Plans For World Trade Center Theater Move Forward

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, NY — The long-stalled plans for a World Trade Center performing arts space are back on track thanks to a new agreement, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday.

A theater and arts center has been part of the redevelopment plan for the World Trade Center area for years, but the project has been repeatedly delayed by funding and other disputes.

Stakeholders agreed on Thursday to terms for a lease between the company behind the performance space, the World Trade Center Performing Arts Center, Inc., and Port Authority, which controls the property. Officials with both groups agreed to a 99-year lease in which the performing arts center will pay $1 a year for the space, Cuomo said in a statement announcing the agreement.

Renderings for the the new building were released in 2016. The space will include three "flexible" theaters with moveable walls that can be reconfigured and combined to create performance spaces of different sizes. The center, which is being built between 1 World Trade Center and 2 World Trade Center, will also have rehearsal space and a restaurant. The building, part of which will be below ground, was designed by architectural firm REX, and will be constructed of marble so thin that it's translucent, so light can filter into and out of the building.

Michael Bloomberg, the chairman of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, called Thursday's agreement "the final major piece of the puzzle in redeveloping the World Trade Center."

"The original vision for rebuilding the World Trade Center included a performing arts center to help bring new creative life and energy to the Lower Manhattan community. Now, after years of hard work and the generous support of civic-minded donors, this agreement with the Port Authority clears the way for construction to proceed — and for the center to benefit the local community, and the whole region, for generations to come," Bloomberg said in a statement.

The total estimated cost of the building is expected to be $250 million. The billionaire Ronald Perelman donated $75 million for naming rights of the performing arts center. Part of Thursday's agreement includes $48 million to fund the center's construction from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

Image credit: Rendering courtesy of Luxigon