HOISTING a two-foot long ceremonial set of keys to the World Trade Center, Larry Silverstein celebrated the signing of the deal of his lifetime on the plaza of the World Trade Center yesterday along with politicians and partners that include Lloyd Goldman.
New details on the financing of the deal emerged yesterday.
Silverstein’s 99-year lease of more than 10 million square feet of office space represents a current value of $3.2 billion.
According to Cherrie Nanninga, director of real estate for the Port Authority, the companies put down a deposit of $616 million.
The $115 million a year in lease payments will be payable monthly, along with a percentage of gross rents, the exact nature of which she declined to elaborate. There is also an uptick in the gross percentage in 2006.
One of the documents included a 20-year lease by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for 725,000 square feet that has four, five-year options to renew.
The PA currently occupies 900,000 square feet, and that reduction will give Silverstein some space to market long before another large tenant, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, has to renew in 2004.
Market rents in the complex are in the range of the high $40s to low $50s, and the Port Authority likely obtained a break in its deal, which was part of the overall negotiations.
Sonnenblick-Goldman was Silverstein’s financial consultant for the $760 million financing from GMAC. Sources said that was broken into a $560 million securitization with a $200 million letter of credit.
The specific financing arrangments for Westfield America have not been released.
They do intend to develop the Plaza area with another 150,000 square feet for retail. One benefit of leasing from the Port Authority: The city cannot require building permits.
The mayor is still insisting the current $26 million Payment in Lieu of Taxes be changed to reflect the true taxes that could be closer to $100 million.
“Our position is that if it is privitized, the city should be able to collect the full amount of the property taxes on it. And if we get the full amount of property taxes on it, it is actually privitized,” Mayor Giuliani said yesterday at City Hall.
After the ceremony, which was also attended by New Jersey Acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco, Gov. Pataki said the Port Authority will be sitting down to work out a deal with the mayor.
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Is New Jersey hoping to ride along on New York City’s bid for the 2012 Olympics?
“We are looking at that, I know that was the plan,” New Jersey’s Acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco told us. “We will if we have the teams. Plus, we’re going to build an arena in Newark for two teams. And perhaps for the Giants and Jets we’ll have a new stadium.”
But Dan Doctoroff, president of NYC 2012, said he didn’t know anything about it. “Our plan clearly contemplates having the track and field and the opening and closing ceremonies in a southern expansion of the Javits Center. For now the bid we submitted is the bid; what happens in the future, time will tell.”
The city will be visited by the U.S. Olympic Committee next week as it starts the process of choosing one of seven cities to submit to the international committee.
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Some developers pine for billboards, but the Gotham Organization is pining for an icon.
David Picket, president of the Gotham Organization, says his company has asked a group of major artists to submit proposals that could become an icon for the top of the Atlas, its new residential tower at 1010 Sixth Ave. under construction on the southeast corner of 38th Street between Bryant Park and Herald Square.
“It’s not every day you get a chance to build a 47-story building in that area of town,” said Picket.
It will have to be a very unique symbol, however, Although it can be lighted, city billboard regulations don’t allow the word “Atlas” to appear.
So far, requests have gone out to Klaus Oldenberg, Robert Indiana and Jeff Koons, and Picket has met with local fellas Frank Stella and Ed Schlosberg.
“We’re shooting to pick someone by the end of August.” Picket said. * Please send e-mail to: