Here’s an update on the construction efforts of the Freedom Tower and environs. I know you’ll be shocked to discover that the budget is skyrocketing:
Barry LePatner, Hon. AIA, a real estate attorney and construction cost expert, contends that the Freedom Tower’s initial bid numbers were virtually meaningless — unless construction companies agree to sign fixed-cost contracts, which seems unlikely. The problem, he explains, is that contractors often lowball their estimates to win projects and then file change orders and add other fees to make up the difference later.
An additional problem, as Ron Rosenbaum wrote last year, is that it’s tough to get private companies to buy space in a building that will be the #1 target for domestic terror strike.
But I’m starting to think the budget issues — and attendant regulatory bickering — will grow so enormous that the building won’t be finished till we’ve, um, won the war on terror.