by Lionel Bascom — March 29th, 2008 — 1 comment
The New York Post says cost of the Freedom Tower has soared to $3 billion, according to the Port Authority’s latest estimates.
Construction costs for the 1,776-foot tower have been pegged at $2.478 billion, up from the $2.2 billion estimate for steel, concrete, glass and labor projected last spring.
But the latest tally included in the Port Authority’s capital budget includes an additional $507 million for “nonconstruction” costs that include security at the site, integrity monitors to keep an eye on contractors, the cost of selling bonds to finance the project, marketing the office space and fitting it out for tenants, The Post has learned.
Adding all the costs, the price tag for the Freedom Tower budgeted by the bi-state agency is $3 billion - making it not just the tallest building in the city, but also the most expensive.
By comparison, a new state-of-the-art headquarters for Goldman Sachs under construction at a site directly across West Street from the Freedom Tower is expected to cost about $2.3 billion.
“The Port Authority’s capital plan publicly accounts for every dime of spending on all our building projects over the next 10 years, including the Freedom Tower,” said agency spokesman Steve Sigmund.
“During that period, the building has long-term soft costs, like brokers and marketing fees, tenant fit-outs, responsible contingencies and security, which go beyond hard construction costs.”
Sigmund said the price tag will be offset by $900 million in insurance funds and about $1 billion in Liberty Bonds.
The remainder of the cost will have to be recouped through rents charged for the 2.6 million square feet of office space after the tower is complete in 2011.
5:30 PM in Uncategorized, The Construction, World Trade Center, Related Stories, Freedom Tower News
Whatever the cost may be, it can never add up to the loss of those victims for whom this memorial stands. In addition to the victims lost on 9/11, there are now over 4,000 lives lost in the Iraq War. We need to remember that our young men and women are losing their friends and loved ones in the most unrealistic form of realism known to humankind, the act of needless war. We can never forget this.
When this tower rises above the current skyline of New York City, we will have the reminder of our need for truth, for love, for respect for the gift of life.
Jeanne · March 29th, 2008 at 10:44 pm