U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced on Monday that the final federal hurdle has been cleared in securing Recovery Zone bonds that will go toward financing the complete construction of 3 World Trade Center.
Since the recession delayed to start of construction on the 80-story building, Schumer had to work with the IRS to make sure the bonds could be used for the tower, despite having passed their original 2010 deadline.
Schumer took his case to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to make sure New York didn’t lose the federal resources and be forced to seek a lengthy and uncertain legislative remedy.
“In the wake of the September 11th attacks, many predicted downtown would be a permanent ghost town, and so significant federal investment was made to bring people back,” said Schumer.
“We fought hard to deliver those funds, including this program, and now downtown is thriving, more than anyone ever expected with jobs, new buildings, new transit hubs, families and cultural centers. The completion of 3WTC will be a major piece of that puzzle.”
The Recovery Zone program was established as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in order to spur major development projects around the country and particularly in the area surrounding Ground Zero.
ARRA authorized this new category of tax-exempt bonds, which may be used by private entities in designated “recovery zones” for a range of capital projects – including office buildings, industrial facilities or retail complexes.
The bonds were intended to be issued by the end of 2010, but due to the ongoing recession and the complexity of the World Trade Center project, it took longer than projected to secure an anchor tenant for 3 WTC and the necessary private funding for the project.
Last month, media investment managers, GroupM, signed a 516,000 s/f lease to anchor the building and the Port Authority and developer, Silverstein Properties, required the bonds to be reissued as they could structure the financing.
