Gov.: WTC Could Go on Without Silverstein

NEW YORK CITY-Gov. David Paterson on Monday hinted that a World Trade Center without the involvement of Silverstein Properties Inc. is possible as far as he’s concerned. In a letter to SPI, the governor renewed an offer to back financing on at least one of the developer’s towers, but said he had asked the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to come up with a WTC plan that could go forward without SPI’s involvement if necessary.

“I have directed the Port Authority to develop designs that will permit the complete construction of the public components of the site”–including the WTC Memorial–”independent of your private development,” Paterson wrote to SPI CEO and chairman Larry Silverstein. “This will ensure that, should you and the Port Authority not be able to reach an agreement, the site will no longer be subject to the fate of the real estate market or these negotiations.” Paterson asked SPI and the Port to meet this Wednesday and send him a progress report on negotiations by August 12.

Reiterating the Port’s position, Paterson said SPI’s Tower 4, currently under construction, is “economically viable” with public support. However, he wrote, “there is no immediate market for Towers 2 and 3″ and he would only endorse public financing on the two towers if SPI provides “enough private capital–whether in the form of equity, subordinated debt or some combination of the two–to make certain that the deal will contain private market discipline and real private sector risk.”