Brookfield, Goldman 'talking' over empty lot.Two prominent downtown firms are trying to settle negotiations on an empty downtown lot near Ground Zero. Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., or simply Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is one of the world's largest global investment banks. Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869, and is headquartered in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City at 85 Broad Street. had been negotiating with the Battery Park City Authority The Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority is a New York State public benefit corporation whose mission is to plan, create, co-ordinate and maintain a balanced community of commercial, residential, retail, and park space within its designated 92-acre site on the lower west side to build a 1.8 million s/f office tower on the northwest corner of West and Vesey streets, on Site 26. But downtown powerhouse Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties Corporation TSX: BPO NYSE: BPO is a Toronto-based North American commercial real estate company. Brookfield Asset Management owns 50% of its outstanding common shares. , whose chairman John Zuccotti serves as the head of the Real Estate Board of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , has claimed development fights to the site--setting up a possible legal showdown. A spokesman for Zucotti, Lloyd Kaplan, was mum on the negotiations, but acknowledged, "The parties are talking ... period." The Battery Park City Authority challenged Brookfield's claims to the property in court in March 2001, but the claims were dropped after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Timothy Carey, the Authority's president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , said discussions with Goldman Sachs were "moving forward" but that the authority still believed Brookfield did not have development rights. "Our position is that Brookfield does not have a claim on the property," Carey said. However, he added Brookfield has some view corridor rights. "It has to do with ... the sight line from the World Financial Center to the water," Carey said. These rights, he added, are shared with other companies such as American Express. The site negotiations, he added, are not a new matter, citing the NYNEX NYNEX New York-New England & X for the Unknown (Telephone Company) NYNEX New York Network Exchange development talks in the 1990s. "We are now working with Goldman (and) I believe we are making progress," Carey said, adding that the city and the Empire State Development Corporation also are involved in the talks. "Brookfield and Goldman are talking," he added. Kaplan declined to characterize the talks. No new legal action has been taken to date. |
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