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Date Posted: 08:13:25 07/14/04 Wed
Author: bfny
Subject: I'm quoted on Bloomberg...

see Lawshark -- I can be a capitalist tool when I want to be...


Libeskind Sues Silverstein Over Freedom Tower Plans
Bloomberg News
Christopher Mumma and David M. Levitt
July 13, 2004

Architect Daniel Libeskind, master planner of the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower slated for the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan, says in a lawsuit that developer Larry Silverstein wants to destroy his design and force him off the project.
Silverstein, the trade center leaseholder, promoted his own agenda, while Libeskind planned the building that will rise on the 16-acre site, the suit says. At one point, Silverstein showed a plan to New York Governor George Pataki ``that was slyly contrived to hide their plan to make the tower 50 percent larger than originally proposed,'' according to the complaint.


The suit contends Libeskind is owed at least $843,750 for his work on the project.
Libeskind was chosen from among seven competing architects
last year by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the state
agency overseeing Ground Zero redevelopment. His design, ``Memory
Foundations,'' featured five office towers with slanted roofs,
arranged in a semicircle around the memorial ground, where the
original twin towers stood.
The Freedom Tower, which would be the world's tallest
building, was in the northwest corner in Libeskind's plan and
featured a needle-like spire rising along its western face.

Collaboration

While Silverstein expressed support for the overall master
plan, he selected David Childs, a senior architect from Skidmore
Owings & Merrill, to create the Freedom Tower design. Last July,
following an 8-hour meeting, the two architects forged an
agreement that left Childs the lead architect and Libeskind in a
``collaborating'' role.
Childs's design, unveiled in December, did away with the
side-mounted spire, though it kept the slanted roof and included
an antenna rising from the western side of the roof. The
cornerstone for the tower was laid by Pataki on July 4.
A spokesman for Silverstein disputed Libeskind's contention
that the developer was trying to maneuver him off the project.
``Mr. Libeskind was a collaborating architect on the Freedom
Tower, and he approved the design that was unveiled in
December,'' said the spokesman, Bud Perrone. ``In addition, he
remains the master planner for the World Trade Center site. The
notion that we are trying to destroy his design or force him out
is ludicrous.''

`Meager Percentage'

Childs has been paid, while Silverstein has failed to
provide Libeskind with ``fair'' compensation, Libeskind said in
his complaint. The complaint demands that Silverstein be forced
to disclose its payments to the Skidmore firm.
A Silverstein vice president initially offered ``somewhere
between $100,000 and $150,000,'' to Libeskind, ``then upped the
offer to $225,000, which was also rejected as a meager percentage
of what should be paid,'' the suit said.
Another Silverstein spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, called the
lawsuit ``a surprise.''
``It was our understanding that just a few days ago, the
Libeskinds accepted our repeated suggestion of mediation, and
that they were in fact considering a list of potential
mediators,'' Rubenstein said.
Libeskind's wife Nina works as his business manager.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, owners of the
site, have already paid Libeskind ``millions of dollars,'' and he
has been unable to provide timesheets to support his claim,
Rubenstein said.
The dispute won't have any impact on the Freedom Tower's
construction timetable, according to Rubenstein. Steel is to
start rising above street level in 12 to 18 months, and the tower
is to be completed by 2009.
``The lawsuit is not going to impede on the progress of
our rebuilding plans,'' said Sara Banda, a spokeswoman for the
Lower Manhattan Development Corp.

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