|
contents | business | |||||||||
| Silverstein Properties tries to resolve dispute with Port Authority New York City developer Silverstein Properties presented the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey with a "Notice of Arbitration" letter. The notice is in direct response to the Port Authority's inability to meet its rebuilding obligations at the World Trade Center and the major financial and physical impacts of these failures on the Silverstein organization's ability to rebuild. In keeping with the 2006 Master Development Agreement (MDA), between Silverstein and the Port Authority, the notice calls for an impartial three-member panel of experts to resolve the dispute through binding and expedited arbitration. The notice also calls for an exchange of evidence by August 25, with the arbitration hearings to begin approximately two weeks later. The notice anticipates the arbitrators rendering a decision soon thereafter. On October 2, 2008, the Port Authority publicly acknowledged that it will not complete key elements of the World Trade Center's infrastructure, such as the underpinning of the Number 1 subway line, the PATH Hub and the Vehicle Security Center, until years after the dates required by the 2006 MDA. These delays, which Silverstein believes remain grossly understated, have adversely affected the cost and schedule of Silverstein's three offices towers while hindering the organization's ability to finance, market, complete and ultimately open them as previously planned. However, the Port Authority has repeatedly refused to provide even minimal professional documentation to validate these schedules, which have been questioned by several impartial government agencies. Most recently, a study by the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center indicates that the Port is now five to ten years behind the previously promised dates for completion of the PATH Hub, the Vehicle Security Center and other public infrastructure at the site. In the ten months since the October 2 report, Silverstein officials sought to negotiate in good faith with the Port Authority in the hope of re-working the 2006 agreement to get the entire rebuilding back on track. When it became apparent that those talks were going nowhere, the Silverstein team welcomed the personal involvement of Mayor Bloomberg and Assembly Speaker Silver and Governors Paterson and Corzine. Unfortunately, and despite the best efforts of the region's top elected leaders, the Port Authority still refuses to negotiate in good faith to resolve the impasse. Since 2001, Silverstein has paid the Port Authority $2.75 billion in connection with the World Trade Center, and has worked for years to get the construction underway. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Construction News :: home page |