Many were unsure of the future of the World Trade Center after the tragic events of 9/11, but after ten years, construction is well underway to completely reconstruct one of the most important business districts in Manhattan.
After the World Trade Center was destroyed during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Americans were completely distraught after thousands of innocent lives were lost. As time passed, discussions focused on the area’s redevelopment.
By 2003, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which was created in mid-2002 mainly to plan the reconstruction of the World Trade Center, began to accept proposals for new WTC buildings.
On June 28, 2005, the design of the Freedom Tower was officially unveiled during a press conference. Initial phases of construction officially began in April 2006 and in March 2009, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officially confirmed that the building will be known as One World Trade Center.
A little over five years after construction began, One World Trade Center is beginning to rise high and take shape in Lower Manhattan. As of July, the PANYNJ confirmed that the building is scheduled to be completed and opened in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Upon its completion, One World Trade Center will become the tallest building in the United States.
From ground level to its roof, the building will stand at 1,368 feet and with its antenna spire, the building will reach 1,776 feet, surpassing Chicago’s Willis Tower by 46 feet.
One World Trade Center’s architect is David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merril and its site developer and owner is Larry Silverstein of World Trade Center Properties, LLC.
The final estimated cost of One World Trade Center came in at approximately $6.1 billion. The building will reach 82 floors with 69 floors designated for office space.
“You can now begin to get a sense of the design quality of that building and the beauty that will be intrinsic in it,” Silverstein said in a statement discussing the rebuilding effort.
According to Silverstein Properties World Trade Center, a total of six new skyscrapers will complete the new World Trade Center. Towers one through five are all currently being constructed, while Tower Seven World Trade Center, a 52-story building was fully constructed and completed in May 2006 and is currently two-thirds leased.
The new World Trade Center will also feature a special memorial and museum that will remember the attacks of 9/11, as well as the bombings on February 26, 1993.
An 800,000-square-foot transportation hub is also being constructed that will include numerous pedestrian connections to all areas of the WTC, 13 subway lines, Hudson River ferry terminals and a proposed JFK Airport rail link.
Individual buildings will open upon completion, and the full completion of the entire WTC site is expected to be in 2015, with the opening of Tower Two World Trade Center.
