Goldman Sachs headquarters now a sure thing.

Downtown's future just got a little more certain. On November 29, the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. broke ground for its new headquarters on Site 26 of Battery Park City, a project that has moved ahead in starts and stops for the past two years.

The 2 million s/f, 43-story building, set to become one of the most environmentally responsible structures in the city, will be financed through $1.65 billion in Liberty Bonds and up to $25 million in job creation and retention program funds.

It will rise approximately 740 feet and will feature a curved facade, a stainless steel and glass exterior and three major setbacks.

According to Mayor Bloomberg, who was present at the ceremony, "With this new building, Goldman Sachs is making the kind of commitment that ensures that lower Manhattan will remain a center of global commerce in the 21st century. Today's groundbreaking is yet another important step in the revitalization of lower Manhattan as Goldman Sachs commits to retaining 9,000 employees in our city and intends to add 4,000 additional Jobs in years to come."

It has taken the city and state governments more than a year to convince Goldman to go ahead with its plans, after the company threatened to withdraw from the negotiating table because of a planned underground tunnel on West Street (the building will be located between Vesey and Murray Streets). Goldman Sachs plans to move into its headquarters by 2009. The building will house its investment banking, investment management and trading operations divisions. Henry N. Cobb, of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, served as the architect for the project.

"Goldman Sachs has called lower Manhattan its home for 136 years and we are proud to reaffirm our commitment to this neighborhood and to the city of New York," said Henry M. Paulson, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs. "This events marks a historic moment for us and we are most grateful to everyone who worked so hard to make it possible."

"Today's start of construction on Goldman Sachs' new state-of-the-art world headquarters directly across the street from the World Trade Center site is yet another powerful demonstration of lower Manhattan's resurgence," noted Governor George E. Pataki. "Goldman Sachs building their new headquarters and maintaining 9,000 employees with the expectation of creating thousands of jobs in the next decade reinforces lower Manhattan's destiny as a world-class central business district and the financial capital of the world."