Half of Freedom Tower to Be Rented Out

[DoYouEverWonder]

September 17, 2006, 7:26 AM EDT

NEW YORK -- Federal and state officials have agreed to rent half of the Freedom Tower when it opens in about five years at the World Trade Center site -- sealing one part of an elaborate deal that would, if finalized, divide control of what to build there.

The federal General Services Administration and the state Office of General Services signed agreements last week to rent 1.1 million of the Freedom Tower's 2.6 million square feet of office space, officials announced Sunday.

The 15-year leases include space for the governor's office and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office that once occupied one of the smaller buildings in the trade center complex.

"Our collective vision for a rebuilt World Trade Center continues to be realized," Gov. George Pataki said in a prepared statement.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-attacks-redevelopment,0,960566.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

Apparently, this 'Freedom Tower' is a white elephant before it is even build. They must be having a hard time lining up potential tenants if the government has to bail them out before the project has even begun.

[BlueStater]

1. Do we have to call the building "Freedom Tower"?

Ugh.

[liberal N proud]

4. That and Patriots Day on 9/11 just bug me

[ldf]

15. i will NEVER call it that

and no one can make me.

it will always be the new world trade center.

edit to remove my own bias

[soothsayer]

2. The owners had better insure it to the hilt again, and have it

knocked down by terror (again)---maybe with THREE planes, so they can collect treble damages instead of just double like they did last time!

[WePurrsevere]

3. Well.. ya kno' what "they" say.... "Freedom isn't *free*."

(sorry I just couldn't resist ;))

Since the going rate in Manhatten is $40. a sq foot and Silverstein wants a good chunk over that ($59.) even from the Port Authority I'd say the "Freedom Tower" might be a bit pricey. I wonder also if some businesses that were in the WTC and lost employees, etc may not feel comfortable renting space in it's replacement over what to some may be "sacred" ground.

I really don't care for the name myself, it just doesn't feel right to me... it's too jingoistic. Freedom to me is not a word to be bandied around and commercialized, to me it detracts from the heart of the meaning and the lives lost fighting and sometimes dying for it.

[Wilber_Stool]

5. U.S. Customs and Border Protection office .

What are they planning that they need so much office space?

[lgn19087]

6. IIRC this was similar to the 1st WTC situation

Wasn't the PA a large tenent in the first WTC? I remember that it took them forever to finally approve it and get it built. And whats wrong with the name "Freedom Tower"?

[lowreed]

9. "Freedom Tower" just sounds like more Bush rhetoric nt

[Bacchus39]

11. yeah, Liberty Tower would be better

Freedom Tower sounds hoaky to me but there are three syllables in Liberty so lets keep it simple.

[NOLADEM]

7. Who would want to build their company on a gravesite?

The site to me is hallowed ground, and should have the footprints of the towers saved as a memorial, not a building site.

I would consider it desecration, and would not do business with any tenant who was not there before...I think the only companies who have any right to move to the site are those that are returning as an act of solidarity, memorial and defiance.

[sandnsea]

10. The footprints are saved

http://www.renewnyc.com/Memorial/reflecting_absence.asp

[Bacchus39]

12. valuable real estate

but a park would be nice. is that going to be part of it?

[sandnsea]

13. I posted the link

How can the planning have gone on for five years and people who claim to care so much about the commercialization of the site not even know what in the hell the plan is.

[Xithras]

8. It's just like the new 7 WTC building.

The replacement for 7 WTC opened earlier this year, and less than 10% of the building is rented out. Nobody wants to work near ground zero.

The very fact that the government has to rent half of the new Freedom Tower is an acknowledgement that the building will never again be used as intended. The WTC was a FINANCIAL CENTER, operated by the Port Authority as a site where international finance companies could work together, and intended to be a hub of New York economic activity. By signing this lease, they're acknowledging that it's really just another office building now.

[Earth_First]

14. In related news: Dubai firm seeks negotiations for Manhattan office space

Writing the headlines in advance has become increasingly easier and much scarier taboot.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. When does Halliburton move in?