PWC event to honor downtown's rebirth and its masterminds

Real Estate Weekly, March 1, 2006

On Wednesday, March 22, Professional Women in Construction will dedicate its 26th annual awards reception to "Downtown Rising," a celebration of the rebirth of lower Manhattan as evidenced by the completion of 7 World Trade Center and the launch of the WTC Transportation Hub.

The event will offer dual praise: to the remarkable structures, both present and future, that provide living proof that New York City will not be bowed and to the developers and builders in one of the most massive and complex reconstruction programs ever undertaken in the City. The reception will be held at The Yale Club from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 pm.

The development and construction of 7 WTC involved women architects, engineers, construction personnel, analysts and others in key positions to take it from design to reality.

Both 7 WTC and the WTC Transportation Hub are stunning examples of beauty wedded to security. The office building has a facade of over 500,000 s/f of glass specially molded to change its appearance according to the surrounding weather conditions. It creates a formerly nonexistent view corridor to the tip of Manhattan and marks the start of a reconnection between Tribeca and the Financial District.

The Transportation Hub will connect PATH trains to ferries and subway service across lower Manhattan. Designed by world-renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, it will feature ribbed cathedral-like arches that will open each year on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

PWC will honor 7 WTC owner/ developer Silverstein Properties; landowner Port Authority of NY & NJ; construction manager Tishman Construction Corp.; Skidmore Owings & Merrill architects; and Cantor Seinuk Group engineers. For the Transportation Hub, PWC will pay tribute to owner Port Authority; construction manager Phoenix Constructors, working in a joint venture with Fluor Enterprises, Slattery Skanska, Granite Construction and Bovis Lend Lease; the design partnership of DM JM Harris, STV and Santiago Calatrava; and construction managers Parsons Brinckherhoff and URS.

The organization will also grant special recognition awards Andy Frankl, of IBEX Construction, and Christine Flaherty, of STV.