The final steel beam was lifted to the top of 4 World Trade Center on Mon., June 25, as developer Larry Silverstein, elected officials and construction workers joyously watched from below.
The tower is expected to open in the fall of 2013, making it likely to be the first building on the new W.T.C. site to be completed. The 72-story, 977-foot structure will consist of mostly commercial offices, about a third of which will be set aside to house the headquarters of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the site’s owner. Construction on 4 W.T.C. began in 2008.
“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, according to Silverstein Properties’ website, www.wtc.com.
Located at 150 Greenwich St., 4 W.T.C. was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. It has been built to meet a L.E.E.D.-Gold level of sustainable design, according to a W.T.C. release, thereby placing it among the most energy efficient buildings in the nation.
The final steel beam was signed by more than 100 construction workers before it was placed atop the skyscraper and was joined by an American flag that was hoisted up alongside it during the June 25 ceremony.
“Everybody’s put their blood, sweat and tears into this,” John Rzeznik, a project manager at the site, told the Associated Press.
In addition to approximately 2.3 million square feet of office space, 4 W.T.C. will also comprise an atrium featuring shops and restaurants. The building will provide primary access from Wall Street to the W.T.C.’s underground transportation and retail concourse.
According to the NY Daily News, Silverstein told those assembled on June 25 that his goal as a developer was “to give New Yorkers back what the city terrorists tried to take away.”
NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver chimed in, saying, “To think that such a beautiful structure now stands where there had once been such shocking ugliness and terrible pain is, on the one hand, breathtaking and inspiring, and on the other, so perfectly symbolic of New York’s ‘can do, never surrender’ spirit.”
Behind 1 W.T.C., 4 W.T.C. is currently the second tallest building on the complex, although it will be surpassed by two other buildings — 2 W.T.C. and 3 W.T.C. — once they are completed.
Steel construction at 1 W.T.C. is also nearing completion, and the flagship building is expected to open in late 2013 or early 2014.
— Sam Spokony
