They’ll break out the champagne downtown on July 9, when ground will be broken for the long-awaited American Express tower at Two World Trade Center. The public start of construction caps a quarter-century struggle to fully replace the Twin Towers and other buildings at the 16-acre site that were destroyed on 9/11.
“It will be a banner day for New York and since it’s Amex, it’s a banner made of platinum and gold,” quipped Downtown Alliance President Jessica Lappin.
It’s celebration time as well for Larry Silverstein, who’ll build the tower for Amex. The developer of 3, 4 and 7 World Trade Center and the original developer of 1 World Trade before he turned it over to the Port Authority and the Durst Organization had been stymied by his inability to sign an anchor tenant for the 55-story project, which could cost up to $4 billion.
Amex will not be a tenant, but the tower’s owner under a ground lease with the PA. It joins the other thriving Trade Center towers, which are nearly 100% leased with asking rents of over $200 per square foot.
The design by Foster + Partners includes six exposed corner gardens and three large terraces to break up its towering glass curtain wall.
Underground work has been going on for months. Sources said the supertall tower will first poke its head out of the ground in August with the start of vertical core construction.
Structural steel will begin to rise in late spring 2027, followed by topping out in late 2029. The skyscraper will be substantially finished in 2030 and doors will open in 2031.
“I can’t imagine a better partner to complete the World Trade Center campus than American Express, an iconic institution embodying the strength, resilience, and global significance of the project,” said Silverstein Properties CEO Lisa Silverstein.
The July 9 ceremony will be attended by yet-to-be-named executives from Amex, government, the landowning Port Authority and real estate.
Such important groundbreakings typically draw the governor and mayor.
“Even Mayor Mamdani, no fan of major corporations, will probably show up,” said a source familiar with the project.
The far-left mayor previously called the project “a testament to the power of union labor and the dignity of work.”