MANHATTAN — The construction of a tower at the World Trade Center is reportedly at risk of being capped at seven floors — 73 floors short of what the developer envisioned.
Developer Larry Silverstein is planning to halt construction of 3 World Trade Center because he can't get a major office tenant to get on board, Crain's reported. Modifications have already been made to so the building can be topped out at an underwhelming seven floors.
Instead of landing major companies like Morgan Stanley, Time Warner and News Corp., for example, Silverstein may have to settle for a center for retail companies, Crain's reported.
"The willingness of large-scale tenants to commit in this environment is limted because companies don't want to go out and spend a lot of money," Peter Hennessy, president of Cassidy Turley's New York Tristate Region, told Crain's. "It's not the building; it's the market."
Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which owns the site, agreed in 2010 to end a long-running beef on construction of Ground Zero skyscrapers. The deal called for Silverstein to pre-lease 400,000 square feet in the second of two towers planned for the site, secure $300 million of private equity and lock down financing to be eligible for debt guarantees from the city, state and the Port Authority itself.
But the struggling worldwide economy and a wariness among major corporations to leave their current homes is making it difficult for Silverstein to lure them downtown.
The $1.2 billion tower was scheduled to be completed by 2015, though delays may push back that target date.
