World Trade Centre redevelopment hampered by delays

The rebuilding of the former World Trade Centre site will not be completed until the middle of the next decade and looks set to cost an extra $3bn (£1.5bn) on top of the original estimate of $15bn.

The delay to the redevelopment of the site is the result of continued conflicts between two particular aspects of the overall project.

One is the construction of a new transport terminus for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the site, and the other the creation of a memorial to the thousands who died in the 2001 terrorist attack.

The memorial will sit above commuter rail tracks, so delays in the one project inevitably affect the other.

According to a report commissioned by New York governor David Paterson, it has been difficult to finalise the design of the terminal’s underground passageways and other features within the original $2bn budget.

In addition, the charitable foundation overseeing the design for the memorial has yet to finish certain parts of its work.

The site, the centrepiece of which will be the 1,776-ft Freedom Tower, is unlikely to be ready to open until 2013.

The delays will also affect several potential tenants, including Merrill Lynch, as well as retailers that will occupy 500,000 sq ft of retail space to be controlled by Australia’s Westfield Group.

Before 9/11, the retail space at the Trade Centre was among the highest-grossing in America.

The rebuilding on the site of the terrorist attacks has been hailed as a symbol of New York’s resilience after the deadliest act of terrorism on American soil.