Sure, everyone worries about the children. But what about John Zuccotti? He can’t buy any love, though I am sure he is trying. Brookfield Properties, owning what might prove to be the largest white elephant in downtown (right after Larry Silverstein), the World Financial Center, found out Thursday that their hope for a West St. tunnel was all wet, when Gov. Pataki emerged from a kayak ride on the Hudson to announce he wasn’t going to drive the decision making. Given that CB1 got off the dime and voted no on the tunnel, that only leaves the LMDC, which (even though Zuccotti is a committee member) will be hard pressed to fly in the face of CB1. The reason there isn’t a whole lot of support is that it’s an expensive alternate to grade level improvement (about six times as much), and the net benefits are neglible to most residents, as 90% of the frontage that will be directly connected to downtown is commercial, namely Zuccotti’s WFC. Most residential zones are north or south, and their connection points would likely become more dangerous, as residents fear the tunnel will encourage speeding (have you ever take a cab down the FDR and into the Battery Tunnel? You know what they mean).
Meanwhile, the upside for Brookfield is huge: their retail (which has been struggling one way or another since the complex opened) would be an easy walk from the huge tourist impact of the memorial, and basically any other amenities constructed would be their front door. And they could certainly use it. Even though they are currently reporting near 100% occupancy, and they’ve even managed to get some rah rah press touting this, there actually hasn’t been much occassion to test their long-term viability, as most of their major lessees don’t come up for renewal until 2005. Their major tenants, Dow Jones, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch are warehousing or subleasing big chunks of their space (not that this is unusual, but given the slow drip of financial services relocations away from downtown, they might not find it necessary to retain such large portfolios in the future). Others who returned after the damage from the WTC attack did so with generous subsidies from the city and state. When most of the major leases come up for renewal they will be competing directly with almost 4 million square feet (the WFC towers comprise just under double that) of Class A space across the street that will be very aggressively marketed. It’s certainly provactive to claim that a property that is 99.5% rented is on the verge of being a disaster, but small shifts can have a major impact. Just ask the folks who sold Brookfield their downtown portfolio (which also includes One Liberty Plaza, which is on the other side of the WTC site), Olympia & York.
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But who will think of the developers?
Sure, everyone worries about the children. But what about John Zuccotti? He can’t buy any love, though I am sure he is trying. Brookfield Properties, owning what might prove to be the largest white elephant in downtown (right after Larry Silverstein), the World Financial Center, found out Thursday that their hope for a West St. tunnel was all wet, when Gov. Pataki emerged from a kayak ride on the Hudson to announce he wasn’t going to drive the decision making. Given that CB1 got off the dime and voted no on the tunnel, that only leaves the LMDC, which (even though Zuccotti is a committee member) will be hard pressed to fly in the face of CB1. The reason there isn’t a whole lot of support is that it’s an expensive alternate to grade level improvement (about six times as much), and the net benefits are neglible to most residents, as 90% of the frontage that will be directly connected to downtown is commercial, namely Zuccotti’s WFC. Most residential zones are north or south, and their connection points would likely become more dangerous, as residents fear the tunnel will encourage speeding (have you ever take a cab down the FDR and into the Battery Tunnel? You know what they mean).
Meanwhile, the upside for Brookfield is huge: their retail (which has been struggling one way or another since the complex opened) would be an easy walk from the huge tourist impact of the memorial, and basically any other amenities constructed would be their front door. And they could certainly use it. Even though they are currently reporting near 100% occupancy, and they’ve even managed to get some rah rah press touting this, there actually hasn’t been much occassion to test their long-term viability, as most of their major lessees don’t come up for renewal until 2005. Their major tenants, Dow Jones, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch are warehousing or subleasing big chunks of their space (not that this is unusual, but given the slow drip of financial services relocations away from downtown, they might not find it necessary to retain such large portfolios in the future). Others who returned after the damage from the WTC attack did so with generous subsidies from the city and state. When most of the major leases come up for renewal they will be competing directly with almost 4 million square feet (the WFC towers comprise just under double that) of Class A space across the street that will be very aggressively marketed. It’s certainly provactive to claim that a property that is 99.5% rented is on the verge of being a disaster, but small shifts can have a major impact. Just ask the folks who sold Brookfield their downtown portfolio (which also includes One Liberty Plaza, which is on the other side of the WTC site), Olympia & York.