a center for Chinese companies establishing operations in the United States.

Beijing Ventone Real Estate gave formal approval earlier this month to seek suitable office space in the city, according to New York businesspeople who have been working with the company. It would lease the space, and then sublease offices to Chinese companies that want a headquarters in the West. Ventone would provide those companies with support services such as conference facilities and translators.

Ventone is considering both midtown and downtown for the new venture, but city leaders are pushing hard for a downtown location.

"We are hopeful that they'll go to 7 World Trade Center," says Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City. A meager 20,000 square feet of the 1.7 million-square-foot World Trade Center tower is leased, not including an office for the developer and World Trade Center leaseholder, Larry Silverstein.

City officials agree that a downtown location is best. The plan "dovetails nicely with what we are trying to accomplish downtown," says Josh Sirefman, assistant to Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff. "Ventone's preference is for lower Manhattan, from what I understand." A number of Chinese companies were located at the original World Trade Center.

Still, space abounds in midtown, which could pose competition for the site. Blocks include 1 million square feet at the Bank of America tower at 1 Bryant Park and 700,000 square feet up for grabs at The New York Times Building at West 41st Street and Eighth Avenue. But because it lacks the incentives available downtown and has higher rents, midtown would be far more expensive.

New government policy

Ventone could not be reached, and its broker, Peter Riguardi of Jones Lang LaSalle, didn't return calls for comment.

Last fall, China decided to encourage Chinese businesses to invest overseas. The most recent indication of the impact of this is Chinese computer giant Lenovo's acquisition of IBM Corp.'s personal computer division for $1.75 billion. Lenovo has since opened an office in New York.

According to Laura Aubuchon, a senior vice president at the city's Economic Development Corp., 68 China-based firms have offices in New York. Of China's 32 largest companies -- with $500 million or more in annual sales revenue -- 13 have a presence in the city.

The Chinese government has agreed to allow Ventone to create an off-shore company, but the plan to establish a business center is still wending its way through the complicated governmental approval process, Ms. Wylde says.

One of China's largest private developers, Ventone earned $108 million last year. One of its most recent developments is the $300 million "Central Park" in Beijing. It boasts 1,800 residential units and 2,000 parking spaces within the 1 million-square-foot project.


©2005 Crain Communications Inc.

[PHLguy]

That would be great!

more than half the building would be occupied!

[Jake]

Hehe, what's the Chinese character for 7? Maybe they'll hang that in the lobby.

How about One Tienamen Square?

[MrShakespeare]

Thanks for posting that superb Newsday article, including the photos. That was a nice job of capturing the structure inside this remarkable building. Those floors apprear enormous, thought that might simply be the perspective of the camera.

It is great that the Chinese companies are interested in 7WTC. It doesn't get much more "world trade" than that, after all...

[NYguy]

NY1

Developer Larry Silverstein Gives NY1 A Tour Of 7 World Trade Center

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/images/live/86/171704.jpg

September 07, 2005

Four years after the collapse of the World Trade Center, the site's developer says he's more excited than ever about rebuilding. In the following report, NY1's Amanda Farinacci takes a tour of the site's first building with leaseholder Larry Silverstein.

If you look closely at the facade of 7 World Trade Center, you can make out the address subtly inscribed on the side. But there's nothing subtle about the amount of work that went into the building - the first to go up on the World Trade Center site.

Developer Larry Silverstein is out to make sure it leaves an impression.

“The finishing phases of a building really require the greatest amount of attention. It's really where you have to watch, and watch carefully,” says the developer.

A curtain of steel hides the Con Ed substation already up and running on the first four floors. Motion-sensitive lights will shine behind the façade and appear to be "following" people as they pass the building.

Inside, workers put finishing touches on the building's 29 elevators, which don't require the touch of a button to get to your destination. Upstairs on the 38th floor is where Silverstein will make his home.

“The view, as you can see, is quite spectacular. Isn't that something?” he says.

On the north side of the building is a breathtaking view of the city. On the south, Silverstein can keep an eye on the site he's responsible for rebuilding, especially the Freedom Tower.

NYPD security concerns surrounding its construction meant the entire plan had to be scrapped, pushing construction of the iconic building back two years.

“The standards established for us by the NYPD, which essentially are foreign embassy standards for a building built in the middle of some foreign country, not necessarily a friendly country either, but nevertheless, the building will be extraordinary,” says Silverstein.

The developer says he tries to avoid getting involved in site politics. He says he's fought enough of his own wars over funding the $8 billion site.

He insists he's not nervous the 52-story tower has no tenants yet, because he's expecting his first one to sign a deal soon. He says his role is very clear.

“I still have the ground lease responsibility, the obligation to pay the ground rent, the obligation to rebuild these buildings,” says Silverstein. “That's my job and I'll get that done.”

The building will open in March of next year, and Silverstein says tenants or not, it's going to be one of the most coveted addresses in New York City.

- Amanda Farinacci

VID
http://real.ny1.com:8080/ramgen/real3/0012E714_050907_171405hi.rm

http://real.ny1.com:8080/ramgen/real3/0012E714_050907_171405lo.rm

[kliq6]

Until he gets a real tenant, 100,000 sf plus, this building and the futuire of the whole area remain very cloudy, at the GS public meeting many people mentioned how no firms are really intested in this area and getting GS to anchor that site would possibly be a big boost

[BigMac]

September 9, 2005:

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/9816/7wtc5vy.jpg

[Jake]

Some pics at night...
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6/JakeW16/17.jpghttp://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6/JakeW16/16.jpghttp://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b6/JakeW16/PICT0007.jpg

[TLOZ Link5]

Nice! A little blurry, but very cool.

[Jake]

Yeah, sorry about the quality, all the lights from different directions somehow mess with my camera's light sensor and I didn't want to carry a tripod all around GZ. I was trying to sneak past the construction materials and into the lobby but a cop stopped me, lol.

Anyway, I think the base looks fantastic at night, very bright and reflective. Can't wait how it will combine with the bright FT. And as you can see there is normal lighting installed in a few places in the building.

[BrooklynRider]

NY1

Developer Larry Silverstein Gives NY1 A Tour Of 7 World Trade Center


"This is the lobby. Notice the empty building directory."

"This is the empty 1st floor"
"This is the empty 2nd floor"
"This is the empty 3rd floor"
"This is the empty 4th floor"
"This is the empty 5th floor"
...

[lofter1]

^ I'm still laughing ...................

[BigMac]

September 9, 2005:

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/8818/wfc2large1wk.jpg

[sfenn1117]

Sorry I'm not impressed, thankfully it's basically just a filler and will be overshadowed once the other towers are done.

Meanwhile that's an awesome pic of the entire WFC!

[TLOZ Link5]

"This is the lobby. Notice the empty building directory."

"This is the empty 1st floor"
"This is the empty 2nd floor"
"This is the empty 3rd floor"
"This is the empty 4th floor"
"This is the empty 5th floor"
...


Hehe

[NoyokA]

It sounds like 7 WTC wont be empty for too much longer.

New York Daily News
Pataki touts China biz hub for WTC site

Friday, September 23rd, 2005

Gov. Pataki said yesterday that he expects a large real estate developer in China to take hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space in lower Manhattan for a new business center.

The China Center, as he called it, "will bring together Chinese companies to invest in New York," Pataki said.

In what would be a big boost to downtown recovery, Beijing-based Vantone Real Estate Co. is said to be considering up to 700,000 square feet at the World Trade Center site.

The publication Real Estate Weekly reported last month that Vantone representatives toured developer Larry Silverstein's 7World Trade Center, a 52-story tower nearing completion.

Vantone - known for the Vantone Center, an office tower complex in Beijing - is one of China's largest private developers.

Pataki, who met with Vantone chairman Feng Lun on Monday, is on a weeklong trade mission to China.

[ZippyTheChimp]

China is now the number two holder of U.S. Treasury securities (how deficit spending is financed).

http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt

[kliq6]

I hope this works out, the have been in talks with so many firms, kinda funny if a foreign government steps up while US firms hid

[NoyokA]

I hope this works out, the have been in talks with so many firms, kinda funny if a foreign government steps up while US firms hid

I think its a step in the right direction. The NWTC will be filled much like the old was with thousands of small foreign companies. I do not see a large corporation taking HQ space in the NWTC, there's too much to lose.

[krulltime]

So if they go in at 250 Greenwich Street (7 World Trade Center) ... will they change the name again to... The China Center.

[Ninjahedge]

The China Center, as he called it, "will bring together Chinese companies to invest in New York," Pataki said

Is that a nice way of saying "Buy up NY like the Japanese did"? ;)

[TonyO]

Is that a nice way of saying "Buy up NY like the Japanese did"? ;)

No, the Saudis will be taking over for the Japanese in that respect.

Vantone buys space and then sublets it to other Chinese firms wanting to do business here in the US.

[sfenn1117]

I think its good. After all it's the world trade center.

[lofter1]

And aren't the Chinese one of the biggest backers of Liberty Bonds?

When and if a big recession hits the Chinese could own NY.

[LeCom]

The base on September 28

http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/9002/pict02667wtcucsep05base403030s.jpg

[BrooklynRider]

...When and if a big recession hits the Chinese could own NY.

That's just wong.

[Jake]

I noticed that some floors have these white blinds inside, does anyone know if they're just for construction or will the building have white blinds?

The south side is fully covered with glass now, no more empty windows, can't wait till this baby lights up at night.

[krulltime]

Nothing new but it seems lilke they are REALLY considering 7 World Trade Center.


CRAINS: At deadline


October 03, 2005

Chinese real estate company Vantone has completed its feasibility study on leasing about 500,000 square feet in New York City. According to one insider, the study favors a location in lower Manhattan for the company's business center, which would house mainland firms. Vantone is said to be negotiating with World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein for offices at 7 World Trade Center.


©2005 Crain Communications Inc.

[evil_synth]

finally looks like we'll have some tenants other than the port authority then

[LeCom]

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3871/pict00207wtcucsep05tothenorthw.th.jpg (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict00207wtcucsep05tothenorthw.jpg) http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8027/pict00297wtcucsep05wfcsmall3gm.th.jpg (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict00297wtcucsep05wfcsmall3gm.jpg) http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3540/pict02397wtcucsep05tothenorthe.th.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict02397wtcucsep05tothenorthe.jpg)
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/7559/pict02527wtcucsep05tothenorthe.th.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict02527wtcucsep05tothenorthe.jpg)
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/6461/pict02657wtclookinguplampposts.th.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict02657wtclookinguplampposts.jpg)
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9002/pict02667wtcucsep05base403030s.th.jpg (http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict02667wtcucsep05base403030s.jpg)
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/3916/pict02677wtclookinguptothewest.th.jpg (http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict02677wtclookinguptothewest.jpg)
http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/668/pict02697wtcfacadesmall0vo.th.jpg (http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict02697wtcfacadesmall0vo.jpg)

[lofter1]

^ Nice ...

She's a beauty against that bright blue sky

[gonzea]

hey thanx for the pics, good job.
I still think it's a little short, should of made it bigger!

[evil_synth]

beautiful building
maybe wtc 2,3,4 ect... can be made to match wtc 7, even though the plans are unrelated, I think it'd be a nice touch.

[GLNY]

So much for the 1M sf lease:

Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co., one of China's largest private real-estate developers, has requested a 10-year lease to rent out 200,000 square feet of office space in the new, 52-story glass tower, adjacent to the site of the Twin Towers destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to people close to the situation. They said they hope to receive a response on the bid -- which would have Beijing Vantone pay about $40 of gross rent a square foot -- from developer Larry Silverstein this week.

[londonlawyer]

Hopefully, they'll take a lot more space somewhere else. It would be great if they develop a new building in midtown.

I work downtown, and it's a beautiful area but a lame place to work, as it is a nuisance to commute here.

