Final Beam Placed on First Office Tower at World Trade Center

Silverstein Properties President and CEO Larry A. Silverstein was joined by approximately 1,000 construction workers and other New York government, civic and business leaders at a topping out ceremony marking the completion of steel erection for the new 4 World Trade Center — the first office tower that will be completed and opened on the original 16-acre World Trade Center site.

The final steel beam, which weighed 8 tons and was adorned with an American flag, was signed by Silverstein and other dignitaries. It was then raised 977 feet in the air and placed at the top the 72-story tower.

“The topping out of 4 World Trade Center represents another milestone in the effort to create a new, dynamic World Trade Center at the heart of a resurgent downtown,” said Silverstein. “This neighborhood has undergone a remarkable transformation into a one-of-a-kind model of sustainable urban development. Over the past decade, the number of people living downtown has doubled. We have the best mass-transit network, new parks and schools and the densest concentration of green buildings of anywhere in the world. That is why lower Manhattan is fast becoming the location of choice for all kinds of creative companies, as well as the financial powerhouses of Wall Street.”

“The World Trade Center site is at the heart of Lower Manhattan’s rebirth,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “As 4 World Trade Center takes its place in the New York City skyline, we’re creating a neighborhood that is stronger than ever. Congratulations to all who have taken on the challenge of rebuilding and worked so hard on this important project.”

Designed by Pritzker Prize winning Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, 4 World Trade Center is located at 150 Greenwich Street and bounded by Greenwich, Church, Cortlandt and Liberty Streets. The tower was designed to have an abstract quality – minimal, light, cool in color, and ephemeral, changing with the light of day. Seen from a distance, the building presents a unique angular profile at the crown, in keeping with the spiral composition formed by the group of four towers and looking back to the Memorial and One World Trade Center.

The fourth tallest skyscraper on the World Trade Center site, 4 WTC will include 72 office floors that total approximately 2.3 million square feet. It has been designed to meet a LEED Gold level of sustainable design — like 7 World Trade Center and the other office buildings at the WTC site. A quarter of the office space is slated to become the new headquarters of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. Another 600,000 square feet will be occupied by the city of New York. The remainder of the office space will be retained by Silverstein Properties for commercial tenants.

The podium base of 4 WTC is made up of the ground floor, plus two levels above grade and two floors below grade that are dedicated for retail use — restaurants, shops and boutiques of every kind. The building provides primary access from Wall Street to the World Trade Center’s underground transportation and retail concourse, which in turn connects to the central PATH terminal and virtually every subway line.

Said Fumihiko Maki, “The design of the tower at 150 Greenwich has two fundamental elements — a “minimalist’ tower that achieves an appropriate presence, quiet but with dignity, and a “podium’ that becomes a catalyst for activating the surrounding urban streetscape as part of the revitalization of lower Manhattan.”

The conceptual design for 4 World Trade Center was unveiled in September 2006. In February 2008, excavation and foundation work began and in July 2009, below-grade work on the project was completed. Steel erection began in December 2009. Glass curtain wall installation began in April 2011 and the building will be fully enclosed in December 2012. 4 World Trade Center is scheduled to open in fall 2013.

“Everyone at Tishman is delighted to have helped bring 4 WTC to this great day as another symbol of the progress of the rebuilding – and also of the determination and vision of Larry Silverstein and his team,” said Daniel R. Tishman, Chairman and CEO of Tishman Construction, an AECOM company, which also built 7 World Trade Center and is building 3 WTC for Silverstein Properties.

“Our role at the World Trade Center site is something we are all extremely proud of. I want to thank all of the architects, engineers, safety managers, subcontractors and, most of all, the thousands of trade workers who are making it possible for this project to become a reality.”

“More than 1,200 union construction workers put in over 3 million hours to build this tower from bedrock to 977 feet,” said Gary LaBarbera president, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. “It now stands as part of the skyline of New York as a testament to their resolve to never give up, always move forward, and build New York bigger, better and stronger.”