Bloomberg Calls for New Developer for WTC Towers

New York City's mayor is pushing for Silverstein Properties to surrender development rights on two planned World Trade Center office towers. Also, the state approves plans for Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Mayor Wants Faster WTC Track

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called for Silverstein Properties of New York to relinquish some control over the reconstruction of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. The speech came during a 90-day negotiating window ending on March 14 that New York State Gov. George Pataki set last fall for all of the parties downtown to resolve major redevelopment issues on the site without the state intervening.

In his State of the City address earlier this year, Bloomberg said that Silverstein should hand off development rights over the third and fourth towers - out of the five planned for the World Trade Center - in exchange for rent reduction on the current lease for the entire site. The developer is set to pay $150 million this year to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the main 16-acre site.

Bloomberg asserted that a Silverstein-led development would take too long to complete. He added that a commitment by the Port Authority to become a tenant in one of the two buildings Silverstein would hand over could speed up the development process. Bloomberg also called for adding retail, hotel, and residential components.

Silverstein issued a statement after the mayor's speech disputing claims that the firm would not be able to finish the projects. He called Bloomberg's statements "misleading and at times wrong."

The Port Authority, which was still in negotiations with Silverstein, refused to comment before the governor's March 14 deadline.

A new viewpoint joined the mix in late February when U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York called for concessions on all sides as a way to spur faster development of the site.

In a speech delivered to the Association for a Better New York, Schumer called for the Port Authority to lease Freedom Tower instead of one of the other towers. He also called for Bloomberg and Pataki to reassign all remaining tax-exempt financing from the federal Liberty Bond program - a tab that his office pegged at $3.35 billion - to commercial development at the World Trade Center site.

In exchange for those moves, Schumer said Silverstein should be required to commit to break ground on each new tower within 60 days of the completion of preparatory sitework - or forfeit the lease of all remaining unbuilt sites to another developer. Schumer also called on Silverstein to reduce its developer's fee and agree to independent auditing.

Currently, the redevelopment plan calls for Silverstein to construct five buildings in the complex by 2013, in addition to 7 World Trade Center, the 52-story office tower that the developer is completing this spring north of the site. The five include the Freedom Tower, on which some early sitework is under way, and four more office buildings, including three on the original 16-acre World Trade Center site.

The fifth building is on a site to the south where the former Deutsche Bank building is being deconstructed because of contamination caused by debris from the destruction of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

Brooklyn Park Plans Approved

The Empire State Development Corp. recently approved plans for the $130 million Brooklyn Bridge Park project.

The 85-acre development, expected to be complete in 2012, will include 1.3 mi. of waterfront amenities such as sports fields, restored marshes, hills, canals, piers, water sports facilities, and bicycle paths. The development budget will tap both city and state funds.

The plan also incorporates community input regarding proposed real estate development on the upland sections farther from the water but still within the 85-acre area. The current plan calls for a maximum of 1,240 residential units, 225 hotel rooms, 188,000 sq. ft. of retail, 30,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, 95,000 sq. ft. of offices, 90,000 sq. ft. of showroom space, and 1,183 parking spaces.

Construction on the various elements is slated to begin next year.

Carpenters Thwart Contempt Suit

A federal district court has denied an effort by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to find the New York City District Council of Carpenters in contempt of a 1994 consent decree.

Last August, federal prosecutors filed for a motion to hold the district council and its president, Peter Thomassen, in contempt for allegedly violating a 1994 consent decree. The prosecutors alleged that a recent change to the union's job referral system undermined the decree, which is intended to prevent corrupt hiring hall practices that result in unfair distribution of jobs to members.

The union filed a memorandum of law in opposition to the motion, and Senior District Judge Charles Haight Jr. denied the government's motion.

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, the national parent union, heralded the decision as judicial affirmation of "the virtual inviolability of collective bargaining agreements and the right of union leadership to operate in the best interests of its members without being second-guessed by the federal government."

New Exit Marking Rules Loom

A June 30 deadline is approaching for high-rise commercial buildings in New York City to have photoluminescent exit markings that would function in the event of failure of both primary and back-up power supply systems.

The photoluminescent treatment, which creates a glow-in-the-dark effect, would have to be applied to all exit signs on stairwells and doors, otherwise known as main means of egress.

All office buildings that are 75 ft. or taller will have to follow the regulation, known as Local Law 26 of 2004, in order to maintain their certificate of occupancy. Last year, the New York City Department of Buildings issued Reference Standard RS 6-1 and RS 6-1A ordering compliance.