[TonyO]

WSJ
10.19.05

What's Brewing in the Real Estate Market

Tenant for Larry

After more than two years of unsuccessfully courting tenants for 7 World Trade Center, developer Larry Silverstein is weighing a serious bid from a Chinese real-estate company to take about five floors of space in the 52-story glass tower. The company, Vantone, offered about $40 a square foot for a 10-year lease on 200,000 square feet of space in the nearly complete building.

"We submitted a substantial offer to Larry during the last week in September. We're waiting for his response," says Peter Riguardi, president of the New York region for real-estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., which is representing Vantone.

The original 7 World Trade Center, which was adjacent to the main World Trade Center, was destroyed in the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. The new tower, which is expected to be ready for occupants in early 2006, will contain 1.7 million square feet of office space, enough to house roughly 6,000 workers.

Public officials have criticized the notoriously stubborn New York developer for demanding too much rent given the building's location. Mr. Silverstein is asking around $50 a square foot. But the developer, who is currently trying to build the Freedom Tower and other buildings on the Trade Center site, is in a bind because whatever rent he agrees to for the current building will be the starting point for tenants in the next wave of buildings. Mr. Silverstein declined to comment.

[Derek2k3]

Two old photos from March.

http://www.pbase.com/archit_kderek2k3/image/51123780.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/archit_kderek2k3/image/51123742.jpg

[BrooklynRider]

That second shot reminds me of long Barclay Tower seems to be taking to come out of the ground. I know, I know - off topic. But, it's right there.

[ablarc]

This is a better than average looking flat top.

Generally I prefer a building with a party hat, like Chrysler, ESB or Conde-Nast. So do most people.

The skyline would look a whole lot better with more interesting, preferably tapered tops.

Charlotte requires these on its new downtown skyscrapers, though otherwise there’s no zoning in its CBD. The result is a nice-looking skyline. Not big but nice, because variegated and not flat-topped.

Could mighty New York learn something from a place as lowly as Charlotte?

[krulltime]

SILVERSTEIN WOOS FIRST BIG TENANT FOR 7 WTC


By LOIS WEISS and TOM TOPOUSIS
October 26, 2005

Amid blistering criticism from Mayor Bloomberg over the slow pace of construction at Ground Zero, developer Larry Silverstein is about to sign a deal to bring a major tenant to his nearly complete tower at 7 World Trade Center.

The New York Academy of Sciences is negotiating a lease for 40,000 square feet of space in the ultra-modern tower that sits on the north side of Vesey Street, overlooking the pit at Ground Zero.

Sources said the scientific academy has a "term sheet" for a 10-year lease for the full 40th floor in the new building, set to open next year.

An academy spokesperson said the group has not seen a lease but is talking with Silverstein about it.

The academy was founded downtown in 1817 and would "like to bring down thousands of young scientists to our conferences."

The academy would be only the second major tenant lined up for the glass-walled skyscraper, with 1.7 million square feet of space.

A lease for 20,000 square feet with an American Express spin-off, Ameriprise Financial, is expected to be signed soon.

As the leaseholder for the World Trade Center site, Silverstein is under pressure to find tenants and show there is a market for office space at Ground Zero, which is slated to host five more office buildings.

Silverstein has so far filled only a small fraction of 7 World Trade Center and has yet to line up any prospects for the Freedom Tower, prompting Bloomberg to push for his removal and call for more residential development.

"It is worrisome that he hasn't rented 7 [WTC] yet. We've given him the incentives he said he needed and still, as far as I know, no tenants — 20,000 square feet out a 1.7 million," Bloomberg told The Post's editorial board this week.

A spokesman for Silverstein declined to comment on the talks.


Copyright 2005 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[Jake]

Nice


BTW, they started dismantling the elevator on the west side, leaving exposed windows behind, very soon we should see a completed exterior

[kliq6]

In order to shut of critics like the mayor, they have to land a real powerhouse tenant, with much more then 40,000 sf which in a 1.7 msft building is nothing. they need a good 200,000 sf lease

[ZippyTheChimp]

Recap:

Request for 5 floors/200,000 sq ft from Vantone
NY Academy of Sciences: 40,000 sq ft
AmEx: 20,000 sq ft

If they could double that, I think it would be a satisfactory opening for the building.

[millertime83]

http://www.stevens.edu/asce/WTC-2005-10-21/slides/ASCE,%20WTC%20009.jpg
http://www.stevens.edu/asce/WTC-2005-10-21/slides/ASCE,%20WTC%20104.jpg
http://www.stevens.edu/asce/WTC-2005-10-21/slides/ASCE,%20WTC%20012.jpg

[ablarc]

To my perception, there is something very menacing about that building.

[LeCom]

Millertime, how the hell did you get there?


Facade

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/411908.jpg

[millertime83]

a friend is a structural engineer for the PA so he showed us around

here's some pictures of the old WTC concourse, too:
http://www.stevens.edu/asce/WTC-2005-10-21/slides/ASCE,%20WTC%20050.jpg

http://www.stevens.edu/asce/WTC-2005-10-21/slides/ASCE,%20WTC%20051.jpg
http://www.stevens.edu/asce/WTC-2005-10-21/slides/ASCE,%20WTC%20057.jpg
former subway

[Jake]

AWESOME, finally some never before seen pics. Thanks a lot.

[LeCom]

^ great pics

Looking up from the reopened Greenwich Street
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/412022.jpg

The base and the plaza under construction
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/412026.jpg

[millertime83]

there's a lot more I took here:

http://www.stevens.edu/asce/WTC-2005-10-21/

[LeCom]

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1742/pict00517wtctothenorthsmall3ji.jpg

[NewYorkYankee]

I hate the base, it ruins the whole tower when you view it all together.

[antinimby]

I hate the base, it ruins the whole tower when you view it all together.
If you hate that, wait until you see Freedom Tower's--the same except it's BIGGER!
In an era where buildings all over the world are trying to make their entrances attractive, open and beautiful, here we get a dark, bunkerish, warehouse-looking face.
No wonder Larry's having trouble landing a major tenant.
Sometimes the building's appearance makes just a little enough of that difference in getting tenants to sign up.
There are ways to make the base safe from bombs yet look good.
This is not it.
David Childs, what are you thinking???

[LeCom]

FT's base would reach the second setback of Barcly-Vesey. I tried talking the designers into at least cladding the exterior of the base in glss but they were like "no its dangerous".

[antinimby]

FT's base would reach the second setback of Barcly-Vesey. I tried talking the designers into at least cladding the exterior of the base in glss but they were like "no its dangerous".
No offense to the "designers" but that is a very lazy attitude.
Here you have some of the most important and prominent buildings in the world going up in our lifetimes and to not put in a little more effort into making the entire building's design as impressive as possible is IMO a failure.
God knows they've had plenty of time to work on it.
Sure it's a challenge and everyone's aware of it: make the base strong and resistant to truck bombs yet look good.
It's never simple but damn it, come up with something more creative for god's sake!
Use alternate materials, illusions, reflective glass, lighter colors, smarter structural designs or whatever.
Just try a little harder, the whole world is watching.
What they're doing now is embarrassing.

[NoyokA]

If you hate that, wait until you see Freedom Tower's--the same except it's BIGGER!
In an era where buildings all over the world are trying to make their entrances attractive, open and beautiful, here we get a dark, bunkerish, warehouse-looking face.
No wonder Larry's having trouble landing a major tenant.
Sometimes the building's appearance makes just a little enough of that difference in getting tenants to sign up.
There are ways to make the base safe from bombs yet look good.
This is not it.
David Childs, what are you thinking???

He was thinking about the site requirement that required a con-ed substation in the buildings base.

[antinimby]

I know they've got a substation in there, but what I'm trying to say (see my previous post, I submitted after you just posted) is that a good designer takes what unpleasant "parameters" that's there and use creative techniques to hide it or make it less of a factor.
There's no creativeness when you just surround the base in thick concrete and a metal cover.
Frankly, anyone could've done that.

[lofter1]

(gates are open at this site, too. plus most of the perimeter fence is down ... shhhh)

[lofter1]

The building isn't finished yet (can't wait for that last crane to come down, which will totally alter its relationship to the Verizon building next door).

Once the lights that are to be incorporated into the lower metal facade are installed and operating it could be fantastic and different. The side facing Greenwich St. where the main entrance is is really quite open and inviting. The fountain in the little triangular plaza is almost fully constructed and looking good.

[Jake]

The base looks really good at night when the area is lit, then it has varying light on the panels that give it a really reflective metallic look. I think it will take a little getting used to but eventually noone will pay attention to it.

[LeCom]

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/413750.jpg

[lofter1]

Also, the base from this angle ^^ will be blocked by the "Performing Arts" building (that is if anyone is still paying any mind to the Master Plan).

[lofter1]

But they've got to do SOMETHING with Fiterman :eek: (in the background to the right of 7WTC) ^^

[LeCom]

How bout taking it down and building a decent sized tower in its place.

[Citytect]

While I know it's still unfinished, the area just above the metalwork on the base seems to be a bigger aesthetic issue than the windowless base of the tower. Those three storeys of windows covering the upper part of the substation (at least I think its part of the substation) seem to interupt the relationship between the metal base and the rest of the glass tower. The glass really reads differently with the walls of the substation just behind it, and those white columns are far too visible, in my opinion.

[lofter1]

Re: Fiterman ...

How bout taking it down and building a decent sized tower in its place.
Yes!

Something tall and slender and sleek and beautiful: mixed-use housing / educational / cultural.

But 4+ years later the powers that be are seemingly twiddling their thumbs.

[NewYorkYankee]

While I know it's still unfinished, the area just above the metalwork on the base seems to be a bigger aesthetic issue than the windowless base of the tower. Those three storeys of windows covering the upper part of the substation (at least I think its part of the substation) seem to interupt the relationship between the metal base and the rest of the glass tower. The glass really reads differently with the walls of the substation just behind it, and those white columns are far too visible, in my opinion.

I think it just seems to be a differing style of the tower. It fits in a lot better than the base does, in my opinion.

[Citytect]

^I think the "different style" would work fine if there wasn't another "different style" three floors down (the metalic base). The solid base was necessary for this building, so why not just continue the metalwork up to the the level the office floors begin? Would have looked better than the another abrubt style change. Looks weird with a more trasparent section of facade with vertical lines articulated stuck between two sections of far less transparent facade with horizontal lines articulated.

[lofter1]

The crane on the west facade is pretty much down now.

[lofter1]

Go to the site for an interactive demonstration of how this wall will light up ...

7 World Trade Center:
Podium Light Wall


http://kinecity.com/wp-content/images/7wtc-flash.jpg


http://kinecity.com/7wtc/


http://kinecity.com/wp-content/images/_7wtc.jpg (http://kinecity.com/7wtc/) 7 World Trade Center

The Podium Light Wall is located on the South and North facades of 7 World Trade Center. As people wander on the pavement below a strip of blue light gracefully follows them. This strip of blue light is 7 floors tall and is visible from Freedom Park. The Podium Wall accentuates the individual, and the patterns that are created as many pass by together. The project is an interactive design for James Carpenter Design Assoc. who were responsible for the physical design.

Dimensions: 180 foot wide by 80 foot tall, x 2
Method: Camera recognition technology
Completion : Fall 2005

[Jake]

you know, this may pave the way for "interactive" buildings

completion fall 05, lmao, yeah right, just like everything else on the site


btw, the little red warning lights are now installed and on on the roof. Interior still isn't lit with normal office lights but construction lights instead.

[ZippyTheChimp]

On very cold days, Silverstein may hire people to walk by.

[Johnnyboy]

has this ever been included in a skyscraper before?

[Fabrizio]

"As people wander on the pavement below a strip of blue light gracefully follows them."

Sort of like those jokester mimes.

