New York: After spending months wrangling for control of buildings and money at ground zero, politicians and a private developer prepared to roll out trucks on Thursday to mark the beginning of construction of the Freedom Tower, the symbolic skyscraper designed to replace the destroyed World Trade Center.
Hours after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owned the trade center, approved a broad new deal with developer Larry Silverstein that changes timelines and rebuilding strategies for lower Manhattan, Silverstein announced Wednesday that construction crews would report to the Freedom Tower site on Thursday morning.
Silverstein planned to greet them along with Gov. George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other politicians who have called the developer greedy in recent weeks during a heated battle for control of development and billions of dollars in rebuilding money at the 16-acre (6.4-hectare) site.
Wednesday's deal switches control of leasing the Freedom Tower from Silverstein to the Port Authority, along with a second skyscraper that may change from an office building to apartments. Silverstein, who oversaw design and construction, plans for the $2.1 billion Freedom Tower, will still build it, and build and lease three other office towers located closer to a mass transit hub on the site.
"We can now move forward with rebuilding the World Trade Center," said Silverstein, the 74-year-old developer who leased the twin towers six weeks before they were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001. "This has been my goal all along," he added.
Business and political leaders say the resolution of the impasse that had stalled rebuilding would help return millions of square feet of destroyed office space to downtown Manhattan and attract tenants who have been slow to come back.
Silverstein has built another tower, 7 World Trade Center, which still is mostly empty. The Freedom Tower had no tenants committed, although the Port Authority said it would commit to fill nearly half of it with government leases.
Politicians broke ground on the tower for the first time on July 4, 2004, with a 20-ton inscribed granite cornerstone that has remained encased in blue plywood since construction stalled.
Officials said the deal on Wednesday ensures that all five planned towers would be built by 2012. Other plans for ground zero include a memorial, a transit hub and a performing arts center. Construction has begun on the memorial and transit hub, which are both scheduled to open in 2009.
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