World Trade Center Performing Arts Center Plans Back On Track After Funding Deal
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. reached an agreement that will allow the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center to move forward.
The center at the World Trade Center has been in the works for more than 10 years, but a dispute between the authority and the LMDC jeopardized its funding. The Port Authority claimed it was owed $67M for below-grade work needed to prepare the site, and was refusing to give it up until it was paid. The LMDC argued it should only pay $45M to the authority.
But the agencies reached a deal last week, according to an announcement from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office. The Port Authority will receive a total of $48M for the works and it will form a 99-lease agreement with the center for $1 a year, with the option to extend for another 99 years.
"I was pleased to see the culmination of more than a decade of planning to bring this cultural facility to life at the World Trade Center,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said in a press release.
Slated to open in 2020, the 200K SF center will host theater, dance, music, film, opera and the Tribeca Film Festival. It is considered to be the last piece of the World Trade Center master plan, and its cost of construction will reportedly reach $363M.