If I were having a bad day, and had one of those blue lights "gracefully" following me, I´d probably throw a rock.

[ablarc]

If I were having a bad day, and had one of those blue lights "gracefully" following me, I´d probably throw a rock.
...and I'd give you the rock to throw!

[Jim Koeleman]

edit

[GVNY]

Excuse me, but Freedom Park? Good Lord...

[evil_synth]

lol

No renderings of this thing in action?

[Jake]

lol

No renderings of this thing in action?

remember the car KITT in Knight Rider? remember the red little light that went left/right? THAT'S how it's going to look :)

To see this in action click below
http://www.knightrideronline.com/

[Phentente]

It would be awesome if they had William Daniels doing naration ("Yes, Michael?").

[TimmyG]

Found this in the NY Post today.

PUTTING 'HIGH' IN HI-TECH
By TOM TOPOUSIS




November 18, 2005 -- The drone of vacuum cleaners has replaced the drumbeat of jackhammers at 7 World Trade Center, where The Post yesterday took anexclusive tour through the first office tower to be rebuilt at Ground Zero. Workers were busy putting the finishing touches on the gleaming 52-story tower, which developer Larry Silverstein is calling the most high-tech in the city and which sits directly across the street from the former site of the Twin Towers.
Set to open in mid-March, the tower boasts 40,000 square feet of open space on every floor, unobstructed by columns or walls between the central core and the floor-to-ceiling glass. The original 7 WTC collapsed from fires on Sept. 11, 2001.
In a mock-up of an office on the 27th floor, sunshine pours in from every direction through glass that allows a maximum of light while deflecting excess heat.
From one corner of the building designed by architect David Childs, a visitor can see the skyline at all points of the compass — without moving.
So far, only a handful of tenants have been lined up to rent space. But Silverstein hopes following receipt of a certificate of occupancy this week, he can ratchet up the marketing effort.
"We want to show prospective tenants a finished building," said Dara McQuillan, marketing director for Silverstein Properties.


tom.topousis@nypost.com

[ZippyTheChimp]

Mood lights in the lobby too.

http://img500.imageshack.us/img500/5540/7wtc68c8tv.th.jpg (http://img500.imageshack.us/my.php?image=7wtc68c8tv.jpg) http://img500.imageshack.us/img500/8558/7wtc69c8vq.th.jpg (http://img500.imageshack.us/my.php?image=7wtc69c8vq.jpg)

[lofter1]

The triangular plaza across from the entrance is nearing completion, too.

[Jake]

Will this change colors?

So far I saw gay pink and menstrual pink, are there any other shades of pink that I'm not aware of?

Gay tolerance mondays will feature gay pink
Women equality in the workplace tuesdays will feature menstrual pink
Tribute to Knight Rider wednesdays will feature lights moving along the building
Freedom thursdays will feature lunch in Freedom park
Celebrate Electricity! fridayss will feature free magnetic irradiation on every elevator trip


Worker heaven, no wonder only the chinese are taking up space there

that's it for my pessimist saturday, good night and enjoy

[BPC]

In my home-delivered Saturday half of the Sunday NY Times, I received a full-color flier for 7 WTC, complete with 360 degree view from the top floor. There was no mention anywhere of "250 Greenwich," the sole source for which appears to be some anonymous blog. It was called 7 WTC.

Mr. or Ms. Moderator, can we change the title of this thread back to 7 World Trade Center, and drop the Greenwich Street crap?

[Jake]

But the whole reason taht they had pink lights installed is because of the Greenwich village! you can't change that now!

[antinimby]

A "triangular" plaza and pink colors? Silverstein is definitely leaning towards the left.

So far I saw gay pink and menstrual pink, are there any other shades of pink that I'm not aware of?Oh my, I'm sensing a little bit of hostility here . . . ;)

[ZippyTheChimp]

Will this change colors?
From the look of those "light bars," I think it will.

But it was too freakin' cold.

What's disturbing is that a Google of "250 Greenwich" and "250 Greenwich St" puts Wired NY at the top of the list. There was one article in the WSJ and Newsday that mentioned the name change, and everything seemed to feed off that. If the address doesn't appear somewhere at the entrance, I'll change it.

[TLOZ Link5]

Perhaps the park will become another isolated cuddle spot :D

[Jake]

Well if the name is wrong then who'd be searching for the wrong name anyway? Since nobody has heard of 250 they wouldn't be typing 250 into google.

I don't really think this will be resolved until the FT gets built. If the FT is called FT and not One WTC then there is no point at all in having a 7WTC. Possibly they'll have 7WTC as the building name and 250 G as the address although that'd be a little strange.

Wasn't there a giant "7" planned for the lobby? If the building says 7 then it must be called 7 WTC. question: what are the plans for zip codes for the site, the old WTC had two, if 7WTC is incorporated into the zip code north of it then likely its address will reflect its separation from the rest of the site.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Well if the name is wrong then who'd be searching for the wrong name anyway? Since nobody has heard of 250 they wouldn't be typing 250 into google
I typed it in to find out if the name is wrong.

[Jake]

I know that. I'm saying if Jack & Jill in Alaska were searching for the building near the WTC site, they wouldn't be searching for 250 greenwich if they've never heard the name before

[lofter1]

From the ad insert:

http://911memorials.org/albums/wtc-memorial-news-screenshots/wtc_7wtc_neighborhood.sized.jpg (http://911memorials.org/gallery/wtc-memorial-news-screenshots/wtc_7wtc_neighborhood?full=1)

http://911memorials.org/albums/wtc-memorial-news-screenshots/wtc_office_ready.sized.jpg (http://911memorials.org/gallery/wtc-memorial-news-screenshots/wtc_office_ready?full=1)

[londonlawyer]

Does anyone know if the Chinese group still plans to take space in this tower? Personally, I hope that they anchor a new building in midtown.

[BPC]

Are you the lawyer with the last name "London" who is suing the PA to stop construction of the Calatrava-designed Path station? If so, then you should disclose that economic self-interest (and client interest) in your posts.

[londonlawyer]

That's not me. I call myself Londonlawyer because I'm a lawyer who lived in (and loves) London.

I think that anyone suing to stop construction of that magnificent building is a huge DIC...K!

[BPC]

Cool, I agree. The lead attorney on that suit, FYI, is named Michael A. London, and he has an office on John Street. Fortunately, the suit does not seem to be going anywhere.

[londonlawyer]

I've never heard of him. Sadly, meritless lawsuits delay projects all the time. Look at the schmucks who delayed the Fulton Fish Market move.

Here's the guy's info:

Douglas & London
111 John Street, 8th Floor
New York, New York 10038
Telephone: 212-931-9980
fax: 212-931-9979
Web Site: www.douglasandlondon.com


Practice Areas: Products Liability; Pharmacy Law; Drug and Medical Device Litigation

Admitted: 1998, New York and New Jersey

Law School: Brooklyn Law School, J.D., 1997

College: University of Miami, B.A., 1994

[kliq6]

Schematic drawings and blueprints for Freedom Tower call it 1 WTC, ive seen these while visting an office of a firm invovled

[Jake]

Schematic drawings and blueprints for Freedom Tower call it 1 WTC, ive seen these while visting an office of a firm invovled

Microfilm please!;) risk everything to get them, copy them, post them!


Yes, it's that one thing I really hope isn't just there as a technicality. Since now 7 is called 7WTC hopefully they'll keep 1WTC and over time that ridiculous FT name will just be forgotten.


Bin Laden to NYer: How do I get to the Freedom Tower?
NYer: dunno

that is my hope :D

[NYguy]

Microfilm please!;) risk everything to get them, copy them, post them!


Yes, it's that one thing I really hope isn't just there as a technicality. Since now 7 is called 7WTC hopefully they'll keep 1WTC and over time that ridiculous FT name will just be forgotten.


Bin Laden to NYer: How do I get to the Freedom Tower?
NYer: dunno

that is my hope :D

It will always be 1 WTC, but it won't be known as that since its being given a name. The Twin Towers were never actually given a name, they were just the "Twin Towers". But all of the new WTC buildings will be numbered. Being the tallest, it makes sense to have the Freedom Tower be 1 WTC.

[NYguy]

NEW YORK MAGAZINE

Silverstein Shills His Lucky 7
Architects party in empty tower.

By Alec Appelbaum

Larry Silverstein may not be particularly revered by the city’s architects, but that isn’t to say they’re not curious about what he’s built. So when The Architect’s Newspaper wrote to the developer asking to use 7 WTC for its second-anniversary party on November 18, Silverstein’s PR apparatchiks eagerly offered it the run of the 49th floor. “I think it’s important to him not to be seen as architecturally philistine,” says AN editor Cathy Lang Ho.

David Childs was on hand, but the tone of the party belonged to the other architects kvelling at the views: Gordon Kipping, Hugh Hardy, Charles Renfro— even a delegation from Studio Daniel Libeskind. “The views are spectacular, if haunting,” said one guest. “The first thing I saw as I approached the north wall was an airplane.” Critic Michael Sorkin commandeered the mike to plead with Silverstein not to build another office building on sacred ground, and was followed by the AN publisher thanking the developer for the party space. The audience chuckled. Silverstein left early.

_________________________________

NY POST

7 WTC SEEKS $50 PER FOOT

By STEVE CUOZZO
November 29, 2005


A stroll the other day through Planet Earth's most closely watched new office building, 7 World Trade Center, did not stumble onto any tenants signing leases.

But, accompanied by CB Richard Ellis superbroker Stephen B. Siegel, I got a first-hand feel for what may pass through the minds of companies kicking the tires.

First, an update on talks between developer Larry Silverstein and China's Vantone Real Estate Co., the Beijing-based outfit reported to be interested in 200,000 square feet.

Vantone reportedly offered $40 a square foot. Silverstein wants $50 a foot, but, as at many buildings, that's an average, and the rent rises the higher the floor.

"The problem is, they only want the top of the building, even though Silverstein came back to them with a Chinese menu of options for lower floors," an insider joked.

Vantone's broker, Jones Lang LaSalle honcho Peter Riguardi, said only that the company was "very serious," but would not comment on the talks. Siegel couldn't be reached.

Possibly no new office tower has ever caused so much excitement and anxiety as 7 WTC, which is seen as a bellwether for Lower Manhattan.

Silverstein is putting the finishing touches on the 52-story tower to replace the bulkier original that fell on 9/11. David Childs designed a sleek parallelogram sheathed in translucent curtain-wall glass that looks blue in sunlight, thanks to hidden spandrels that reflect light onto floor-to-ceiling windows.

Inside, it's crammed with security features, state-of-the-art systems and a slick lobby where an installation by artist Jenny Holzer will convey I Love New York-type messages on electronic zippers.

Although it's always stood to reason that 7 WTC might take time to lease up in a slow market, the 1.6 million square feet it added to the downtown inventory has given market-watchers conniptions.

So has Silverstein's $50 "ask," compared with rents between $25 and $40 downtown.

But the newest other buildings nearby, such as the World Financial Center towers, are at least 20 years old. Only a tenant can determine whether 7 WTC's spanking newness justifies the price difference. Some of the issues:

* About that $50: For larger tenants, the cost over a 10-year lease will be as little as $39, thanks to various city and state incentives for downtown.

At least some of the same incentives can be had at other addresses. But the question is whether to compare 7 WTC's pricing to the rest of downtown or to Midtown, where new space is being offered from $60 to $100 and up.

* New vs. almost new: Many 7 WTC amenities can't be beat, including enhanced fireproofing of structural steel, safety features above code, super-efficient elevators and state-of-the-art climate control and telecom systems.

But the systems at other addresses, including the World Financial Center, One New York Plaza and 55 Water St., suffice for their big financial tenants, even if they're not as cutting edge.

