Years after planners planted the seeds of redevelopment at the World Trade Center complex, the 16-acre site in lower Manhattan shows significant signs of life. Cranes are in motion and crews are fully mobilized at towers two, three and four, ending a difficult period in the project’s progress and offering hope that the vision of these buildings will finally be realized.
The three buildings seemed destined to be top construction starts of 2008. Following years of delays, the Port Authority spent much of 2008 preparing the site for New York developer Silverstein Properties to bring the towers out of the ground. But bitter disputes broke out over the Port Authority’s site turnover obligations and heated arbitration ensued for nearly two years.