Tishman Tapped For New 7 WTC (1/14/02)

By David S. Chartock

In an effort to move forward, developer Larry Silverstein, president of Silverstein Properties, has turned to Tishman Construction Corp. to rebuild 7 World Trade Center (WTC). The groundbreaking, Silverstein said in a statement, is expected to be earlier than September 11, 2002. A specific groundbreaking date has not yet been announced.

The new building, which is expected to take three years to build, will be a 2-million-sq.-ft., 47-story tower. The new tower will be erected at approximately the same location and with approximately the same dimensions as the original 7 WTC. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has been selected to design the building.

Silverstein Properties owned 7 WTC outright. It was not part of the original six-building complex. While plans for 7 WTC move forward, the developer is still involved in a legal battle with the insurers of the others buildings he leased from the Port Authority of NY&NJ. The controversy is whether the destruction of the Twin Towers was a single event or two separate event. The final determination will result in the insurers paying out $3.6 billion or $7.2 billion. Another factor will be what can or will eventually be built on the Twin Towers site.

Silverstein Properties expects the reconstruction of 7 WTC to go more smoothly because it is not on hallowed ground. No one died in the destruction of the original 7 WTC structure, which was physically separated from the rest of the trade center, connected only by a plaza and a elevated walkway.

Tishman Construction Senior Vice President Richard Kielar said Tishman Construction "is honored to have been selected to build the new 7 World Trade Center."