Delays in meeting some Ground Zero deadlines may entitle Goldman Sachs, the investment bank, to huge penalties under the terms of its deal with the city and state to build a new headquarters, now under construction, at Battery Park City. A rendering of the tower is shown at the right.
An article by Douglas Feiden in yesterday's edition of the Daily News said that the bank may get $321 million because the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has not redeveloped the World Trade Center site as quickly as it promised.
The investment bank may get 64 years of free rent valued at $161 million for leasing the land and an additional $160 million in sales tax payments, the article stated, adding that the city and state gave the investment bank $1.65 billion in tax-free Liberty Bonds and a $115 million incentive package in 2005 to commit to its new, 43-story building.
The $321 million was put in escrow by Goldman Sachs when it signed the deal and the city and state agreed that it could keep the funds if specific projects at Ground Zero were not completed by the end of next year and if a security plan for downtown was not implemented by 2010.
Mr. Feiden's article reported that "Sources close to the deal said only that the state and city are in preliminary talks with Goldman to win a bit of flexibility," adding that Avi Schick, the chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation said that "The state and Goldman Sachs have and continue to have productive conversations on ensuring that downtown is rebuilt in a manner that is fair to both workers and residents and, of course, all taxpayers."
In an article in today's edition of the Daily News, Mr. Feiden and Kirsten Danis reported that Mayor Bloomberg "said the security plan for below Canal St. will be wrapped up by next year's deadline, contending that lets the city off the hook for Goldman's $161 million in ground-lease payments."
The article said that "Goldman spokeswoman Andrea Raphael declined to comment" and "Gov. Paterson also declined to weigh in."
The lead editorial in today's Daily News said that "Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg got taken to the cleaners in a development deal with the world's richest investment bank - and now taxpayers stand to get hammered even worse." "Gov. Paterson and Bloomberg must dig taxpayers out of this very deep hole, and Goldman, in keeping with good corporate citizenship, must relinquish its claim to the money," it concluded.
An article by Charles V. Bagli in today's edition of The New York Times quoted Bettina Damiani, director of Good Jobs New York, a liberal advocacy group, as stating that "This is a case of the worst deal in city history getting worse."
An article by Douglas Feiden in yesterday's edition of the Daily News said that the bank may get $321 million because the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has not redeveloped the World Trade Center site as quickly as it promised.
The investment bank may get 64 years of free rent valued at $161 million for leasing the land and an additional $160 million in sales tax payments, the article stated, adding that the city and state gave the investment bank $1.65 billion in tax-free Liberty Bonds and a $115 million incentive package in 2005 to commit to its new, 43-story building.
The $321 million was put in escrow by Goldman Sachs when it signed the deal and the city and state agreed that it could keep the funds if specific projects at Ground Zero were not completed by the end of next year and if a security plan for downtown was not implemented by 2010.
Mr. Feiden's article reported that "Sources close to the deal said only that the state and city are in preliminary talks with Goldman to win a bit of flexibility," adding that Avi Schick, the chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation said that "The state and Goldman Sachs have and continue to have productive conversations on ensuring that downtown is rebuilt in a manner that is fair to both workers and residents and, of course, all taxpayers."
In an article in today's edition of the Daily News, Mr. Feiden and Kirsten Danis reported that Mayor Bloomberg "said the security plan for below Canal St. will be wrapped up by next year's deadline, contending that lets the city off the hook for Goldman's $161 million in ground-lease payments."
The article said that "Goldman spokeswoman Andrea Raphael declined to comment" and "Gov. Paterson also declined to weigh in."
The lead editorial in today's Daily News said that "Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg got taken to the cleaners in a development deal with the world's richest investment bank - and now taxpayers stand to get hammered even worse." "Gov. Paterson and Bloomberg must dig taxpayers out of this very deep hole, and Goldman, in keeping with good corporate citizenship, must relinquish its claim to the money," it concluded.
An article by Charles V. Bagli in today's edition of The New York Times quoted Bettina Damiani, director of Good Jobs New York, a liberal advocacy group, as stating that "This is a case of the worst deal in city history getting worse."
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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