* Rare contiguous space: Downtown has more available blocks of 100,000 square feet and up than Midtown, but the number of availabilities overall is shrinking. If the trend continues, the longer it takes to lease 7 WTC, the more rent Silverstein might actually fetch when demand exceeds supply.

* Proximity to shopping: The WFC towers in Battery Park City offer an easy indoor stroll to the Winter Garden, shops and restaurants, while 7 WTC stands isolated.

But some people think it's the WFC that's remote from the rest of downtown, while 7 WTC is an easy stroll to the heart of TriBeCa's dining district.

* Views: Thanks to its center-core design, 7 WTC's 40,000-square-foot floors are mostly column-free. Floor-to-ceiling windows afford grand harbor and skyline views.

The south side of 7 WTC overlooks Ground Zero. The Freedom Tower will only partially block 7 WTC's views at its southwest corner.

The new Goldman Sachs headquarters in Battery Park City, for which ground is to be broken tomorrow, will interrupt the view from 7 WTC's western windows.

* Fiterman Hall must go! The burned-out college building, damaged on 9/11, looks even worse from 7 WTC's high floors than from the street.

[lofter1]

Money Quote:

* Fiterman Hall must go! The burned-out college building, damaged on 9/11, looks even worse from 7 WTC's high floors than from the street.
Fiterman looms heavily at the front door to 7 WTC. Once all the construction barriers around 7 WTC come down Fiterman will be exposed for all to see as the horrible ugly scar it is. If officials don't get on with the removal / rebuilding of Fiterman ASAP it will negatively impact the ability of Silverstein to rent space at 7 WTC.

[kliq6]

Fiterman hall will go into demolish in Febuary, according to my source at the firm running it. $50 per foot for downtown, no matter what is in the building wont go, not with the area being a construction zone atleast till 2015

As for showing the documents, i wish i could but not happening

[ZippyTheChimp]

Fiterman Hall must go!Decontamination is scheduled to start soon, but with all the financial foot dragging by CUNY, the NYS Dormitory Authority, and the insurance carrier, this would have been a good site for a mixed-use building.

A private developer would have provided revenue to get the site cleared, CUNY would get its space, and the mayor would get his housing only one block from the WTC site.

[kliq6]

Zippy hit the nail on what this site should be used for

[lofter1]

Fiterman hall will go into demolish in Febuary, according to my source at the firm running it.
HALLELUJAH !!!

The sidewalk in front of the entrance to 7WTC is now open and you can get a clear and close-up view of the Lobby -- very well done, very minimal and austere. (I tried to get into the lobby, but the security gaurd on duty said "Nope" :( ). The lighting is cool and I eagerly await the "installation by artist Jenny Holzer (that) will convey I Love New York-type messages on electronic zippers" (though I do hope for something a bit more pithy / thoughtful than the simple phrase mentioned).

Now that the scaffolding on the west facade is down the relationship to the Verizon building plays much better.

[kliq6]

By mid next week some nice news on this one may be anounced, things are heating up with one potential tenant, further along then anyother has gotten.

[lofter1]

^ cryptic ;)

[ZippyTheChimp]

No indication at the entrance that the address will be anything other than 7 WTC...changed thread title back to 7 WTC

The lobby interior is not soaring - a sore point with Silverstein at the other planned towers - due to the intrusion of the ConEd substation.

The entry is still glowing pink, sort of inviting (come on in, tenants), like...never mind

[BigMac]

http://static.flickr.com/34/70283599_99692fc0a7.jpg
(darrellsilver (http://flickr.com/photos/darrellsilver/70283599/))

[NoyokA]

Monolith.

[Citytect]

It's neat how the sunlight is shining through the building at the corners.

[antinimby]

Monolith.A nicer way of saying "it's a box." Exactly what Manhattan needs more of.

[NoyokA]

A nicer way of saying "it's a box." Exactly what Manhattan needs more of.

I have to agree with your sarcasm there...

[Jake]

http://static.flickr.com/34/70283599_99692fc0a7.jpg
(darrellsilver (http://flickr.com/photos/darrellsilver/70283599/))

Absolutely beautiful pic! Greatly appreciated

so many familiar things missing to the south :(

[Johnnyboy]

why does light shine though this building and not the others. Did the workers still not put something that i don't know about?
this is the only building ive seen to do that.

[evil_synth]

No, the building is just empty. There's nothing on most of the floors to block the light going through the floor to ceiling windows.

[Ninjahedge]

Wait until the cubicles get place din there.


This is what most architects dream of when they are making their designs, ignoring the fact that there has to be something IN them in the end.

Not all offices can look like some deco minimilast artists room or like an Apple commercial with one chair and a glass desk.... ;)

[Jake]

There is a pic of the WTC from before they opened where you only see the core and everything else is see-through

[antinimby]

I have to agree with your sarcasm there...
;)

[Anthony]

A treat for you all from a guy that visited New York in May '05 and since fell in love with the city... I've made a wallpaper out of the wonderful picture by Darrell Silver.

I've enhaced the tower itself, making it stand out more, while I've blurred the rest of the image. The lighting was also modified. Hope you enjoy!

http://forumf1u.f2o.org/wallwtc7thumb.jpg

(1024x768) (http://forumf1u.f2o.org/wallwtc71024.jpg)
(1280x768 WIDESCREEN) (http://forumf1u.f2o.org/wallwtc71280.jpg)

[lofter1]

^ nice! The reflection of the deco Post Office on the lower floors of 7WTC is fantastic.

[macreator]

Beautiful picture! Silverstein should pay you for it.

[Anthony]

The picture's not mine, I just modified it a bit ;) .

[NYguy]

DECEMBER 11, 2005


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/53510162/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/53510152/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/53510154.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/53510165.jpg

[krulltime]

^ Great photos!

REALTY CHECK

By STEVE CUOZZO
December 13, 2005

At long last, an actual lease-signing at 7 World Trade Center appears imminent. Sources say the New York Academy of Sciences is likely to complete a lease with Larry Silverstein within a week for a full, 40,000-square-foot floor.

The academy's talks with Silverstein were first reported in The Post on Oct. 26. Since then, two widely discussed potential deals at the tower have yet to happen. American Express spinoff Ameriprise Financial has yet to clinch a deal for 20,000 feet, and the status of talks for a possible 200,000 feet for China's Vantone Real Estate Co. remains unclear.


Copyright 2005 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[GLNY]

Re 7WTC:

There are prospects. Robert Joffe, partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, says his law firm is considering, among other options, moving its headquarters there from Midtown. Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co., a Chinese real-estate company, is negotiating to rent five floors near the top. So far, just two small tenants have indicated their intention to take space there. Ameriprise Financial Inc., formerly part of American Express, will take half a floor, and the nonprofit New York Academy of Sciences will take a floor. Neither, though, have signed a lease.

Copyright (c) 2005 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 12/14/2005 05:20:15

[TonyO]

Wall St. Journal
12/14/05

Lots of Tension, Few Tenants; As 7 WTC's Opening Nears, Political Pressure Mounts On Trade Center Developer

SEVEN WORLD Trade Center, Manhattan's most modern office tower, will likely be very quiet when it opens in March. Despite two years of sales pitches for the 52-story steel-and-glass box that overlooks the dusty pit where the Twin Towers stood, no major tenants have taken space in the skyscraper.

That bodes ill for its builder, Larry Silverstein, who is fighting tenaciously to erect five more office buildings, including the iconic Freedom Tower, next door.

Owing to the 99-year lease he signed on the World Trade Center six weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Silverstein has the right to rebuild the site. And while he won't rebuild the Twin Towers, he does want to replace most of the destroyed office space. Trouble is, if he can't rent the space in 7 World Trade Center, how, critics ask, can he expect to fill almost six times that much?

Besides the lack of prospective tenants, Mr. Silverstein has had several setbacks and is engaged in an increasingly tense struggle with politicians and government agencies who could derail the plans of the 74-year-old real-estate veteran. Even his longtime financial backer may be open to a deal that would allow their partnership to be removed from at least part of the rebuilding process.

Mr. Silverstein's latest bad news came this week, when he failed to reach agreement with New York City on a timetable for the project and on how much Mr. Silverstein can request as a developer's fee. That pact was necessary for the city to approve $3.5 billion in tax-exempt bonds to help pay for the rebuilding of the Trade Center site. The two sides are still talking, but Mr. Silverstein says the lack of a deal will only delay rebuilding.

More than four years have passed since 9/11, and little has been rebuilt on the site except a temporary commuter rail station and 7 World Trade Center. The lack of progress has led to finger-pointing between Mr. Silverstein and the city, New York State and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the Trade Center site and serves as Mr. Silverstein's landlord. Political leaders are becoming more involved in the rebuilding. This is the last year in office for New York Gov. George E. Pataki, and he is concerned about his legacy, while New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, fresh off a re- election romp, is no longer focused on building a football stadium for the New York Jets or bringing the Olympics to the city.

Last week, for the first time, Gov. Pataki, long a Silverstein booster, indicated that diminishing the developer's role could help the rebuilding go faster. "The best way to do it might be to have more involvement by the Port Authority, more involvement by perhaps other private-sector investors," he said at a news conference. Port Authority Chairman Anthony R. Coscia and Mayor Bloomberg, who has asserted his influence through control of the approval of the tax- exempt bonds, also have suggested a reduced role for Mr. Silverstein.

The developer rejects such a move out of hand. But his main financial partner, Lloyd Goldman, who normally takes a backseat to Mr. Silverstein in public, says the door is open to a deal that would reduce their role. "We're not looking for a deal to be made. We're not soliciting offers. We're looking to live up to our contract," he says. "If there is a deal that makes sense, we would evaluate and accept."

Mr. Goldman, 47 years old, is the money behind the brash public face of Mr. Silverstein. When the two bid on the Twin Towers in 2001, it was Mr. Goldman's $80 million that led the $125 million initial payment. Mr. Silverstein put about $14 million in the deal. When the Port Authority awarded Mr. Silverstein's team the lease, he and Mr. Goldman established a 10-year agreement whereby Mr. Silverstein would operate the project through 2011.

Next year will be pivotal for Mr. Silverstein. In addition to needing to find tenants for 7 World Trade Center and secure the tax- exempt bonds, he plans to begin foundation work on the signature building on the site, the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower in April. He will also face an increase in the rent he has continued to pay to the Port Authority. The annual payment will rise to $138 million from $120 million a year next August and will further diminish the pool of insurance money he has to rebuild. At least $1.6 billion of the potential $4.6 billion already has been spent or allocated.

A key factor in the debate over how to rebuild is that there is little demand at the moment for five new office towers. While Midtown Manhattan's real-estate market is thriving, downtown remains sluggish, with many office buildings being converted to condominiums. The Port Authority, city and state say what downtown really needs is shopping, plus a hotel and possibly some housing.

The Port Authority has increased pressure on Mr. Silverstein in recent months by unveiling plans for a 550,000-square-foot mall that would be sprinkled through the five buildings Mr. Silverstein wants to build and a $2.2 billion train station the Port Authority is building with federal aid. Mr. Coscia, the Port Authority chairman, has called for Mr. Silverstein to cede a portion of the development back to the Port Authority in hopes that it, or another private developer, could build it faster than Mr. Silverstein.

Mr. Silverstein rejects that argument and says he is building as fast as he can. He says he is waiting for the Port Authority to excavate the eastern part of the site and build a so-called bathtub, which serves the dual purpose of foundation for the building and bulwark against water seeping in from the Hudson River nearby. Because that seven-acre quadrant didn't have skyscrapers before 9/11, its foundations are relatively shallow. Now that the plan calls for three 700-foot-plus tall towers there, and an underground mall, workers must dig 70 to 80 feet to bedrock so the buildings can have a solid base. On the way down, they will remove pieces of an old rail tunnel that existed before the World Trade Center was built in the 1960s.

