First Construction Contracts for Silverstein’s Trade Center Towers

The contracts for the foundations of two World Trade Center towers have been awarded, Silverstein Properties announced today, as developer Larry Silverstein revs his engines before taking control of the site at the start of next year.

The contracts, totaling about $40 million, are fairly minimal given the approximately $7 billion cost of the three Silverstein towers on the site, though the contracts mark one of the first construction-related actions by Mr. Silverstein.

Press release below

For immediate release

Silverstein Properties Awards World Trade Center

Foundation Contracts

Construction on two Greenwich Street towers to begin in the New Year

NEW YORK, November 20, 2007 –World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein today announced that Yonkers Contracting Company, Inc. of New York has been awarded contracts to build the foundations for World Trade Center Towers 3 (175 Greenwich Street) and 4 (150 Greenwich Street).

“These contracts are the first part of the actual construction of 150 and 175 Greenwich,” Mr. Silverstein said. “It’s the beginning of the vibrant new business district that we are creating Downtown.”

The towers, which are designed by Pritzker-prize winning architects Fumihiko Maki (150 Greenwich) and Richard Rogers (175 Greenwich), will rise along Greenwich and Church Street, forming what will be the heart of a revitalized Downtown retail, transportation and office corridor.

The foundation awards, valued at more than $40 million, are the first contracts in a $7 billion five-year construction project that will see three new towers on the east side of the historic World Trade Center site.

The 175 Greenwich Street tower, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, will include 133,000 square feet of retail (73,000 square feet at or above street level), 54 office floors (2.1 million square feet) and five trading floors.

The 150 Greenwich Street tower, designed by Fumihiko Maki and Maki and Associates will include 53 office floors (1.8 million square feet), as well as five floors of retail, three of which are at or above grade.

Founded in 1946, Yonkers Contracting Company, Inc. (YCC) has worked on many landmark projects including New York’s Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station, emergency repair work on the Brooklyn Bridge, construction of the pedestrian bridge over Route 9A to Manhattan’s Westside waterfront and the USS Intrepid. In 2002, following the World Trade Center attacks, YCC worked for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to restore downtown PATH services.

“Yonkers Contracting Company responded to the World Trade Center disaster with site remediation services and is proud to have led the joint venture that re-opened the PATH tunnels and temporary station ahead of schedule,” said Yonkers Contracting CEO Carl Petrillo. “We are privileged to be back at the World Trade Center site, pleased to be participating in its redevelopment, and look forward to starting work in the New Year.”

According to the agreement formalized in November of 2006, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which is responsible for excavating and constructing a new set of slurry walls (also know as a “bathtub”) along the eastern portion of the site, will turn sites for Towers 3 and 4 over to Silverstein Properties on December 31, 2007 and for Tower 2 (200 Greenwich) on June 30, 2008. Construction of the towers will begin upon turnover of the sites and will be ready for occupancy in 2012.

Silverstein Properties expects to start foundation work – which will begin 85 feet below Church Street and involve approximately 50 construction workers – on January 2, 2008. Individual tower footings will be excavated a further 10-12 feet deep. Large scale equipment will include excavators, hoe rams and cranes. The foundation work will enable the towers’ superstructure to begin around six months later.

“The World Trade Center Design Team has nearly completed all the design documents – and we got it done on time,” said Janno Lieber, World Trade Center Project Director for the Silverstein organization. “Now, were moving into the procurement and construction phases where we will also keep to a tight schedule. As we have seen from the market, New York’s economy urgently needs new first-class office space in order to retain jobs and maintain a competitive edge in the global economy.”

In keeping with the standards established by 7 World Trade Center which was designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in collaboration with Silverstein Properties, the three Greenwich Street towers will be models of environmental efficiency, life safety and cutting edge technology. Silverstein Properties has committed to ensuring that each of the three towers will achieve at least a Gold rating, as did 7 WTC, under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

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