Westfield

The announcements are coming one-by-one to seal up the April agreement between the Port Authority and Larry Silverstein--designs for the next three towers, a million square feet in commitments--but one promised element that you won't see by Thursday's deadline is any sort of conclusion about who will run the 428,000-plus square feet of retail space at the World Trade Center site.

In April, along with taking over the Freedom Tower, the Port Authority agreed to sell the retail operating rights to Silverstein. The problem with doing so was that the Port Authority had already promised to let Westfield, an Australian mall operator, bid on the retail rights first. Somehow, the Port Authority would have to reject Westfield's offer, or issue such a discouraging prospectus that the mall company never would want the thing in the first place, all the while avoiding lawsuits.

Little wonder the Port Authority hasn't worked this one out.

Westfield, for one, is acting as if it will not let go easily. "Westfield is working within the process and is having ongoing discussions with the Port," spokeswoman Katy Dickey told us. "Westfield expects to exercise its right of first offer."

Silverstein, meanwhile, is still interested. "The caliber of retail has tremendous influence on the whole project," a real estate executive said. "The tenants upstairs want retail that is both high quality and also that will be useful to employees."

This is not a deal breaker, at least not yet, however.

"We don't see that as a barrier to reaching a final agreement this month," said Janno Lieber, Silverstein's project director for the World Trade Center site.

-Matthew Schuerman

Shortly before 9 a.m., the floodgates opened, and dozens of customers and a few television news crews bursted inside Trader Joe's on 14th Street.

The perky, geeky staff (wearing green leis, of course) lined up to great them. After a few minutes of cheering (and some dancing), the staff sprinted over to their registers.

It's finally open. And crazed Manhattanites rushed through what is essentially just a grocery store. But try telling that to the Trader Joe's fanatics that have been waiting for this day for years, who have had to trek out to Westfield, New Jersey just to get a Two Buck Chuck.

"We've got our own Trader Joe's," screamed one shopper into her cell phone. "It's so cool!"

Cool, or not. As long as the Real Estate can pry a few Observer reporters away from Whole Foods, Eisenberg's and the Shine Deli, expect dispatches from the front, err, checkout lines.

And more photos after the jump.  read more »

- Michael Calderone

On Sept.  read more »

Daniel Libeskind's plan for the redevelopment of Ground Zero may have won critical acclaim, but at l  read more »

Westfield America, which had just signed a 99-year lease to manage the World Trade Center's retail f  read more »

On April 30, city planners and architects gathered at the New York Marriott Financial Center for a f  read more »