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Why No One Wants This New York Skyscraper

·1 min
  • I learnt that World Trade Center is not a single building - One World, which I’ve visited couple of times - rather, it’s a complex and 1WTC is just one of the 5-7 buildings. That complex also includes a memorial that I’ve seen too.
  • Creating skyscrapers is a 4 step process:
    • Acquire the land, permits etc.
    • Design.
    • Financing.
    • Construction.
  • 2 of the planned building are yet to start construction, even though the land is already acquired and the design phase has gone through some iterations. One of the primary issues is financing.
    • One building, supposed to be commercial, hasn’t been able to find anchor tenants - a big tenant that commits to taking up a big portion of the building once built. Finding such a tenant is an important part of arranging money because that signals a strong demand for the space once its created.
    • The other, supposed to be residential, seems to be struggling with how to appropriately honor the 9/11 tragedy. For e.g., NYC requires a minimum percentage of affordable housing per skyscraper but some people think the entire building should be given away to the victims of 9/11. If that were to happen, who would eat the loss?