Plans to finally bring apartments to the World Trade Center site have been thrown into neutral, with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey telling local leaders that the long‑discussed 5 World Trade Center tower is on pause as construction costs spike. The project was billed as the only residential building on the rebuilt campus, with roughly 1,200 apartments and about one third promised as affordable. Officials insist this is a timeout, not a kill shot, but the pause leaves a badly needed batch of Lower Manhattan housing stuck in limbo.
Port Authority official: Project on pause
At a recent Manhattan Community Board 1 meeting, Port Authority deputy chief Hersh Parekh told members the plan is "currently on pause" while the agency and its development partners reassess "exactly what is possible on the site" and grapple with soaring costs for materials and labor, according to The Real Deal. Parekh said the agency has seen "increases of 50 percent on certain construction costs" and pointed to international instability as another source of pressure on already stretched megaproject budgets.
Who was tapped to build it
The Port Authority previously selected a development team led by Silverstein Properties and Brookfield Properties, with Omni New York and Dabar Development as partners, to take on Site 5 at the south end of the World Trade Center campus, according to the Port Authority. Agency materials identify the parcel as 130 Liberty Street and describe a mixed‑use tower with a footprint that would include residential units, office space and public amenities.
Approvals and public funding
The development cleared a major hurdle when the New York Public Authorities Control Board signed off on the plan on July 27, 2023, and the state committed roughly $65 million to strengthen the affordable housing component, according to Governor Kathy Hochul's office. That agreement lifted the affordable set‑aside to about 400 units and earmarked a portion of those apartments for people who lived or worked in Lower Manhattan at the time of the 9/11 attacks.
What's paused and what could change
Board records show the Port Authority also approved a $12.5 million rent credit to help launch the project, a subsidy that depended on state funding arriving by April 2024 and on developers keeping the 33 percent affordability promise, according to The Real Deal. The development team entered a 27‑month interim agreement with the Port Authority in 2023 that placed a long‑term ground lease into escrow until designs and financing were nailed down, a schedule the agency now says will need to be reexamined.
Why affordability is the flashpoint
Affordable housing advocates and many local elected officials had demanded a far deeper affordability commitment for the site, with some pushing for all 1,200 units to be below market, so any pullback from the negotiated terms is likely to trigger blowback from neighborhood groups and lawmakers. When the deal was approved, the compromise was already under a microscope and subject to intense political pressure, as reported by amNY.
What's next
According to the Port Authority, the project is not being scrapped, and agency staff, the developers and state officials will keep working through options such as changes to the unit mix, additional subsidies or other tweaks that might make the numbers work again. The pause comes just weeks after American Express said it would anchor 2 World Trade Center, a reminder that the larger campus is still moving forward even as its long‑promised housing piece is recalibrated. The American Express announcement was distributed via Business Wire.
