Freedom Tower Marks "Second" Groundbreaking

Days after various parties in the downtown redevelopment effort reached an agreement on a new plan for the World Trade Center site, construction finally started on the Freedom Tower.

Tower Work Kicks Off

After more than a year of delays and design modifications, work on the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site is under way.

The 1,776-ft.-high building is expected to be the tallest in the nation upon its completion in 2011. As of mid-spring, it had no committed tenants.

The work started two days after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey - owner of the 16-acre site where the tower and various other buildings will stand - came to an agreement with New York-based Silverstein Properties, which had been the leaseholder and developer of most of the complex.

The two sides had jousted for months over timelines, control of individual projects on the site, and the redevelopment effort's financing. In addition, state and local officials from both New York and New Jersey began to question whether the original arrangement giving Silverstein the reins to rebuild might delay completion of the entire complex.

The agreement left Silverstein as developer on three of the planned office towers onsite, while the Port Authority will take over the Freedom Tower and another tower to the south. Silverstein, however, will act as a development agent on the Freedom Tower. The first phase of the $2.1 billion tower entails 10 to 12 months of excavation and foundation work, including concrete spread footings on rock, rock anchors, and mini-caissons. New York-based Tishman Construction is leading the effort as construction manager.

Originally conceived in the master plan created by Daniel Libeskind, a New York-based architect, the Freedom Tower design has undergone several modifications. Despite a ceremonial groundbreaking on July 4, 2004, work did not begin as planned the following year on the eventual tower design by David Childs of New York's Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Instead, the New York Police Department issued warnings in April 2005 that it considered the tower's design to be overly vulnerable to a ground-based terrorist attack, such as a truck bomb. That warning led to a new round of negotiations between Silverstein and state leaders. Childs eventually issued a redesign last summer, which took the police department's concerns into account by repositioning the building, using new exterior materials, and fortifying its base.

Under the revised World Trade Center redevelopment plan, the five office towers would go up by 2012, joining the recently completed 7 World Trade Center to the north, which Silverstein built to replace a tower destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Another notable feature on the site, the World Trade Center transit hub, is also under construction and scheduled to open in 2009. Sitework also began in March on a new memorial complex.

Luxury Conversion in Chelsea

The rush of luxury condominium construction in Manhattan's Chelsea district is keeping pace with the planned remodeling of another former commercial building into apartments, an effort that will be completed later this year.

Four of five stories in the Hugh O'Neill Building on Sixth Avenue between 20th and 21st Streets, built in 1876, are being converted into condominiums. The project will also add two penthouse floors. The building will have 49 units overall.

The project team is restoring the building's original Corinthian columns and rooftop pediments, while also reconstructing two domes on the cross-street corners that had been removed during previous renovations.

New York's VJB Construction is construction manager on the $35 million job, with Cosentini Associates of New York as M-E-P engineer, Manhattan-based Goldstein Associates as structural engineer, and New York-based Cetra/Ruddy as architect.

The team had to design and install a new mechanical system on the lower residential floors without interrupting existing retail businesses below, with most of the work taking place at night. The team also reinforced the structure with steel beams to hold the additional weight of the penthouse floors.

The structure has 128,152 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail space.

Temple Restoration near Finish

A restoration of Temple Emanu-El, one of the largest synagogues in the world, is nearing completion on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Tishman Interiors, an affiliate of New York-based Tishman Construction, is construction manager on the $25 million restoration of the temple's sanctuary, originally built in 1929. The 11,319-sq.-ft. sanctuary, which allows seating for up to 2,500 people, has a peak ceiling height of 107 ft., which necessitated a customized pipe scaffolding system for many restoration tasks.

The project's second phase is slated for completion in August, and involves cleaning, replicating, and replacing 1,100 different surfaces, including marble floors, Akoustalith tile, tessere mosaics, stone walls, wood pews, and stained glass windows. It also entails installation of a new sound system and an upgrade to alarm, sprinkler, and electrical systems.

The project team already completed a first phase renovating the rear of the sanctuary in time for last September's Jewish holidays. Tishman had built a temporary tunnel to give congregation members access to the temple during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as it prepared other renovation tasks.

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