New towers to rise from terror attack ashes

The World Trade Centre site will be transformed into the “most dynamic state-of-the-art business district anywhere on Earth” as New York City rises from the ashes of September 11, architects and city officials said.

Three buildings will rise next to the iconic Freedom Tower, along the site’s eastern edge, forming what will be the heart of a revitalised retail, transportation and office corridor which will overlook the permanent memorial site.

Construction on the three towers will begin next year, with the aim of being completed by late 2011 or early 2012.

Janno Lieber, director of the World Trade Centre development, said it would be the “newest, most dynamic state-of-the-art mixed use business district anywhere on Earth, and New York City will have taken a huge step towards meeting its crying need for new office space to keep and attract first-class jobs”.

Work on the Freedom Tower was originally delayed and the building was redesigned after police said more security was needed to protect it from terrorism.

But steel for that 1,776ft tower has nearly reached street level and security across the whole site would be “exceptional”, Mr Lieber said.

Jennifer Adams, CEO of the September 11 Families Association, said she thought the new towers would be “sacred ground” and the “safest buildings in the world”.

Planners of the memorial to the 2001 terrorist attacks said a pavilion that leads to an underground September 11 museum will include an auditorium and classroom space.

London-based architect Lord Norman Foster and his firm will be responsible for Tower Two at 200 Greenwich Street.

The 79-storey tower, which will rise to 1,270ft and be topped by an 80ft antenna, will contain 138,000 square feet of retail space, 60 office floors, four trading floors and a 65ft high office lobby.

Its diamond-shaped summit will shine across the Manhattan skyline and act as a symbolic marker of the location of the Memorial Park when viewed from any location.

World Trade Centre developer Larry Silverstein said: “Each of the three towers is distinct, yet all three are architecturally compatible and work together seamlessly.

“This is an exciting time and we have before us an opportunity to make a lasting contribution to New York City and to its downtown historic skyline.”

He added: “It’s been a bumpy road at times but now we have reached this point I couldn’t be any happier.”

Sheldon Silver, Speaker of the New York Assembly, said predictions six years ago that Lower Manhattan was finished as a major financial area and the city’s response to the attacks was to establish “a community that is stronger and safer, bigger and better, than ever before”.

“Many long to see Lower Manhattan rise from the ashes of September 11,” he said.

“But I don’t think there’s anyone who longs to see that happen more than I. Five generations of Silvers have lived in Lower Manhattan.”

Anthony Shorris, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said the project was “as complex a project as has ever been undertaken in the United States, perhaps the world”.

“What we have here today, I believe, will create a site that is worthy of this city and the emotional history that is taking place here today,” he said.

Tower Three at 175 Greenwich Street will rise to 1,147ft above street level, with the antennae reaching almost 1,240ft, and will include 193,000 square feet of retail space, 54 office floors and five trading floors.

And Tower Four, at 150 Greenwich Street, will include 64 storeys in a 975ft tall building. It will have 56 office floors and five floors of retail space.

Last month the World Trade Centre site was the scene of another tragedy when a blaze in the derelict Deutsche Bank building near to Ground Zero caused the deaths of two firefighters.

The building will be demolished and a vehicle security centre will be established in its space.

Avi Schick, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, said: “We are going to proceed carefully, we’re going to proceed expeditiously, but we will get that wretched building down and we will get it down soon.”