World Trade Center Rebuild Almost Complete With Approval of 900-Foot Mixed-Use Tower

Plans have been approved for the development of 5 World Trade Center, in place of a building damaged on September 11 and eventually torn down.

2 minute read

February 15, 2021, 5:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Lower Manhattan

PlusONE / Shutterstock

The final piece of the rebuilt World Trade Center is now in place.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Board of Commissioners and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Board recently approved plans for the development of a 1.56-million-square-foot, 900-foot-tall tower designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) and developed by Brookfield Properties and Silverstein Properties.

"The proposal for the future 1.56 million gross square foot mixed-use building currently anticipates approximately 1.2 million square feet of residential space or 1,325 residential rental units – of which 25%, or approximately 330, would be permanently affordable. The building would also include approximately 190,000 square feet of office space," according to a Port Authority press release. "[T]he building would have a 12,000 square foot community facility space, as well as 55,000 square feet of public amenity space and 7,000 square feet of retail."

In addition to being the final development to rebuild from the damage done on September 11, 2001, the new 5 World Trade Center will be the first residential project on the World Trade Center campus.

Two articles, one by Jonathan Hillburg and the other by Diane Pham, provide additional insight into process that yielded these plans for 5 World Trade Center. Hillburg also notes that the General Project Plan (GPP) for the World Trade Center complex originally had the development of 5 World Trade Center targeted for office development. "[M]odifying the GPP will take approval from the LMDC, Empire State Development Board of Directors, the Public Authorities Control Board, and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development,' state and national environmental approvals, and more," report Hillburg.

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