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© 2022 Observer Media · Terms · Privacy

Larry Silverstein

The chairman of Silverstein Properties, a privately held full-service real estate firm that redeveloped the World Trade Center.

Silverstein grew up in a Brooklyn walkup to a father who was a real estate broker leasing manufacturing space in Soho. Silverstein started working with him while he was still a student at New York University.

“It became obvious with time that the best thing to do was to become an owner as opposed to a broker—because the owners were making the money,” Silverstein told Commercial Observer in 2016. “The brokers weren’t.”

Silverstein picked up a derelict building at 220 East 23rd Street for $600,000 in 1957 and fixed it up, according to Crain’s.

When the first project was successful, “We acquired a second one, and a third one, a fourth. As time went on the buildings got bigger—and suddenly we found the banks were calling us. … It was just a matter of time until we gravitated into [constructing] the entire building from the base to the top.”

Silverstein started acquiring land on the Far West Side, near the Port Authority Bus Terminal, where Silver Towers now stands; he picked up properties along Fifth Avenue; and, in 1987, he finished construction on a 47-story tower named 7 World Trade Center.
Silverstein acquired a 99-year lease on the original Twin Towers in early 2001 for $3.2 billion. Only six weeks after Silverstein Properties took title to the 10 million-square-foot World Trade Center, Al Qaeda terrorists destroyed the towers, killing more than 2,600 people in the worst foreign attack on the U.S. in its history.

“I got lucky—my life was spared,” Silverstein told CO. “The lives of my children, too, who were on their way to the temporary offices we had in the North Tower. Fifteen minutes later, they would have been there.” This stroke of incredibly good fortune has been used against Silverstein ever since in the conspiracy-addled corners of cyberspace as proof that he somehow knew about the plot.

Since the World Trade Center attacks, Silverstein has devoted himself to rebuilding downtown Manhattan, putting up 7 World Trade Center, 4 World Trade Center, 3 World Trade Center, a Robert A.M. Stern-designed Four Seasons hotel and condominium, where Silverstein and his wife Klara currently live, a raised park and a planned performing arts space.

Two of Silverstein’s three children followed him into real estate.

116 John Street
Sales  ·  Residential
New York City

Silverstein Nabs 116 John Street Residential Tower for $250M

By Nicholas Rizzi
Premium
One World Trade Center.
Finance  ·  Refinance
New York City

State Agency Planning $700M Refinance of 1 WTC

By Celia Young
Premium
Players
New York City

Big Names in CRE Strike Celebratory Tone at Virtual Power Gala

By Larry Getlen
Premium
From left: Bruce Mosler, Mitti Liebersohn, Klara Silverstein, Larry Silverstein and Scott Rechler.
Features
National

Sunday Summary: Power Galas, Leases and the $5.7B Sale of The Cosmo

By The Editors
Premium
Industry  ·  Players
New York City

Commercial Observer Power Gala Attendees Strike Defiant Tone

By Aaron Short
Premium
President Biden addressed Hurricane Ida's aftermath on Thursday.
Features
National

Sunday Summary: Biden to US: Look, This Isn’t Funny Anymore

By The Editors
Premium
Larry Silverstein
Features
New York City

Larry Silverstein Was the Symbol of Real Estate on NYC’s Darkest Day

By Lauren Elkies Schram
Premium
An image of the World Trade Center attacks.
Features
New York City

One Blue Sky Tuesday: The Real Estate Industry Looks Back on 9/11

By Cathy Cunningham
Premium
Sept. 11
Features
New York City

9/11: 20 Years Later

By Max Gross
Premium
Design + Construction
New York City

Silverstein Properties Launches Inspire, Combines Hospitality With Safety

Presented By Silverstein Properties
An aerial rendering of Avenue Bellevue.
Finance  ·  Construction
Washington

Silverstein’s $700M Loan to Fund Construction of Massive Seattle-Area Project

By Mack Burke
Premium
The new elevated public space will be landscaped and include two cafes.
Features
National

This Week: Deutsche Bank, the New Grand Hyatt and Optimism in CRE

By The Editors
Premium
(Top-bottom, l-r) Charles Bendit, Tommy Craig, David Falk, Joseph Moinian, MaryAnne Gilmartin, and Ralph Herzka.
Players
New York City

Virtual CO/REBNY Celebration Strikes Cautiously Optimistic Tone for 2021

By Chava Gourarie
Premium
Unfreezing REBNY.
Features
National

Sunday Summary: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like REBNY

By The Editors
Premium
The U.S. Bank Tower, left seen in Downtown Los Angeles in May, shortly before it sold to Silverstein Properties. The tower and other high-rise office buildings have been absent more often than filled with workers since March when Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered Californians to stay home during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Sales
Los Angeles

Top 5 Commercial Real Estate Deals in LA in 2020

By Greg Cornfield
Premium
View of Brooklyn Bridge from the River Cafe.
Features
New York City

Let the River (Café) Run!

By Steve Cuozzo
Premium
tenant talks silverstein commercial observer panel
Leases  ·  Coronavirus
New York City

Silverstein: NYC Will ‘Get Through This’ on CO Panel With Tighe, Burger, Brancato

By Rebecca Baird-Remba
Premium
tenant talks
Finance  ·  Leases
New York City

Larry Silverstein & Mayor’s Advisory Council Member Mary Ann Tighe Lead Virtual Forum

By Commercial Observer Events
Premium

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July 28th 2020 Magazine Issue Cover
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