Construction of the $400-million project in general, and thesupport of tax breaks from the city and state in particular, haveriled Center City office owners. More than two dozen of themcoalesced to combat the project on two grounds: that the building'sexistence would increase vacancy and depress rental rates inDowntown buildings, and tax breaks represent an unfair advantage toa single building and/or tenant.

As a result, arguments in the state legislature over theprovision of tax breaks stalled development throughout the summeras projected construction costs and interest rates rose. In July,the state senate approved establishing an Economic DevelopmentDistrict at the site, which offers less generous breaks than thepreviously proposed Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zone. Staterepresentatives recessed for summer without acting on the Senatebill and have yet to address it.

Hankowsky listed the EDD legislation among his three hurdles.The others are "completion of a transaction between us and Comcast[which is expected to take half the space]," and "the need tofinalize the building's design, size and construction cost,"Hankowsky said. Asked if there was a point at which the projectwould become "diseconomic," he said. "We're committed to making agood economic decision. It's conceivable that the lines we'refollowing will begin to look like they won't cross," he conceded,"but, for now, they continue to look like they will." According topublished reports, Liberty has already invested more than $65million in the project, including land-acquisition, infrastructuredevelopment, and legal fees.