It will take two years to dig the bathtub and require close to 2,000 trucks a day to haul out the earth and supply workers and equipment. The Port Authority says that the bathtub will be ready in mid-2008 and that plans for the area need to be drawn up now, not when it is complete.

The timetable for rebuilding the overall site is long, and some say optimistic. The Freedom Tower won't open until 2011. The retail mall and towers on the eastern flank won't be complete until 2012, and the final tower in 2013 or later. A memorial will begin construction next year and be completed in 2009. The cost for the entire rebuilding is unknown, but estimates range from $9 billion to $13 billion. While Mr. Silverstein probably has enough insurance money to build the Freedom Tower and possibly a second tower, he will need to attract tenants to the other buildings in order to take advantage of financing available through the government-backed bonds.

Even Mr. Silverstein acknowledges he may not be around when the project is complete. "If you are asking me to think 10 years ahead, I can't. I'm almost 75. I don't know what's going to happen 10 years, 15 years from now."

While Mr. Silverstein maintains a mission-like vigor for his task, he is now talking openly about the frustrations of rebuilding. At one point in an interview, he asked, "What do I have to show for the last five years of my life? Not very much." Mr. Silverstein dwells on the fact that he will have spent the last 10 years of his working life on the Trade Center, a project he says "has this disastrous effect on everything around us."

The copper-haired developer's most pressing struggle is to fill the almost-empty 7 World Trade Center. In September 2003, he listed the tower's 42 rentable floors and invited 20 of the city's top real- estate brokers to dine on his yacht, the Silver Shalis, where he championed the project's architecture and security.

Early discussions were promising, but there were no takers. Local brokers say that Mr. Silverstein's high rents keep companies from closing deals. "When Larry decides to set the price where the market is, then it will rent," says Barry Gosin, chief executive of real- estate brokerage firm Newmark & Co. Real Estate Inc. "It's probably the nicest building on the market. But it's still downtown."

There are prospects. Robert Joffe, partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, says his law firm is considering, among other options, moving its headquarters there from Midtown. Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co., a Chinese real-estate company, is negotiating to rent five floors near the top. So far, just two small tenants have indicated their intention to take space there. Ameriprise Financial Inc., formerly part of American Express, will take half a floor, and the nonprofit New York Academy of Sciences will take a floor. Neither, though, have signed a lease.

Mr. Silverstein's lack of tenants has made some real-estate executives, including Mr. Gosin, skeptical that lower Manhattan needs five new office towers. "There's just not enough demand for office space," he says.

[kliq6]

Last sentence in th eabove aticle sums it all up sadly, LM has no true office demand now

[Ninjahedge]

What it needs is some reason(s) for people to want to be there other than the office just being there.

1) Good commute (PATH, possibly more direct links)
2) Good "support" buisnesses (Restaurants, etc).
3) Attractive plaza spaces.
4) Expense

You start making it an attractive alternative and many cramped, multi-story companies might consider shelling out a little more cash to move from their 8 story pre-war to a building that was intended to be an office space.

But if all we do is hem and haw about it, leaving a big hole in the ground, all we will get is a bunch of "maybe"s.

You all have walked around there. It is a dump. If they clean up and make that area as attractive as the Wintergarden you will see 7 fill up much faster.

Who wants an office that has a great view of a hole in the ground?

[MrShakespeare]

This graphic was published with today's article in the WSJ (posted above by TonyO).

[lofter1]

What it needs is some reason(s) for people to want to be there other than the office just being there...

You start making it an attractive alternative and many cramped, multi-story companies might consider shelling out a little more cash to move from their 8 story pre-war to a building that was intended to be an office space...

Who wants an office that has a great view of a hole in the ground?
Hey, what about some cultural amenities? Oh, I forgot ... those were supposed to be there -- but somebody cried a little bit about that and now there will be NONE :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Ninjahedge]

Hey, what about some cultural amenities? Oh, I forgot ... those were supposed to be there -- but somebody cried a little bit about that and now there will be NONE :mad: :mad: :mad:

Yep.

I never liked walking around downtown. It was always to dirty, poorly paved, crowded, sterile.

You went from the old school streets where you have buildings so close to one another that they look like they will fall on each other when you walk between them to the barren vacant area surrounding the old WTC.


Now you walk there and you get similar feelings.

It needs an open plaza, but not a dead one. It needs coffeehouses and open air dining and seating areas and all that, not a huge area dedicated to nothing but the rememberance of a tragic event.

NEW CHANT!!!

THE POOLS MUST GO!
THE POOLS MUST GO!
THE FOOLS MUST GO!!
THE POOLS MUST GO!

[JMGarcia]

NEW CHANT!!!

THE POOLS MUST GO!
THE POOLS MUST GO!
THE FOOLS MUST GO!!
THE POOLS MUST GO!

How about "Ditch the Ditches". ;)

[ZippyTheChimp]

not a huge area dedicated to nothing but the rememberance of a tragic event.It doesn't even do that.

[lofter1]

Last night I watched some of the PBS / Ric Burns documentary "The Center of the World":

( http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/newyork/index.html )

Such a powerful work -- it alone is about as good a memorial piece as can be hoped for.

[MrShakespeare]

Buried in the news of the Foster announcement is this gem: The New York Academy of Science has agreed to a lease of the entire 40th Floor of 7WTC.

"Until Thursday, he had no signed tenants for either Seven or for the Freedom Tower. But the New York Academy of Science signed a 15-year lease to rent the 40th floor of Seven World Trade, Silverstein said. The space will include a 300-person conference center, and Silverstein said more leases would soon follow."


http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--attacks-redevelop1215dec15,0,6913615.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

[kliq6]

to follow up on my November 30th Statement


It's official: 7 World Trade Center has its first tenant. Developer Larry Silverstein announced Thursday afternoon that the New York Academy of Sciences has signed a 15-year lease for 40,000 square feet of space in the new, 1.7-million-square-foot tower at Ground Zero that's may open otherwise empty in the first quarter of 2006. The academy's lease takes up the entire 40th floor of the 52-story tower. Academy president Ellis Rubinstein participated in today's announcement, which can only be seen as especially good news for both Silverstein and his tower. Before today, the only inkling of a lease in 7 World Trade came from Ameriprise Financial Inc., formerly part of American Express. The financial firm is reportedly close to leasing 20,000 square feet in the tower, but no official announcement has been made.

[NYguy]

globest.com

Academy of Sciences Inks First 7 WTC Lease

By Barbara Jarvie
December 16, 2005


NEW YORK CITY-By Manhattan standards, it's not the bigest lease ever signed, but its implications are huge. The New York Academy of Sciences has become the first tenant to take space at 7 World Trade Center, the last building to fall on Sept. 11 and the first to rise again. The academy, which signed a 15-year, 40,000-sf lease for the entire 40th floor, will return to its Lower Manhattan roots when it moves into the space next September. The site is one block from where it was founded in 1817.

New York Academy of Sciences president Ellis Rubinstein tells GlobeSt.com that the firm looked at as many as 30 potential sites before choosing 7 WTC. “We got an excellent deal,” he said, adding that it is approximately $3 million less than what they would have paid at the next choice, 1 Madison Ave. The space will also include a conferencing center in the space that will host major international conferences.

Rubinstein said the academy had no qualms about the security of the site. “The building is spectacular and over code. I think the city will keep it extremely safe.”

Over the summer, a $3.80-per-sf incentive for the first 750,000 sf leased at 7 World Trade was put in place as part of a plan to lure tenants to the WTC area. Developer Larry Silverstein have to match the incentives. “These incentives make all the difference in the world,” said Silverstein during a press conference. “There will be more (leases) to follow.”

The 52-story office is bound by Greenwich, Vesey, Washington and Barclay streets. Tishman Construction Corp., which built the original 7 World Trade Center for Silverstein, is contractor for the project. Earlier this year, the New York City Industrial Development Agency approved $475 million of New York Liberty Bonds to be used for the reconstruction and permanent financing of 7 WTC, which is being constructed on a 58,000-sf site. Tenant floors begin at the 11th floor above grade. The untenanted first 10 floors largely are given over to a series of huge bays housing transformers for a Con Edison substation.

[LeCom]

Construction elevator is removed
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422695.jpg

Right underneath the shot above
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422696.jpg

The base is already lit up
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422694.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422693.jpg

[macreator]

I'm actually beginning to warm up to the base design.

Depending on the light, it appears to be more of a copper color than I had previously thought.

All in all, I think the complaints on the base were a bit overdone.

[LeCom]

Like it or not, you can't say the base isn't imposing

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422830.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422831.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422821.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422697.jpg

North side
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422827.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422829.jpg

Sure doesn't help the neighborhood look more alive
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422699.jpg

Fiterman Hall right behind the spot from where I took the above photo
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422832.jpg

[lofter1]

Barclay St. could definitely use an up-grade -- some trees, please. (There were trees at one time in front of the white / glass building on the north side of Barclay; the sidewalk there continues to be an un-reconstructed mess and is screaming out for a re-do.).

Although when the GS building goes up it will completely alter the view down Barclay towards the WSH.

The southern face of 7WTC will face directly on to the Performing Arts Building, so hopefully Mr. Gehry will come up with something to play off of it (aren't I the optimistic one, talking about Gehry and that building as if it is ever going to be built :rolleyes: ).

[Citytect]

I still really confused about the facade directly above the metal base.

[ddjiii]

Barclay St. could definitely use an up-grade -- some trees, please. (There were trees at one time in front of the white / glass building on the north side of Barclay; the sidewalk there continues to be an un-reconstructed mess and is screaming out for a re-do.).


I'm shocked that people still front public streets with blank 50 ft walls. Why do architects design that, and why does the city allow it? I understand Barclay is a b-street that will get all the loading docks, air intakes, etc. but you can do something - it looks like nobody spent 5 minutes of design time on that facade - contracted with the entrance elevation, which is pretty cool.

[BPC]

I'm shocked that people still front public streets with blank 50 ft walls. Why do architects design that, and why does the city allow it?

Because Modernism is all the rage once again, at least among the art critics who matter on these subjects, and Modernism has always hated the pedestrian. One need look no further than all the praise heaped upon the redesign of MOMA, a redesign which left the museum with similarly blank walls encircling it.

http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/2079215/2112767/2114186/2115910/050329_GardenWall_EX.jpg

http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/2079215/2112767/2114186/2115910/050329_54thStview_EX.jpg

http://www.slate.com/id/2115870/

[ZippyTheChimp]

I still really confused about the facade directly above the metal base.Looking at the concrete columns at the southwest corner, where they are not yet covered with facade and only partially painted; the white material appears to me to be some sort of waterproofing primer. Hopefully, they will be painted a dark color.

The glass above the base looks different from the rest of the facade because the reflective spandrels that give the glass its unique appearance are replaced by vent openings that are needed to cool the equipment.

[vc10]

It's an infinitely better building than the old 7WTC.

[macreator]

In general, Downtown really needs to work beyond rebuilding the big stuff, like the World Trade Center, but also just as importantly on the small stuff.

Lining all of Downtown's streets with trees, planters and more street lights to light up desolate streets at night is very important psychologically to create a more "put-together" Downtown.

[Citytect]

Looking at the concrete columns at the southwest corner, where they are not yet covered with facade and only partially painted; the white material appears to me to be some sort of waterproofing primer. Hopefully, they will be painted a dark color.

The glass above the base looks different from the rest of the facade because the reflective spandrels that give the glass its unique appearance are replaced by vent openings that are needed to cool the equipment.

Painting the columns a dark color would help a lot, I think. Hopefully that's the plan.

Do you think the vent openings will be covered in some way? Looking back at the article (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=73157&postcount=841) about the base lighting, the rendering there suggests that they'll be left completely open. If so, it gives the building an unfinished appearance (which, I know, it still is). I'm sure someone can think of something to plug those holes visually and still provide adequate ventilation.

Also, it looks like they mimicked the open ventilation spacing at the top of the facade. Why?

