Newsday from New York, New York • 140

I 9 Vv Despite cries that and a terrorist target Time Warner will open the doors on its twin skyscrapers j' v- i' I- fr-t TS t- Uatly ImagM Photo Fir lilt an ixpinalva aastarn view from tha 79th floor of ono of ttio Tima Wamar towers from top developmant partner Stephan Ross and architect David Childs farokar Dolly Lanz exscutiva vlca president and managing director of Insignia Douglas Elllman In a tower duplex aha sold for about $106 million and construction of Jaa at Lincoln Centar the performing arts vsnua breaking for the buildings took place in November 2000 eventually bringing as many as 2300 workers to the site early many mornings and often at night The neighborhood has changed and been difficult living here because of the endless pollution and said Sindin who is also president of Coliseum Phrk Apartments a co-op that includes her building on West 60th Street next to the north tower "Tin simply amazed that no one has been killed by a Sindin added alluding to snarled traffic and closed pedestrian walkways that have resulted as well from the $20-million landscaping makeover of Columbus Circle However two construction workers have been killed in accidents And the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has 38 open cases in which var-' ious construction companies have been cited for violations at the site as well as fines "in the thousands of for the mqjor contractor Bovis Lend Lease said Sid Dinsay a spokesman for the building department At the same time Dinsay described the overall record for safety as considering its size and complexity Redevelopment of site occupied by the coliseum which had become extraneous after the Jacob Jav-its Convention Center was built has taken almost two decades largely because of objections by West Side community groups Related was the second company tapped by the MTA to develop the property The first plan was put forth by Boston Properties a real estate firm run by Mortimer Zuckerman who also owns the New York Daily News Zuckerman proposed building a 925-foot-high monolith in 1985 but those plans were beaten back in part by litigation and community protests including one Btaged by the Municipal Arts Society in which demonstrators showed up with black umbrellas to show how such a high rise would cast shadows on Central Park Then came the stock market crash of 1987 Zuckerman scaled down the design for his proposal but abandoned it in the mid-1990s Related and Apollo Real Estate bought the land from the MTA in 1998 for more than $346 million plus other costs that brought the total purchase price to $400 Ross said GMAC Commercial Mortgage provided a $1 3-billion construction loan Rom credits Time Warner's decision to sign on as a mqjor tenant as a key factor in his team getting selected by the MTA and getting approval from state and city agencies Another factor was architect design of the center particularly the Jazz at Lincoln Center complex which was essential to approval was the way we had Jazz at Lincoln Center on the fifth floor and featured it in some of the best space in the building making it our Rom said The developers were not subject to Uniform Land Use Review Process because the site was on Btate land And Rom acknowledged filing the prqject an of the coliseum rather than new construction Critics say team was able to speed up city reviews by filing the prqject as an alteration of an existing structure but Rom but said that speed up 1 the prqject because the zoning was already in place and were ready to Some West Side activists who have fought development for nearly 20 years continue to criticize the Time Warner Center even as it nears completion thing is too big and environmentally said Olive Freud vice president of the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development a group that unsuccessfully sued Rom in federal court saying the center violated provisions of the Clean Air Act real horror is the traffic and the size of the building We were against the tearing down of the coliseum she said City Council member Gayle A Brewer whose district includes Columbus Circle said at least six other con- -struction projects are now adding to congestion in the neighborhood Her office has received numerous complaints about issues such as weekend and night work at -the Time Warner development she said noting that a subcommittee of the tri-board task force set up public meetings to addreM community issues as well as a hot- 1 line and Web site to contact construction managers about problems like double-parked delivery trucks Brewer also said she is working and 1 to get jobs at the site for lower-income residents in the community Joshua Bocian director of constituent services told a recent public meeting that the Mandarin Oriental Hotel had 200 job openings Such jobs should be offered first to local residents Brewer said especially all they have suffered between the noise and the traffic and the Mary Reinholz is a freelance writer She may be reached via e-mail at reinho4aolcom i Nnridiy PhotoiJira On how two major components in the development come together: the 249-room Mandarin Oriental Hotel which Robb said will open Oct 29 and the residential condos which could be ready for occupancy around the same time The hotel spans 19 floors in the north tower and will offer 24-hour food service to guests and condo residents in both towers as well as access to its health dub pool banquet facilities and ballroom Real estate agents handling the condo sales say that nearly 60 percent of the condos have been sold for a total close to almost $600 million For example broker Dolly Lenz executive vice president and managing director of Insignia Douglas Elliman which in March was purchased by Long Island Prudential Realty says she has closed more than $160 million in condo sales at the towers and contracts out "but not for $25 million more Among 19 buyers six have primary residences cm Long Island and six others have homes in the Hamptons want the light and the height and cutting- buil I body treatment mud treatment all the spa treat- ments that the entire complex can Eva Mohr Benior vice president of International Realty said she dosed cm a $30-million Time Warner condo shortly after Sept 11 fabulous she said "You cant walk in off the also a waiting lounge for chauffeurs so that they have to hang out on the street she said referring to one of three below-ground garages with valet service for 549 cars This is a lifestyle You buy much more than a doorman opening the door You buy access to every amenity Susan de Franca a senior vice president at Related said prices for the condos initially started at $18 million for a two-bedroom l300square-foot apartment overlooking the Hudson River and ranged to more than $35 million for a full-floor 8400-square-foot penthouse But have had five price increases since August of The locations of the condos in the 80-story buildings depend on whom you talk to There are different methods for calculating the for marketing purposes said de Franca The higher the floor the greater the status Such quibbles over status tend to rankle residents on the ground including those in the Clinton community for whom the Time Warner building prqject has been a nightmans of noise traffic congestion mid dirt There was a long period of time where they were blasting away for the foundation before the building ever went up because Manhattan is built on rock and it seemed they were blasting recalls Simone indin a former chairwoman of Community Board 4 Hardhats began razing the coliseum in 1999 ground To see more photos of the construction of Tims Warner Center go to wwwnewsday combusinesstealsststa I.