The Port Authority is paying Larry Silverstein $21.5 million to develop the Freedom Tower - even though he has absolutely no role in building the 1,776-foot icon, the Daily News has learned.
More than two years after the builder lost control of the planned 102-story tower at Ground Zero, he is collecting $500,000 monthly "development fees" - and the checks will keep flowing until mid-2010, documents show.
The giveaway - $15.25 million so far and an additional $6.25 million in the pipeline - is costing bridge and tunnel commuters the equivalent of 2.7 million George Washington Bridge tolls or 12.3 million PATH fares.
It stems from a September 2006 master development agreement - inked by the city, state, Port Authority and Silverstein - aimed at halting five years of feuding, runaway costs and budget-busting delays at the World Trade Center site.
The deal called for the developer to surrender the city's tallest skyscraper to the PA and take responsibility for building three towers on Church St. As part of the complex transaction, the agency agreed to pay Silverstein so-called development fees.
In exchange, his company was required to "make itself available only as and when specifically requested by the Port Authority," according to a clause in the 2006 Freedom Tower Development Agreement.
'We are abiding by it'
The PA has never made such a request. Agency officials confirm that Silverstein is receiving development fees even though he's done no work on the building since the deal was thrashed out more than two years ago.
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