1.4M-SF WTC Convention Center Plan Stuns NAREE Panel

NEW YORK CITY-At least 150 NAREE attendees trekked Downtown yesterday for a rare aerial view of Ground Zero and a panel discussion moderated by Michael G. Desiato, group managing director of Real Estate Media Inc., the parent company of GlobeSt.com. But stunned as they were by the emotion-packed sight of the gaping hole that was the World Trade Center, the SRO crowd couldn’t help but be bowled over a second time by WTC Association president Guy Tozzoli’s out-of-the-blue pitch for a 1.4 million-sf convention center to be built below grade at the twin towers site.

Held on the 12th floor of 2 World Financial Center, Desiato’s seminar, Downtown Manhattan’s Future, boasted some of the biggest names in commercial real estate. Tozzoli shared the dais with Brookfield Financial chairman John E. Zuccotti, Lower Manhattan Development Corp. chairman John C. Whitehead, Insignia/ESG vice chairman John Powers, Grubb & Ellis senior managing director John Buttarazzi and Mack-Cali CEO Mitchell Hersh.

The outing–attendees slid tokens into subway turnstiles to make the trip Downtown in true New York fashion and crossed the pedestrian bridge that runs from Church and Liberty Streets into the WFC complex–promised to be a highlight of NAREE’s 36th annual conference. But Tozzoli’s proposal swept through the room like a surprise summer downpour, prompting attendees literally to examine the trade center site from a new angle.