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09/21/2001 05:55 PM

WTC Leaseholder Says He Wants To Rebuild

By: NY1 News

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Ever since terrorist attacks toppled the World Trade Center, New Yorkers have grappled with the question: Should the Twin Towers be rebuilt?

NY1's Gigi Stone reports on what the leaseholder of the property envisions for the site.



Right now it's a shocking, gaping hole in the skyline.

But World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein has a preliminary plan to rebuild, not the tallest towers in New York City, but four 50-story towers in their place.



"Tenants might be more receptive to occupying 50 or 60-story towers than they would be of 110-story towers," Silverstein said. "Therefore it would become more financeable and the costs would be more reasonable."



He also would like to see a memorial for the victims at the site.



Silverstein dreamed for years of owning the lease for The World Trade Center, and finally, in late July, his group closed a $$3.2 billion deal with the state.

Now, the World Trade Center is gone.



"To watch them collapse upon themselves was so staggering that I just found myself incapable of looking at this thing and dealing with it, especially since we had so many people down there of our own," Silverstein said.



The rebuilding plan is a long way off - the idea hasn't even been formally proposed yet and there's a lot of work to do before then.



Once the rescue and recovery effort is done, Silverstein will then focus on insurance, leases, and the enormous legal issues.



The lease did include insurance for acts of terrorism, but most of the related documents have been destroyed.



Still, nothing compares to all those lives lost.