For a by the numbers tabloid piece on the WTC site, read this. It’s the usual pap: pseudo populist voice (they lawyers are vultures! the PA is a poorly run bureaucracy!), laments lost goals presented as fait accompli, even as they are still heavily contested. And it’s unfortunate, since he also makes several compelling arguments. The lawyers are vultures, and the Port Authority, net, has benefited New York far less than New Jersey. And the Calatrava station is a boondoggle, even allowing for a newfound desire for design excellence. He provides only an implied alternative, which is that infrastructure investment should be minimized so we can provide subsidized office space (there is currently so little demand for space that adding several million square feet of new space would depress Class A so much rents that the buildings would end up underwater from Day 1) in a neighborhood that, excepting a one time blip in the late 90s (that was already tapering, before 9/11), had been a contracting commercial real estate market for two decades. But we must build, we must. Underwhelming commercial real estate is what makes this country great. If that’s so, Richard Schwartz should move to Tysons Corner.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the
permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.
Richard Schwartz and his calculator.
For a by the numbers tabloid piece on the WTC site, read this. It’s the usual pap: pseudo populist voice (they lawyers are vultures! the PA is a poorly run bureaucracy!), laments lost goals presented as fait accompli, even as they are still heavily contested. And it’s unfortunate, since he also makes several compelling arguments. The lawyers are vultures, and the Port Authority, net, has benefited New York far less than New Jersey. And the Calatrava station is a boondoggle, even allowing for a newfound desire for design excellence. He provides only an implied alternative, which is that infrastructure investment should be minimized so we can provide subsidized office space (there is currently so little demand for space that adding several million square feet of new space would depress Class A so much rents that the buildings would end up underwater from Day 1) in a neighborhood that, excepting a one time blip in the late 90s (that was already tapering, before 9/11), had been a contracting commercial real estate market for two decades. But we must build, we must. Underwhelming commercial real estate is what makes this country great. If that’s so, Richard Schwartz should move to Tysons Corner.