That said, I think the tower looks good despite problems in the details. The glass is fantastic - much much better than the Time-Warner glass it has been compared to.

[Ninjahedge]

The building looks great from a distance, but it looks cold and sterile (with stronge industrial post-modernist carrying lines) when you get up cclose and personal.

You need to find a way to hide the scale of that wall when you are close enough to touch it.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Do you think the vent openings will be covered in some way? Looking back at the article (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=73157&postcount=841) about the base lighting, the rendering there suggests that they'll be left completely open. That rendering may depict a darker color vent than the spandrels on the rest of the building. A white air vent would soon get dirty.

http://img500.imageshack.us/img500/7735/7wtcfacade04c9jd.th.jpg (http://img500.imageshack.us/my.php?image=7wtcfacade04c9jd.jpg) http://img500.imageshack.us/img500/1622/7wtcfacade05c7kt.th.jpg (http://img500.imageshack.us/my.php?image=7wtcfacade05c7kt.jpg)

The wide openings are only on the east and west face. If they leave the facade open like that, pigeons will turn the space into a dormitory.

The problem is more pronounced on the side facing the sun. There are no floors to break up the light.

[Citytect]

Someone posted a link to Radii Inc. (http://www.radiiinc.com/) in another discussion. I found this picture of 7WTC there. It shows the building lit above the base. Not sure if that's going to happen or not...

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b195/nova_cain/nyc05/d53d6da0.jpg

Though it won't improve the appearance of that trouble area during the day, when it's most visible.

[wns808]

the new 7WTC looks amazing!! can't wait to see some inside pics!!

[Edward]

New York skyscrapers - with 7 WTC (http://www.wirednewyork.com/wtc/7wtc/) - after sunset. The view from Staten Island Ferry (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/../waterfront/ferries/si_ferry.htm). 18 December 2005.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/wtc/7wtc/7wtc_sunset.jpg

[BPC]

That could pass for a rendering.

The view was really something just a few years ago.

[Jake]

^yes, now it looks mediocre at best :(

The saddest part is the fact that "a few years ago" is more than half a decade ago. I honestly thought we'd have two skyscrapers topped out by now. Meanwhile we don't even have the underground structure.

7 is a nice building but it should only serve to complement whatever the main building is.

btw, now it's dark when I leave work and the metal base shines like silver, it's really good-looking

[TallGuy]

If I recall, several cameras were to have been strategically placed around the site to capture the rebuliding process in slow motion to completion, so once done we would see the whole rebirth in glorious stop-gap motion. Does anyone know if this is still in process? To see it to this point would be a great editorial on the failed rebuilding process to date. We could superimpose the faces of Pataki and gang over the imagesas a form of humiliation.

[Jake]

Yes! It's called Project Rebirth, you can visit it here --> http://www.projectrebirth.org/

The project is in need of donations, something you might consider as taxes for 2005 will be coming sooner than you think.

Anyway, the site has something of a "trailer" for its film, although rarely updated it's still worth seeing. Can't see much yet (duh barely anything has been done) and 7 just happens to be in a spot that isn't in center view of any of the cameras. What I like about it is the shadows the buildings cast in the rising sun and how the landscape changes in wintertime. Worth checking out, I'm sure this will be in the memorial museum eventually.

[RiFF]

http://riff.endoria.net/NewYork/photos/photo27.jpg

I made this pic during my trip to NYC past June, thought you guys might want to see it :)

[Jake]

WOW, if that doesn't look like the HQ of the "infidels" then I don't know what does. Haha, this is the most satanic looking view of any building in NYC IMO. Great job RiFF, I love it.

[BrooklynRider]

Great picture. The mood the picture conveys is just breathless and foreboding. It might become a perfect reference going forward in this thread.

[jeffpark]

There is a building that they are taking down
Its just north of the new “7 world trade center”
It’s a whole square block
Between Barclay st, west Broadway,
Park Pl and Greenwich

What are they building/developing there?

[ZippyTheChimp]

Fiterman Hall

[infoshare]

Yes! It's called Project Rebirth, you can visit it here --> http://www.projectrebirth.org/


Wiredny already has this covered. I think the NYWired thread on this subject will offer more insightful commentary, pro photos, and generally better coverage then that other website.

a plug for WNY, not that they need it.

P.S. The splash page of thier website has an "Explore the timeline" line feature: as well as a current photo of Daniel Liebskind. Idea: Click on photo of Daniel to see a
photo-inhanced image of him on the date of the completion of Freedom Tower - (insert an image of Dan Liebsking with long white beard: looking about 190 years old....LOL)

cheers

[Jake]

^I agree. But we're not making a film, they are. Their site isn't very good, I just visit it for the film.

[krulltime]

7 World Trade lands second official lease


http://www.therealdeal.net//breaking_news/2006/01/04/images/3847.jpg
7 World Trade under
construction last year

January 4, 2006

Developer Larry Silverstein announced Wednesday morning that Ameriprise Financial has signed a 10-year lease for 20,000 square feet on the 39th floor of 7 World Trade Center, which is expected to open by the end of March. The lease was long rumored, but Silverstein made it official today. The financial services firm joins the New York Academy of Sciences as the only two leases in the 52-story tower. CB Richard Ellis represented Silverstein in the deal and Trammell Crow Company represented Ameriprise Financial.


Copyright © 2003-2005 The Real Deal.

[kliq6]

Now if that China Lease could go thru, they will start to get this boat moving

[evil_synth]

w00t
glad to see the acceleration starting to kick in with this project, once official work starts on the wtc site, we'll start to see more and more tenants I predict.

[wns808]

slowly but sure. I'd still like to see some inside pics of the new 7WTC (other than when Silverstein took a reporter to an empty floor) when its all completed, esp. the lobbby.

[NYguy]

JANUARY 8, 2006

The more you look at it, the base really does recall the base of the original Twin Towers...


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/54622427/medium.jpg_http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/54622481/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/54622500/medium.jpg_http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/54622498/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/54622501/medium.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/54622501/large.jpg

[pianoman11686]

That last picture looks incredible. Thanks!

[wns808]

amazing "up" shot!

[Jake]

I found today that IMO the best viewing spot for 7 WTC (as well as AMEX, and One Liberty) happens to be right between the HSBC and Equitable buildings. If you stand on that corner and look towards GZ you can really appreciate the height of this building. Now just imagine how its neighbore will be over 1000 feet higher and I think I can just hope for a return to the good old days of NYC skyscraper awe.

[NYatKNIGHT]

http://www.pbase.com/image/54677324.jpg

[macreator]

What a fantastic shot! From that angle, with that light, the glass looks like liquid.

Bravo NYatKnight!

[evil_synth]

awesome picture.
Just curious, but what companies/organization had spaces in the old 7 WTC tower?

[kliq6]

most of it was Salamon Smith Barney - But Citigroup has taken alot of space in Midtown and this staff has been moved there and to there Greenwich Street Offices

[macreator]

awesome picture.
Just curious, but what companies/organization had spaces in the old 7 WTC tower?


The building also housed a lot of government agencies and offices including the old Office of Emergency Management (OEM), The CIA's New York offices, the SEC's New York offices and the FBI.

It was pretty stupid in hindsight that such high profile offices were allowed to be housed in one building across the street from such a high profile target as the World Trade Center but of course hindsight is always 20/20.

[Jake]

What was ridiculous was the location of the emergency response center in a location that was the most likely target. Shoul've put the bunker on 110th in 1WTC.

Yeah, the CIA had offices there, didn't you hear? THey put bombs in thrash cans and blew the thing up! BUt the bombs leave no traces, tehy were too high tech, maybe not that high tech but from another planet so you guys would never understand,

[evil_synth]

Yeah, the CIA had offices there, didn't you hear? THey put bombs in thrash cans and blew the thing up! BUt the bombs leave no traces, tehy were too high tech, maybe not that high tech but from another planet so you guys would never understand,
Well, I'm not sure if you're joking or not, but the collapse of that building was sort of strange. It just dropped straight down.

[macreator]

Well, I'm not sure if you're joking or not, but the collapse of that building was sort of strange. It just dropped straight down.

People make out the collapse of 7 World Trade to be more strange than it actually was.

Since OEM was in the building, 7 World Trade had huge reserve of propane tanks for emergency generators. This was of course incrediably stupid. The only thing more idiotic was the fact that the OEM "bunker" wasn't in the basement of the building because of the Con Ed substation (which further added to 7's demise once fires began breaking out and the propane tanks exploded). Yes, the "bunker" was on like the 7th floor of the tower. So much for safety.

I think the final conclusion was that the explosion of the propane tanks was due to flying parts of the World Trade Center towers piercing the tanks and starting fires as the towers came down.

[BrooklynRider]

You can order a free DVD on the "peculiarities" of the collapse of 7WTC by going to www.reopen911.org. Others are critical of it without actually viewing it, but I saw it and think it raises a lot of questions that have remained unanswered. If you are interested, you just have to give your address from the free DVD. It no obligation, no people calling you, no shrill overly emotional screaming about conspiracies. It just presents the unanswered questions. The voice of the narrator is about as monotone as you could imagine, but the material is very interesting. If anyone is going to post stuff relating to "www.reopen911.org" at least have the courtesy to state whether you have viewed the DVD. It fine to dismiss it if you are not interested in it, but refrain from offering critiques on something you have no seen.

The OEM office was on the 15th Floor and had just been completed.

[Jake]

I will briefly comment, since obviously we can't really "solve" this.

IMO the only valid argument raised by that or in fact any site i've been to, is the "how safe was the air following the attack?"


IMO all theories using arrows, puffs of smoke, mysterious flashes, calculations of whatever the hell they were calculating and so on cannot be used seeing as NOONE IN THE WORLD knew how each component of the building would react. The smoke is impossible to predict, the collapse is impossible to predict, you cannot calculate any equation where 90% of you data is unknown. You could get the entire WTC engineering team together and they couldn't tell you.

I can show you the face of satan in the smoke, does that give me the right to put out a DVD and argue how this puff here is the ear, AHA, IT PROVES IT! EUREKA!

I don't know, it's everyone's own decision what to believe. I think we need to be open minded but to dwell on something that could be this and could be that is pointless.

As a Oil-stock owning Republican American I can tell you that thinking that such a great number of Americans would conspire to do this, even if for tremendous personal gain, is a serious lack of faith in your countrymen.

A note: I understand that the DVD is only unanswered questions but the tone of the voice of the guy in the ads makes me almost want to laugh. "Building 7, a WHOLE 2 blocks north.." lol that's a helluva distance.

Keep an open mind but please get your sources straight before saying how Bin Laden owned stock in Bush's company and blah blah.

The above post was not directed at anyone. Should a dispute arise the poster is not responsible for any legal fees that might be requiered for the court proceeding. This post should not be viewed by anyone and its viewing is punishable by death or $100 fine in the State of New York.

[davidcaspian]

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet, but there is a cool Urban Exploration gang and they took some pictures of 7 World Trade Center during its construction/topping off stage from the inside. It's pretty neat.

http://www.netherworldonline.net/gallery/wtc7

[infoshare]

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet, but there is a cool Urban Exploration gang
http://www.netherworldonline.net/gallery/wtc7

The site is over booked, bandwidthe wise, but this is just the sort of stuff I am here digging for: cant wait to view it - thaks.

