Port Authority Plans $1.2 Billion in Spending at World Trade Center; CB1 Seeks Specifics
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the World Trade Center complex, plans to spend $1.2 billion on developing the site in the coming decade. Community Board 1 (CB1) is asking for greater detail and clarity about how these funds will be spent, and when.
The Port Authority says the $1.2 billion is earmarked primarily “to complete the buildout of the campus with construction of Tower 2 and Tower 5,” along with upgrades to One World Trade Center.
Five World Trade Center is a residential tower planned for the block bounded by Greenwich, Albany, and Washington Streets, and Liberty Park, which will rise 80 stories (910 feet) and include 400 rent-protected dwellings, out of a total of 1,200 homes. No date for the start of construction has been announced, although funds have been committed to this project, including a $5-million subsidy from the Battery Park City Authority announced in 2023 that boosted the count of planned affordable units by an additional 100 homes.
Two World Trade Center refers to an office tower that is more of a concept than an actual plan, slated to rise at the northeast corner of the complex, at the west side of Church Street, between Vesey and Fulton Streets. Although the foundation for such a tower was laid in 2013, that milestone was followed by more than a decade of false starts. Today, the site contains entry points for the underground shopping and transit facilities beneath the plaza, along with ventilation equipment. Among other wildcards, this project appears to be waiting for (and dependent upon) commitment from a corporate “anchor tenant” to make it financially viable. As with Five World Trade Center, no date for start of construction has been announced.
In a resolution enacted at its November 25 meeting, CB1 voiced concerns that “the current capital plan language aggregates investments in One World Trade Center, Two World Trade Center (Tower 2), and Five World Trade Center (Tower 5) under a single, undifferentiated figure, without providing a breakdown of funding, clear phasing, or specific timelines for each project.”
While acknowledging, “the community strongly supports the timely construction of Five World Trade Center, which includes permanently affordable housing and is critical to meeting longstanding residential and affordability needs in Lower Manhattan,” CB1’s resolution adds, “the capital plan’s lack of project-specific detail, including schedule milestones and funding commitments for Five World Trade Center, raises concern about whether Tower 5 will be delivered closer to the end instead of the beginning of the ten-year timeframe.”
The same measure also notes, “the feasibility and market conditions that shape the timing of Tower 2, primarily envisioned as commercial office space, are distinct from those governing Tower 5 and the Port Authority should not wait on Tower 2 to be underway before starting Tower 5.”
CB1’s resolution concludes that the Board “supports the inclusion of World Trade Center Towers 2 and 5 in the Port Authority’s 2026-2035 Capital Plan, but is concerned that the current documentation does not provide sufficient detail regarding funding allocations for each building to prioritize the early completion of Tower 5,” while also urging the Port Authority and other agencies “to work with the community on updated design coordination, construction logistics, impact mitigation, and to explore all opportunities to further increase the number of permanently affordable units at 5 World Trade Center.”
Line items in the Port Authority’s capital plan include $68 million for radio system upgrades, $100 million for new turnstile gates in the PATH commuter rail station that will deter fare evasion, and $277 million for security measures to protect the PATH tunnels that connect the World Trade Center complex to New Jersey from acts of terrorism. The same pair of tunnels will also receive $324 million in non-security related infrastructure improvements.