Mar 23rd Larry Silverstein to officially open the new WTC 7

The first new skyscraper built at the World Trade Center site opens in two weeks and developer Larry Silverstein is confident he will rent all 1.7 million square feet of office space within a year.

7 World Trade Center, a gleaming 52-floor tower adjacent to where the Twin Towers stood until September 11, 2001, officially opens on May 23. So far, Silverstein only has commitments for less than 25 percent of the new space.

"It took us about a year to get this building going in 1987. It should take about that amount of time this time around as well," Silverstein said in an interview. "This building will be very well accounted for by May, 2007."

Walking the 52nd floor, Silverstein proudly shows off the bare, cavernous space — one of five floors slated for the "China Center," aimed at wooing American firms to China and helping Chinese firms set up operations here.

Silverstein made his first deal in the early 1950s when he leased a Lower Manhattan loft on Grand Street for 40 cents a square foot. If the billionaire learned one thing in the decades that followed, it’s to let the view sell the building.

"The view is not bad. On a clear day, you can see forever," Silverstein said. "It’s mesmerizing. You look out the window and say ’My God."’

First built in 1987, the original 7 World Trade Center was 47 floors high. Its tenants included branches of the United States Secret Service, the Department of Defense, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Central Intelligence Agency.

The building collapsed on the afternoon of September 11, 2001 when falling debris from the Twin Towers sparked fires which weakened its structure.

The rebuilding of 7WTC was spared the wrangling over Ground Zero because it is owned outright by Silverstein, unlike the Twin Towers which were leased to him by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The first 10 floors of the new building house an electricity substation supplying power for Lower Manhattan.

7WTC rents for $50 a square foot. But Silverstein insists that’s cheap compared to Midtown Manhattan where rents can reach $100 a square foot.

"You want to pay those prices?" he asks.

CHEAPER THAN MIDTOWN

Noting the confluence of subways, ferries and highways, he adds, "Everything is here ... and we can rent at 46 percent less than Midtown. You think we’re not going to get tenants?"

Walking to the south side of the building, he says simply, "There’s Ground Zero. It’s pretty staggering."

Wearing a gray suit with a Twin Towers lapel pin, the 74-year old is most animated when talking about safety.

He talks of the heft of the exposed steel beams and says the structure will stand even if two columns are destroyed. He says the fireproofing is 10 times better than industry standards, boasts about the width of the staircases and explains how the building would be evacuated if necessary.

"We studied what happened on 9/11 and we came up with a code we believe is necessary for high-rise buildings," he said. "This is the safest building in America."

Silverstein doesn’t need reminding the site was hit by a fatal attack in 1993 as well as in 2001, when more than 2,700 people were killed.

"You don’t lead your life by what terrorists tell you you should do or shouldn’t do," Silverstein said. "Hell no! Let’s put it back and let’s put it back better than it ever was."

Silverstein has been harshly criticized for delays in rebuilding Ground Zero. He himself blames government red tape.

"We found dealing with all these different entities almost impossible," he said, insisting each change to the master plan took months for all the government parties to agree while his decisions took days.

While the Port Authority still has to approve final details of the plan in September, Silverstein says, "My hunch is this will come together. It’s too important.

"It will reestablish the skyline of Lower Manhattan," he said. "It’s terribly important to me and it’s important to New Yorkers. Will it be part of my legacy? I suppose so."

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