[jeffpark]

It’s a nice building by som, but why don’t they use other architect’s for the other developments like cesar palli, kps they have done nice buildings in midtown

Kps did (1) 5 times square the Ernst and young building for mort Zuckerman.
(2) 745 seventh ave for Lehman brother, (Rockefeller group)

Cesar pelli (1) the Bloomberg tower
(2) Bear Stearns on Madison
(3) Goldman Sachs in NJ

Som have done crap buildings in midtown just look at 300 Madison for Brookfield

[jeffpark]

It’s a nice building by som, but why don’t they use other architect’s for the other developments like cesar palli, kps they have done nice buildings in midtown

Kps did (1) 5 times square the Ernst and young building for mort Zuckerman.
(2) 745 seventh ave for Lehman brother, (Rockefeller group)

Cesar pelli (1) the Bloomberg tower
(2) Bear Stearns on Madison
(3) Goldman Sachs in NJ

Som have done crap buildings in midtown just look at 300 Madison for Brookfield

[infoshare]

It's pretty neat.

http://www.netherworldonline.net/gallery/wtc7

Dc - I have not been able to open this link: tried several time today. Is there any other way to see those photos?

[lofter1]

...thinking that such a great number of Americans would conspire to do this, even if for tremendous personal gain, is a serious lack of faith in your countrymen...

Considering any number of events in our country's history I don't see that such thoughts would show a LACK of faith, but rather a clear eyed view that there is much that goes on among those in "power" with little regard for their fellow citizens, leaving the average guy or gal on the streets with very little knowledge of the inner workings and manipulations going on day after day ...

[wns808]

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet, but there is a cool Urban Exploration gang and they took some pictures of 7 World Trade Center during its construction/topping off stage from the inside. It's pretty neat.

http://www.netherworldonline.net/gallery/wtc7

all I get is a "Bandwith Limit Exceeded" error from the link :(

[Alonzo-ny]

It’s a nice building by som, but why don’t they use other architect’s for the other developments like cesar palli, kps they have done nice buildings in midtown

Kps did (1) 5 times square the Ernst and young building for mort Zuckerman.
(2) 745 seventh ave for Lehman brother, (Rockefeller group)

Cesar pelli (1) the Bloomberg tower
(2) Bear Stearns on Madison
(3) Goldman Sachs in NJ

Som have done crap buildings in midtown just look at 300 Madison for Brookfield

i thought it was cesar's son who designed bloomberg

[davidcaspian]

Dc - I have not been able to open this link: tried several time today. Is there any other way to see those photos?

Yeah, now I'm getting the same message too. It seems the whole site is down. That really stinks. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if they put it back up. The shots were really cool too. Sorry about that.

[infoshare]

Yeah, now I'm getting the same message too. It seems the whole site is down. That really stinks. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if they put it back up. The shots were really cool too. Sorry about that.

I will continue to do web searches for "urban explorers" and if anything in that group turns: ill post here. thanks for the reply

[vc10]

745 7th Avenue wasn't done for Lehman Brothers. It was done for Morgan Stanley. Then after 9/11, Lehman bought the building from Morgan Stanley. So Lehman had no input into the building's development at all.

It’s a nice building by som, but why don’t they use other architect’s for the other developments like cesar palli, kps they have done nice buildings in midtown

Kps did (1) 5 times square the Ernst and young building for mort Zuckerman.
(2) 745 seventh ave for Lehman brother, (Rockefeller group)

Cesar pelli (1) the Bloomberg tower
(2) Bear Stearns on Madison
(3) Goldman Sachs in NJ

Som have done crap buildings in midtown just look at 300 Madison for Brookfield

[jeffpark]

I know that, I was just trying to point out which building, so the average person looking at this site should know what I am talking about, and I am not of concern that who the developer was, the main thing we are speaking about is the architect.

And by the Rockefeller group co-developed it, i know my real estate.

[ZippyTheChimp]

It’s a nice building by som, but why don’t they use other architect’s for the other developments like cesar palli, kps they have done nice buildings in midtown SOM/Childs have not been contracted for any towers except the FT.

About two years ago, Silverstein stated he was considering three architects for tower 2 (200 Greenwich), Norman Foster, Fumihiko Maki, and Jean Nouvel. So far, Foster has been hired.

Calatrava has done the hub, Snohetta the museum, and Gehry is to design the performing arts center - if it is ever built.

[jeffpark]

FT looks like crap.

[Ninjahedge]

FT looks like crap.

Try to put more input in than what would be given by a Flash Animation.....

http://brendoman.com/images/strongbad.jpg

[jeffpark]

get a life

[ZippyTheChimp]

FT looks like crap.
Non sequitur.

[jeffpark]

7 world tc looks very good and David did a nice job, its very modern, and square which that is what type of buildings he (david c) design’s, but the ft is more round which in general David is not known for that, and cesar pelli is known for more round buildings just look at the new building which is across the river in NJ, which Cesar pelli design'd it, and it looks a lot better then the design of the new ft, isn’t that crazy that a building in nj looks better then the ft????????????

[jeffpark]

you do not even have to go to nj just look at the world fc its 20 years old and it still looks brand new, it was done by paul and his brother from o&y by cesar pelli

[ZippyTheChimp]

I don't especially like the FT, particularly the awful base.

I'm not too crazy about 30 Hudson either. And having lived close to the WFC for many years, I can say that if anything in New York misses the twin towers, it is the WFC. The buildings look stumpy.

Having a particular architect on a project does not guarantee a great building.

[NYguy]

I still say we have to get the Freedom Tower built before we can say anything with certainty. From the renderings, the base (and of course the spire) needs work. But for the tower itself, if 7 WTC is any indication, I think I'm going to like it.

[jeffpark]

how can a check the zoning on a property from the nyc.gov web site
becouse i seen that oasisnyc and propertyshark are not always corect,
were do thay get the zoning info?

[ZippyTheChimp]

Go to the Dept of City Planning (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/home.html) website.

Upper left, click on ZONING > HOME.

The zoning text is broken down into chapters, and can be viewed as one 14 mb file.

There is a map-grid index, by borough. Click on a grid location, and you will get that zoning map.

[lofter1]

...having lived close to the WFC for many years, I can say that if anything in New York misses the twin towers, it is the WFC. The buildings look stumpy.
You're right ... but that's because Pelli designed the WFC as "hills" to respond to the WTC's towering "mountains".

[Jake]

^a very wise decision on his part. I very much enjoy working and looking at the WFC. IMO they are "interesting" buildings that retain the building-ness of set-backs and a stable, powerful look. A feature I enjoy the most is the tiny, roughly two floor portion of the buildings right under the roof, it's a fully glass section that I feel could've extended far higher. These buildings fit PERFECTLY with the trade center, now they look like a mouth with front teeth knocked out.

http://www.michaelp.org/photos/gz2002/two_world_financial_center.jpg

[TLOZ Link5]

For late '80s postmodern architecture, the WFC buildings are fantastic, even clever, as Eric P. Nash notes in Manhattan Skyscrapers. Note the changes in the fenestration patterns at each setback: much like the transition in skyscraper architecture, the masonry/window ratio changes from a mostly stone curtain wall, evoking the earliest skyscrapers, to pure glass, like postwar buildings.

The crowns, too, are evocative of historical forms in architecture: a ziggurat on #4, a mastaba on #1, a dome on #2, and a pyramid on #3.

Without a doubt some of Pelli's best work.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Clean those windows, Larry.
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3002/7wtc70c8oj.th.jpg (http://img233.imageshack.us/my.php?image=7wtc70c8oj.jpg)

[NYguy]

From an article in today's Daily News...

Silverstein is closing a deal with a Chinese developer to lease the top five stories of his new 7 World Trade Center, a source told the Daily News.

Beijing-based Vantone Real Estate Co., which plans to use roughly 200,000 square feet as a visitor and conference center to promote Chinese businesses in New York, would be the largest leaseholder so far in the 52-story building, which has been slow to attract firms.

[kliq6]

Chinese firm signs five-floor lease at WTC
by Julie Satow

Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co. has signed a 200,000 square foot lease for the top five floors of 7 World Trade Center, the largest lease yet at the new tower.

The so-called China Center will include offices and an executive club as well as other services for Chinese businesses that will be headquartered there.

The rent is a little over $50 a foot, according to an official familiar with the terms. Other tenants at the 1.7 million-square-foot tower include Ameriprise Financial, which leased 20,000 square feet and the New York Academy of Sciences, which has leased 40,000 square feet.

[TonyO]

^ Great news. I hope this shuts up all the whiners who used the vacancy of this building as their soap-box.

[kliq6]

its still has over 1.2 million sf empty, only three leases signed, so lets not get to excited

[TonyO]

My point exactly.

[Ninjahedge]

And not many will come in until there is at least a verifiable time frame for the construction and development of the WTC site.

[londonlawyer]

Chinese firm signs five-floor lease at WTC
by Julie Satow

Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co. has signed a 200,000 square foot lease for the top five floors of 7 World Trade Center, the largest lease yet at the new tower.

The so-called China Center will include offices and an executive club as well as other services for Chinese businesses that will be headquartered there.

The rent is a little over $50 a foot, according to an official familiar with the terms. Other tenants at the 1.7 million-square-foot tower include Ameriprise Financial, which leased 20,000 square feet and the New York Academy of Sciences, which has leased 40,000 square feet.

Wasn't Vantone initially supposed to take 500,000 s.f.? I hope that they were pressured to take "a small amount" of space here and instead will take a big block in a new building in Midtown.

[mgp]

its still has over 1.2 million sf empty, only three leases signed, so lets not get to excited

Not to rain on anyone's parade here, but Vantone and Silversteen have agreed to go to lease. No leases have been signed. Much like the press release (from way back when) that said American Express (Ameriprise) had signed for 1/2 a floor, this is PR people at work.

[BPC]

Wasn't Vantone initially supposed to take 500,000 s.f.? I hope that they were pressured to take "a small amount" of space here and instead will take a big block in a new building in Midtown.

Uh, Beijing is unlikely to be "pressured" by our local politicians, as much as we locals may think of them. Kind of bizarre statement, really.

[Fabrizio]

( I don´t want to sidetrack the thread but...) The Pelli buildings: Agreed. Actually, I think they´re the most underrated buildings in NYC. Boy did they make a great... I´d say iconic... grouping together with the WTC. The interiors are beautiful too...

[londonlawyer]

Uh... Thanks for the lesson in politics, BPC, but I disagree with your statement. I don't think that the Chinese regard overtures by local NY officials with respect to real estate transactions in the same vein as they regard Washington's positions on Taiwain and yuan valuation. If you do, you're quite naive and have a lot to learn about politics (and the world, in general).

[jeffpark]

( I don´t want to sidetrack the thread but...) The Pelli buildings: Agreed. Actually, I think they´re the most underrated buildings in NYC. Boy did they make a great... I´d say iconic... grouping together with the WTC. The interiors are beautiful too...

what "Pelli buildings" are you talking about?
is it THE WFC

[kliq6]

Ameriprise and the Science leases are official, this one is not yet true. AS for them wanting 500,000 in the beginning that is true, if they want to take more, there is much more left in 7 to help them. Midtown will cost them much more

[GLNY]

Ameriprise and the Science leases are official, this one is not yet true.

Chinese firm agrees to lease five floors at WTC

Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co. agreed to lease 200,000 square feet occupying the top five floors of 7 World Trade Center, the largest lease yet at the new tower.

The so-called China Center will include offices and an executive club as well as other services for Chinese businesses that will be headquartered there. The lease is a boost for developer Larry Silverstein’s 1.7 million-square-foot tower and to the city’s plans to rebuild Lower Manhattan.

Calling the deal “a bridge between the Chinese and U.S. business and cultural communities,” Beijing Vantone Chairman Lun Feng said “there is no better place to enter a future together than from lower Manhattan.”

Beijing Vantone is an unusual anchor tenant because it will not occupy the office space itself. The China Center will be comprised of other Chinese companies that want office locations in New York and a meeting center for U.S. companies that are interested in investing in China.

The New York City Investment Fund, the economic development arm of the Partnership for New York City, has committed up to $3 million to help fund the China Center, which Mayor Bloomberg estimates will bring 800 jobs to downtown.

