Port Authority Gives Green Light To Agreement For 3 WTC Project

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Wednesday approved an agreement to pay for the completion of the stalled 3 World Trade Center project.

The authority announced Wednesday that it has approved a deal with developer Larry Silverstein after months of negotiations.

Port Authority executive director Pat Foye said the deal will not require the Port Authority to guarantee funds raised by Silverstein. Under a previous plan, the Port Authority would have guaranteed $1.2 billion in loans.

Silverstein is building the planned $2.3 billion tower on the World Trade Center site.

Foye said Silverstein will raise the money from the private sector and no public sector money will guarantee the loans.

The issue had split the Port Authority in recent months. On Wednesday, Port Authority board member Kenneth Lipper, a staunch critic of the earlier deal, called the new agreement ``excellent'' for the Port Authority.

In April, Crain's contributor Greg David told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell the benefit of the Port Authority supporting the project is so that New York isn't left with "the stump of six or seven stories that's going to be used for retail." David said the drawback of backing the construction is that if Silverstein doesn't lease the space, "the Port Authority is going to be on the hook for all that money."

Towers 1 and 4, which have both been built, each have acres of unleased space, Haskell reported.

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