The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation plans to file a $100 million claim in State Supreme Court in Manhattan next week against Bovis Lend Lease, the construction manager it hired more than five years ago to oversee the demolition of the former Deutshe Bank building that was damaged in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the nearby World Trade Center.
According to an article in today's edition of The New York Times by Charles V. Bagli "the last chapter in the tortured tale of the former Deutsche Bank building near ground zero will play out in court now that the 41-story office tower has finally been dismantled."
The article said that the demolition was "supposed to be completed in June 2007" and added that "if successful, the lawsuit would pare the taxpayers' bill to about $57 million for a project that ultimately cost $266 million, more than twice the original estimate."
"Two former insurers of the tower - AXA and Allianz - agreed a year ago to pay $102.4 million toward the total cost. And this month," the article continued, "the corporation settled an asbestos case against Deutsche Bank, the former owner of the building, for $3.8 million."
"'We will do everything within our power to ensure that we recover what is owed to the taxpayers and put it to use downtown, where there are still many unmeet needs," said Avi Schick, chairman of the development corporation," the article said.
"Bovis, which declined to comment, filed its own lawsuit six months ago," the article noted, "claiming that it had been shortchanged at least $80 million for work it was ordered to do in decontaminating and demolishing the building."
Bovis is also at the center of an investigation by the United State attorney in Brooklyn into allegations of overcharges on 100 public-works projects, the article said.
According to an article in today's edition of The New York Times by Charles V. Bagli "the last chapter in the tortured tale of the former Deutsche Bank building near ground zero will play out in court now that the 41-story office tower has finally been dismantled."
The article said that the demolition was "supposed to be completed in June 2007" and added that "if successful, the lawsuit would pare the taxpayers' bill to about $57 million for a project that ultimately cost $266 million, more than twice the original estimate."
"Two former insurers of the tower - AXA and Allianz - agreed a year ago to pay $102.4 million toward the total cost. And this month," the article continued, "the corporation settled an asbestos case against Deutsche Bank, the former owner of the building, for $3.8 million."
"'We will do everything within our power to ensure that we recover what is owed to the taxpayers and put it to use downtown, where there are still many unmeet needs," said Avi Schick, chairman of the development corporation," the article said.
"Bovis, which declined to comment, filed its own lawsuit six months ago," the article noted, "claiming that it had been shortchanged at least $80 million for work it was ordered to do in decontaminating and demolishing the building."
Bovis is also at the center of an investigation by the United State attorney in Brooklyn into allegations of overcharges on 100 public-works projects, the article said.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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