The Chinese real estate company had originally sought a much larger lease at the Freedom Tower, which is slated for construction across the street from 7 WTC. The company scaled back its plans and switched buildings after the estimated completion date for the Freedom Tower was delayed last year.

The rent is a little over $50 a foot, according to an official familiar with the terms. If the lease is signed as planned, the building would be 15% leased. Other tenants at the tower include Ameriprise Financial, which leased 20,000 square feet and the New York Academy of Sciences, which has leased 40,000 square feet.

©2006 Crain Communications Inc.

[kliq6]

i posted that article, i saw what it says, officially the lease has not been finalized but it will be, that is all i said.

There are also a few more deals in the work that i heard about at the REBNY event last week, the campaign is no win full effect

[JMGarcia]

As a firm dedicated to promoting Chinese business in NY, it is actually quite politically astute of them to generate goodwill by going to the WTC.

[Fabrizio]

Jeffpark writes: "what "Pelli buildings" are you talking about?
is it THE WFC"

Uh, dear jeff, this is an architecture forum.... I think that if I refer to the WFC as "the Pelli buildings" most of the folks here are sophisticated enough to understand what I´m talking about...especially in the context of this thread.

Sorry for going over your head... but considering your way with words (see your quote above) I guess I can understand how that´s possible.

I will rephrase my sentence for you:

"The WFC: Agreed. Actually, I think they´re the most underrated buildings in NYC. Boy did they make a great... I´d say iconic... grouping together with the WTC. The interiors are beautiful too..."

Got it now?

[jeffpark]

Jeffpark writes: "what "Pelli buildings" are you talking about?
is it THE WFC"

Uh, dear jeff, this is an architecture forum.... I think that if I refer to the WFC as "the Pelli buildings" most of the folks here are sophisticated enough to understand what I´m talking about...especially in the context of this thread.

Sorry for going over your head... but considering your way with words (see your quote above) I guess I can understand how that´s possible.

I will rephrase my sentence for you:

"The WFC: Agreed. Actually, I think they´re the most underrated buildings in NYC. Boy did they make a great... I´d say iconic... grouping together with the WTC. The interiors are beautiful too..."

Got it now?
i actually call it paul's building

[Fabrizio]

fascinating.

[jeffpark]

Pelli was the -Design architect-
and Adamson Associates were the building Architects.??????????

[Jake]

I claim rights to One WFC here, henceforth it will called "Jake's building" :)

Anyway, back to the point...

I think they gave away the best floors for pennies and to people who will probably not appreciate it anyway. IMO they'll have a really hard time leasing the floors immediately above the power station.

[londonlawyer]

Uh, Beijing is unlikely to be "pressured" by our local politicians, as much as we locals may think of them. Kind of bizarre statement, really.

Uh... Thanks for the lesson in politics, BPC, but I disagree with your statement. I don't think that the Chinese regard overtures by local NY officials with respect to real estate transactions in the same vein as they regard Washington's positions on Taiwain and yuan valuation. If you do, you're quite naive and have a lot to learn about politics (and the world, in general).

[BPC]

Whatever dude. I guess Shelly SIlver is more powerful than we imagined!

[TonyO]

NY Observer

Year Of The Dog As China Anchors At 7 World Trade

By: Matthew Schuerman
Date: 1/30/2006
Page: 1


In June 2004, Larry Silverstein was invited to drop by the downtown headquarters of the A.I.G. insurance company and meet about 30 Chinese business executives who were in town for a conference.

It was to be a sort of Ground Zero junket, a marketing affair—and the first demonstrably successful one in the World Trade Center’s almost three-year afterlife.

After breakfast, Mr. Silverstein loaded them on a bus to take a tour of his new treasure, 7 World Trade Center. Wearing hard hats, the executives took the hoist to the top of the building, which was then about 40 floors high, and which had no windows. Wind whipped around them on a gorgeous clear day. One of them, Lun Feng, the head of a real-estate company, thought, “This is the place.”

The place, that is, for Chinese-owned companies to establish their much-anticipated beachhead in the United States’ economy.

Thus began a year-and-a-half-long courtship between Mr. Feng and Mr. Silverstein—and one that involved dozens of other people and entities as well.

Indeed, the mood when the tentative deal was announced on Jan. 24—for Mr. Feng’s company, Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co., would rent five floors of Mr. Silverstein’s tower—was positively festive.

Reflecting on the fact that to rent out five floors of a single building on the former World Trade Center site had required the approval of a foreign government, interventions and international marketing trips by the Governor and his senior aides, significant incentives from him and Mayor Michael Bloomberg and months of negotiations, seemed uncouth.

Already 300,000 square feet at Ground Zero rented; only 9.7 million square feet to go!

The agreement, while nonbinding, was undertaken in such a public setting, with dozens of witnesses, including Governor George Pataki, that it has gained an air of inevitability.

“It clicked in [Mr. Feng’s] imagination,” recalled Kathryn Wylde, the president of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization of business executives that helped arrange the 2004 visit. “The concept he had been thinking of—to create a center in New York, with a China club, a business headquarters—he knew it would be perfect to do it here, because symbolically it would be an important statement about the role of China in helping America in its recovery from a terrorist attack.”

Mr. Feng, passing through the lobby after the signing, indicated that his and his countrymen’s interest in the redeveloped World Trade Center stretched beyond 7 World Trade; he told reporters through a translator, “This is phase one. Together, working with Larry Silverstein, we are looking forward to phase two, which is the Freedom Tower.”

The China Center, as Vantone’s project is called, will occupy floors 48 through 52 of the first new building on the former site of the World Trade Center. It will serve various purposes, including temporary office space for Chinese companies establishing commerce with this country. About 800 people are expected to work there.

Mr. Silverstein would not discuss the rent, but a source said that the developer would receive between $50 and $55 a square foot. Vantone will pay about $10 a square foot less than that figure once all the state and city incentives are computed. Late last year, a source said that Mr. Silverstein was asking for $60 a square foot for the top floors of the building. Still, Vantone’s rent is said to be the highest amount ever paid per square foot in lower Manhattan.

It is also a welcome announcement for a building that has stubbornly refused to rent. Mr. Silverstein’s other two tenants, Ameriprise Financial and the New York Academy of Sciences, are leasing a floor and a half combined. Mr. Silverstein is taking a whole floor for his property company. Minus the ground floor, that still leaves about 43 floors to go.

The opening date of the 1.7 million-square-foot building has now been pushed back a month to April.

The luncheon signing, closed to the press, was a chance for all the various participants to celebrate. Four months after Mr. Feng’s tour of 7 World Trade, Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, in Beijing to meet members of the International Olympic Committee, spent a morning with the executive, as well as China’s deputy minister of commerce, Ma Xiuhong.

“We told them New York is an ideal location, because it has a large Chinese population, because of its centrality in the worlds of media and finance, because being in New York has for centuries been the place where people and businesses get established,” Mr. Doctoroff told The Observer. “What this deal does is, it gives us a very significant beachhead with other Chinese companies because it will be a place for other companies to launch their efforts to do business in this country, and as a result they will end up setting up their own headquarters here once they expand.”

In May 2005, about 20 New York executives, including Mr. Silverstein, traveled to Beijing during the Fortune Global Forum, and tried their best to move the Vantone project further along. Together they met with Ms. Ma, the deputy minister of commerce, who, under Chinese law, has to approve any investment in a foreign country. Her role, as well as the fact that now Vantone has to market its space to potential subletters, was the reason why the term-sheet signing, usually a secretive affair, was undertaken with such publicity.

Mr. Silverstein was not one to complain that world trade is not as unfettered as some globalization advocates—The Economist magazine, for example—would like. The formal ceremony signing, attended by the general counsel of China stationed in New York, gave him a chance to impress other potential tenants with an important victory a month before the lease will actually be signed.

Ms. Ma came to New York in June, and at a luncheon at investor Henry Kravis’ office on 57th Street, with John Cahill, the Governor’s advisor in lower Manhattan, and Andrew Alper, the president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, in attendance, she announced that China would approve the foreign-investment request.

“She indicated that China today has $800 billion in U.S. treasuries and it is going to begin to reinvest some of that money back in the United States,” Mr. Silverstein told reporters after the term-sheet signing. “And one of the initiatives we are seeing here today is the result of that decision.”

Governor Pataki followed in September with a visit of his own to Beijing, in which he led a delegation of 18 New York State companies in meeting with government and university officials about expanding trade in general—and also meeting with Vantone officials. “This was a small part of it,” the Governor said in the 7 World Trade Center lobby, with artist Jenny Holzer’s electronic message board doing test runs in the background, “but obviously a very important part.”

Charles Gargano, the Governor’s chief economic aide, standing nearby, added, “What we tried to do was tell them what the future was going to be in lower Manhattan. They are not sure what they hear about security and all that stuff. The Governor assured them there would be a tremendous amount of infrastructure built and that Freedom Tower was moving forward. He gave them a progress report and really made them feel comfortable. They said it might take another year.”

It took less than four months. Around Jan. 20, Mr. Silverstein felt that the deal was coming together, a source said, that the terms were nearly finalized and the preliminary agreement could be signed the following week, when Mr. Feng was going to be passing through New York on a prearranged visit.

After he and Mr. Silverstein put their names on the four copies of the term sheet, the crowd, which included Governor Pataki, the general counsel of China and several other public officials, applauded, wished one another a happy Chinese New Year, and feasted on their choice of tea rolls or roast beef and horseradish sandwiches.

Mr. Doctoroff’s aggressive role in aiding Mr. Silverstein contrasts with the Bloomberg administration’s hard-hitting refusal to extend more help for the developer to build subsequent buildings at the World Trade Center site. The Mayor has refused to approve $1.67 billion in low-interest Liberty Bonds for Mr. Silverstein, and has suggested that other developers should have a chance to build on the site instead.

Mr. Doctoroff’s quote in the term-sheet press release seemed downright jovial to some observers. “I congratulate Larry Silverstein for securing such an important new tenant,” it said in part.

“Listen,” he later told The Observer, “I think we all share the same goals for lower Manhattan. We may have different perspectives on how to achieve them.”

[NYguy]

Already 300,000 square feet at Ground Zero rented; only 9.7 million square feet to go!

Well you have to start somewhere. How's that saying go?...A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step? Something like that....


“It clicked in [Mr. Feng’s] imagination,” recalled Kathryn Wylde, the president of the Partnership for New York City, a nonprofit organization of business executives that helped arrange the 2004 visit. “The concept he had been thinking of—to create a center in New York, with a China club, a business headquarters—he knew it would be perfect to do it here, because symbolically it would be an important statement about the role of China in helping America in its recovery from a terrorist attack.”

Mr. Feng, passing through the lobby after the signing, indicated that his and his countrymen’s interest in the redeveloped World Trade Center stretched beyond 7 World Trade; he told reporters through a translator, “This is phase one. Together, working with Larry Silverstein, we are looking forward to phase two, which is the Freedom Tower.”

Wow! Let's hear it for the Chinese! Who knew the enthusiasm for the new WTC would come from abroad?....

[ZippyTheChimp]

As a firm dedicated to promoting Chinese business in NY, it is actually quite politically astute of them to generate goodwill by going to the WTC.I think this is more the case than a typical company looking for the best economic deal for office space in Manhattan.

Beijing Vantone was incorporated in 1993, one of the first private companies in China. They had been involved in China's move in the late 1990s from a communist model of free housing to an American model (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/china/stories/happy060298.htm).

The Chinese government must have been involved in a move by a company opening a China Center to help establish Chinese business in New York. I think the delay over the last year was about the viability of the entire WTC site. Although the area is still a mess with the big hole and the Fiterman hulk (which is close to the start of demolition), it has begun to take on a more normal appearance. The shed around Verizon is coming down, sidewalks are going in at 101 Barclay, the plaza in front of 7 WTC is nearing completion, and construction has begun at site 5B.