The long-stalled 3 World Trade Center got some good news back in January when it received $340 million in federal bonds courtesy of Senator Chuck Schumer, but it wasn't enough good news for the tower to actually be finished, apparently. Developer Larry Silverstein and Port Authority vice chairman Scott Rechler are now pursuing an additional $1.2 billion in construction loans for the project, the Times reports. However, the proposal is facing opposition from within the Port Authority, with commissioner Kenneth Lipper saying that the loans would "[defy] the public interest and the economic interest [and] turn a patriotic gesture into a vanity project." Opponents also argue that, although it would be nice to see the tower completed, there is currently little demand for Downtown office space as next-door megatower 1 World Trade Center is still half empty. 3 WTC currently has only one tenant signed up, GroupM, an advertising and media firm that is leasing around one fifth of the 72-story tower.
The total cost of Silverstein's 3 WTC is $2.3 billion, half of which has already been supplied by the Port Authority. The terms of the new proposal stipulate that, in order to get the other half, Silverstein would have to put up around $450 million in cash and also, unlike with the previous deal, pay interest and fees to the authority. Some commissioners would rather the whole thing was financed privately from this point on, however. The authority will put the issue to a vote on Wednesday.
· Developer's Skyscraper Is Focus of Latest Dispute at Rebuilt Trade Center [NYT]
· 3 World Trade Center coverage [Curbed]
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