​​Larry Silverstein, Tal Kerret and Lisa Silverstein

Larry Silverstein may have been two months from turning 94 when Commercial Observer talked to him, but his sense of humor was still young and spry.

“Am I a kid? No. Am I an old fart? Yes, but that’s life,” Silverstein volunteers with a laugh as he discusses his busy-as-ever 2024.

Projects that have occupied Silverstein — the man and his company, which he leads with daughter Lisa Silverstein and son-in-law Tal Kerret — include the opening of the 1.2 million-square-foot Disney headquarters at 7 Hudson Square; the commencement of leasing on the office-to-residential conversion at 55 Broad Street; taking over the ownership of the mixed-use Brooklyn Tower; continued work on 2 World Trade Center, 5 World Trade Center and the Avenir casino project in Manhattan; and the publication of his book The Rising: The Twenty-Year Battle to Rebuild the World Trade Center.

Silverstein said that uncertainty regarding tariffs will affect current projects in unforeseeable ways.

“What’s going to happen to the cost of steel, of iron, of a whole range of products that are the basis for constructing any high-rise buildings, like Tower 5, it’s hard to know,” he said. 

The uncertainties faced by a developer are always hovering close by, but more so for some projects than others. Given how few conversions have come to fruition so far, they can be especially fraught, as Silverstein experienced with 55 Broad Street, which is now leasing.

“We really didn’t know how successful this project could be,” said Silverstein. “Now, it looks like this will be a very successful project. But until you get into the closing phases of it, it’s hard to know. They’re renting at a pace that surprises us: very rapidly. I would be surprised if we didn’t find ourselves in the middle of another one or two of those going forward.”

Silverstein looks forward to a busy 2025 while acknowledging the economic uncertainties that can make planning a frustrating endeavor. 

“Everybody’s looking at tariffs with huge concern,” said Silverstein. “What’s going to happen, how it’s going to affect different projects, it’s hard to prognosticate at this time. This is going to be a fascinating year in terms of inflationary possibilities. It’s something of enormous concern to everybody in the development business.”